Its that time of the week when you run out of ideas to have fun - a Saturday night. It was 10 pm. I was about to board my bus from Manchester back to Coventry via Birmingham. After two days of spending time with a bunch of cool friends, I was preparing to get back to University routine. Being bored at waiting for my bus, and tired of the music on my phone, decided to ring my friend for a 'chumma' talk.
"Hi Maya", I said sounding very excited.
"Hello, whats'up", she said.
Apparently there was another friend of ours she was talking to when I had called her. She brought him in through a conference call. I didn't complain. I had a little over 2 hours of travel in the bus, I could chat all the way long. After all, calls were free between the three of us and the UK phone networks are good through the route between the two big cities, Manchester and Birmingham.
"Hi people, what are we chatting about now?", Nikhil jumped in after the usual procedure of asking each other how we were doing and the like.
When there was nothing there to talk about and nothing else to do for the three of us being at three different places, the best thing to do was to talk random things and give each other company. We did just that.
"I am gonna miss the long serene drives, the lawns and the weather in the UK once I get back to India", I said looking out of the window when the sun was just about setting into the red sky at 10 pm.
"I miss having a boyfriend now", Maya replied to second me on the romantic ambience that the UK had on offer.
"Warwick is a perfect place for romance; the lakes in the campus, the chill evening winds, the greenery all around; Gosh! how much I am gonna miss it as well", Nikhil added.
All of us were talking this way given it was within 2 months to leave the campus and enter the real world. The care-free first 9 months of being together in the university made us so close as a group of friends; we shared every bit we had in us to each other.
"So go get a boyfriend, Maya", I rubbed it in to get her talking...
"I can't go fishing for one; it has to happen", Maya is more mature than her age,22, suggests.
"Hmm...see, it just happens like it did for me", Nikhil was showing off that he had a girlfriend.
"But I don't have her here now", Nikhil started lamenting like he has been doing for almost a month now as his girlfriend (another mutual friend of ours') was away, back home to India, on a vacation from her studies in Warwick.
"Atleast you have one", Maya sighed in regret.
"ah!, I just feel like enjoying all this being single. My arranged marriage will find me a girl soon". I said expecting a big debate on the cards.
"Please, don't get us started now...you and your arranged marriage concept; keep it to yourself", Maya crushed the topic.
"She has been on my mind all the time; 30 days is like 3 years", Nikhil went on like every lover boy would with his cliches.
"That's another thing..long-distance relationships, it is just so difficult", Maya took Nikhil's side.
"Distance in a relationship doesn't make any difference to it." I did my bit to differ as always.
All three of us were different in who we were, like normally the case between friends. That served well for us to have interesting fun debates all the time, yet not necessarily conclusive though.
"You need the girl nearby to keep it going; you never have been in a relationship; you could never know", Nikhil shot back.
"It means a lot when someone holds your hand and is by your side all the time", Maya backed Nikhil up. Maya had been through a relationship before. She spoke of experience too.
"Its a feeling; even if the person is not around, you could feel that way", I sounded like Aristotle.
"That's fine, but how long will the feeling sustain without the person really around?", Maya asked. Maya was a girl's perspective which all of us respected. She perhaps had a point.
"I just want her now; just don't care on what you guys are going on and on about", Nikhil went back to his usual self.
As the conversation kept going forward, the bus reached closer to Birmingham. I loved the murmuring I was doing, with everyone near me in the bus sleeping; one even snoring. The ambience was so different from the usual conversations we used to be having. To talk your self out to two close friends, without the feeling of being judged, in such a lonely long 2 hour drive all by whispering, gazing out at the window every now and then, was something I started to cherish even while I was doing it.
"Do you like your partner to be possessive?", Maya thought of something to take the conversation forward.
"I want my girl to be possessive; she should own me; she needs to feel she has the right to tell me what to do and what not to", I sounded like I badly needed a girl.
"That's love at its best", I carried on.
"Whatever..., I just don't want such men; Being over-possessive kills love", Maya gave us the girl's angle again.
"I wouldn't feel good to be asked where I go and who I see? That doesn't show love, does it? It only shows lack of trust...", Maya went on. She was right as usual, I felt.
"But I am talking about the partner showing that she cares for me all the time; that doesn't have to mean a lack of trust in me necessarily. She could have a world of trust in me, while she still has to question me if she sees me talking to or looking at another girl; How cute would that be; to show she owns me, to prove I mean so much to her.", I thought I made a strong argument for my case.
And what was Nikhil doing while all this..,
"who cares, I just want my girl back...", Nikhil said to remind the two of us that he was still around in the conference call.
The bus neared Birmingham Airport and the clocked ticked 11.30 pm; I would reach my university in Coventry in a bit by 12.10 am.
"I thought our conversation will help me not think of her; but you guys are just making it worse", Nikhil said.
'Oh boy, it must be tough to be in love' , I told myself.
"Anyways, I need to go to Church; its Sunday tomorrow; I better go sleep now", Nikhil said so, more to skype with his girlfriend tomorrow early in the morning rather than worry about going to the Church.
"Seri da...I know why you have to go to bed now; You better sleep and get up on time tomorrow morning; or else you 've had it from her". I giggled.
"Alright, lets plan dinner for tomorrow together", Maya said.
"Yeah, we could do that. The football world cup final is happening tomorrow; we could all see it over the dinner. I ll batter chicken and grill it. We ll have it with chappattis at my place", Nikhil said.
"yeah, gr8. I am sure we'll all have a nice evening then!", I said.
Nikhil would argue he is the best cook amongst the group of us, but again I have agreed to disagree with him as always.
"Alright, see u both tomorrow then...Good night guys", Nikhil said and waited our replies before he could hang up.
"Sure...Good night", Maya and I said and all of us ended the 1 hour and 30 minute conference call.
All of us must have had such phone/texting conversations; nothing potentially great about them; not the most happening discussions in the planet; sometimes not the most interesting ones either; perhaps the world wouldn't have changed one bit if they didn't happen. Yet, they are among the most sweetest of events in life. We wouldn't even take a moment out to appreciate how much we enjoyed such cute conversations with friends, family and other dear ones. They may gradually fade with time, as life eventually does. I thought this read would help all of us savour such beautiful conversations that may not be be relevant down the many years to come.
At this point while you are reading if you are reminded of such a conversation you had once had, it would have made my day and time purposeful.
To the two of my friends mentioned in this blog conversation (they would know for themselves, though I 've not used their original names here) and a whole group of other friends in Warwick and elsewhere with whom I have had many such conversations over the years, I dedicate this blog to.
P.S. the grill chicken was absolutely delicious the next day. I give it to you...you have to be the best cook amongst us. Half the credit goes to your flatmate, who hosted the dinner with you that day.
With this I'm ending the phone call now,
Viggy!!!
"Hi Maya", I said sounding very excited.
"Hello, whats'up", she said.
Apparently there was another friend of ours she was talking to when I had called her. She brought him in through a conference call. I didn't complain. I had a little over 2 hours of travel in the bus, I could chat all the way long. After all, calls were free between the three of us and the UK phone networks are good through the route between the two big cities, Manchester and Birmingham.
"Hi people, what are we chatting about now?", Nikhil jumped in after the usual procedure of asking each other how we were doing and the like.
When there was nothing there to talk about and nothing else to do for the three of us being at three different places, the best thing to do was to talk random things and give each other company. We did just that.
"I am gonna miss the long serene drives, the lawns and the weather in the UK once I get back to India", I said looking out of the window when the sun was just about setting into the red sky at 10 pm.
"I miss having a boyfriend now", Maya replied to second me on the romantic ambience that the UK had on offer.
"Warwick is a perfect place for romance; the lakes in the campus, the chill evening winds, the greenery all around; Gosh! how much I am gonna miss it as well", Nikhil added.
All of us were talking this way given it was within 2 months to leave the campus and enter the real world. The care-free first 9 months of being together in the university made us so close as a group of friends; we shared every bit we had in us to each other.
"So go get a boyfriend, Maya", I rubbed it in to get her talking...
"I can't go fishing for one; it has to happen", Maya is more mature than her age,22, suggests.
"Hmm...see, it just happens like it did for me", Nikhil was showing off that he had a girlfriend.
"But I don't have her here now", Nikhil started lamenting like he has been doing for almost a month now as his girlfriend (another mutual friend of ours') was away, back home to India, on a vacation from her studies in Warwick.
"Atleast you have one", Maya sighed in regret.
"ah!, I just feel like enjoying all this being single. My arranged marriage will find me a girl soon". I said expecting a big debate on the cards.
"Please, don't get us started now...you and your arranged marriage concept; keep it to yourself", Maya crushed the topic.
"She has been on my mind all the time; 30 days is like 3 years", Nikhil went on like every lover boy would with his cliches.
"That's another thing..long-distance relationships, it is just so difficult", Maya took Nikhil's side.
"Distance in a relationship doesn't make any difference to it." I did my bit to differ as always.
All three of us were different in who we were, like normally the case between friends. That served well for us to have interesting fun debates all the time, yet not necessarily conclusive though.
"You need the girl nearby to keep it going; you never have been in a relationship; you could never know", Nikhil shot back.
"It means a lot when someone holds your hand and is by your side all the time", Maya backed Nikhil up. Maya had been through a relationship before. She spoke of experience too.
"Its a feeling; even if the person is not around, you could feel that way", I sounded like Aristotle.
"That's fine, but how long will the feeling sustain without the person really around?", Maya asked. Maya was a girl's perspective which all of us respected. She perhaps had a point.
"I just want her now; just don't care on what you guys are going on and on about", Nikhil went back to his usual self.
As the conversation kept going forward, the bus reached closer to Birmingham. I loved the murmuring I was doing, with everyone near me in the bus sleeping; one even snoring. The ambience was so different from the usual conversations we used to be having. To talk your self out to two close friends, without the feeling of being judged, in such a lonely long 2 hour drive all by whispering, gazing out at the window every now and then, was something I started to cherish even while I was doing it.
"Do you like your partner to be possessive?", Maya thought of something to take the conversation forward.
"I want my girl to be possessive; she should own me; she needs to feel she has the right to tell me what to do and what not to", I sounded like I badly needed a girl.
"That's love at its best", I carried on.
"Whatever..., I just don't want such men; Being over-possessive kills love", Maya gave us the girl's angle again.
"I wouldn't feel good to be asked where I go and who I see? That doesn't show love, does it? It only shows lack of trust...", Maya went on. She was right as usual, I felt.
"But I am talking about the partner showing that she cares for me all the time; that doesn't have to mean a lack of trust in me necessarily. She could have a world of trust in me, while she still has to question me if she sees me talking to or looking at another girl; How cute would that be; to show she owns me, to prove I mean so much to her.", I thought I made a strong argument for my case.
And what was Nikhil doing while all this..,
"who cares, I just want my girl back...", Nikhil said to remind the two of us that he was still around in the conference call.
The bus neared Birmingham Airport and the clocked ticked 11.30 pm; I would reach my university in Coventry in a bit by 12.10 am.
"I thought our conversation will help me not think of her; but you guys are just making it worse", Nikhil said.
'Oh boy, it must be tough to be in love' , I told myself.
"Anyways, I need to go to Church; its Sunday tomorrow; I better go sleep now", Nikhil said so, more to skype with his girlfriend tomorrow early in the morning rather than worry about going to the Church.
"Seri da...I know why you have to go to bed now; You better sleep and get up on time tomorrow morning; or else you 've had it from her". I giggled.
"Alright, lets plan dinner for tomorrow together", Maya said.
"Yeah, we could do that. The football world cup final is happening tomorrow; we could all see it over the dinner. I ll batter chicken and grill it. We ll have it with chappattis at my place", Nikhil said.
"yeah, gr8. I am sure we'll all have a nice evening then!", I said.
Nikhil would argue he is the best cook amongst the group of us, but again I have agreed to disagree with him as always.
"Alright, see u both tomorrow then...Good night guys", Nikhil said and waited our replies before he could hang up.
"Sure...Good night", Maya and I said and all of us ended the 1 hour and 30 minute conference call.
All of us must have had such phone/texting conversations; nothing potentially great about them; not the most happening discussions in the planet; sometimes not the most interesting ones either; perhaps the world wouldn't have changed one bit if they didn't happen. Yet, they are among the most sweetest of events in life. We wouldn't even take a moment out to appreciate how much we enjoyed such cute conversations with friends, family and other dear ones. They may gradually fade with time, as life eventually does. I thought this read would help all of us savour such beautiful conversations that may not be be relevant down the many years to come.
At this point while you are reading if you are reminded of such a conversation you had once had, it would have made my day and time purposeful.
To the two of my friends mentioned in this blog conversation (they would know for themselves, though I 've not used their original names here) and a whole group of other friends in Warwick and elsewhere with whom I have had many such conversations over the years, I dedicate this blog to.
P.S. the grill chicken was absolutely delicious the next day. I give it to you...you have to be the best cook amongst us. Half the credit goes to your flatmate, who hosted the dinner with you that day.
With this I'm ending the phone call now,
Viggy!!!
