Meet me at the car park

‘Spandan’ was the most happening college fest in Pondicherry. JIPMER- one of the best medical colleges in India. When Jipmerites do things, they always do it to perfection- at least that’s what they say…

I have a lot of friends in Jipmer. And together we stood yelling our heads off, to outdo the mike machinery that was in place during the rock thing that was going on. I yelled and screamed because that was the thing to do. Yet another hypocritical attempt from my side…

The music was so loud that I couldn't hear myself think! The lights were blinding and changed colors before my myopic eyes could begin to decipher shapes!

I was so intent on having fun that I missed out on the fun part. You know what I mean. One moment I was screaming and laughing and the next moment I wanted to run. I don’t really know what got into me, but I wanted to be out of the place immediately. I even felt sick. It might have been the loud music. It might have been the weather. It might have been neither.

I was with five of the best doctors I’ve known. Best because they all cared about me. They were best for me that is! Right from a wasp that stung my friend to a leg pain, all I had to do was call them up. Cure was just a phone call away. All the time. But this time I knew that it wasn’t from them that I would find a solution… I had to get away…

All of a sudden I wanted to see Swapnil. Doctor, friend and more. I knew she would be studying as always in the sound proof library that they had. I yelled out to the crowd that I am going to see Swapnil and would be back and ran out of the place before they could even realize what was happening...

Come with me...Let's go back a couple of years. Those were the days of incessant partying. Because none of us knew where we were gonna be because none of us knew how much marks we were gonna get or how many entrance exams we would all fail to clear. When laughing became painful, jokes boring and the word ‘party’ seem almost political, I would call Swapnil; send her a note, “Meet me at the bicycle stand”



She would. Always. My reassurance of normality, stolidness and life.

We would sit on the bicycles that were parked in neat rows and pedal away furiously. Going nowhere. These days it’s called an exercise bike what we once called a bicycle and a gym what once we called a bicycle stand.

We've grown. Meet me at the car park. Mobiles are a boon.



She came. As always.

I went for the best drive of my life. We drove through the deserted lanes of JIPMER where couples sat necking and more. Yoga at night. We ignored them. We drove to the beach and back. Jagjit Singh- whom I’m not very fond of- playing in the car… She changed the music to something I better like. Why I loved her the way I did was because she never asked me anything. A stranger who would meet me in the bus would know more about me than this girl whom I grew up with. But in our complete anonymity we were best of friends. She knew me. She didn’t have to know anything about me…

We sat in the car; doors opened, listening to music and the crickets.
We sat in the car; doors opened, listening to music and the sea.
We sat in the car; doors opened, listening to music and each other.

The mobile rang. It was the crowd calling. I ignored the call. Mobiles are a curse.

I’ve never had a better time.

The night sky was the prettiest I’d seen. Dotted with the prettiest stars that were almost handpicked… maybe they were a little dewy wet too…

Lying on the wet grass, we shared an almost conversational silence...

“It’s almost as pretty as an Arizona night sky”

“When have you been to Arizona?”

“Never”