I met Saurabh after a span of ten years. It was a coincidence that I met him at the airport while I was on my way to attend a seminar being held at Kochi. My flight was delayed, and I had been waiting in the lounge, killing time. He stood in front of me, looking surprised, "Mayur! What are you doing here?"
Well, oddly I would have responded, "Oh! My dear friend, are you the only one who travels to places," but what came out of my mouth was a mediocre follow-on, "Saurabh!! After a long time, what are you doing here?"
We were neighbors and good friends who were studying in the same college. He and his family had relocated from the United States of America, twelve years ago. Saurabh was a bright student, and we had graduated together. In fact, I still remember the night when we two friends had gone out directly from graduation degree award ceremony to party with all our friends who were willing to spend time together. During those days, it was all about discussing what we could not get, mostly girls, where we would go next, which was mostly join the corporate world, and when will we get laid. The last part was the toughest part because I was very reserved and introverted when it came down to talking to girls. Do not get me wrong, I can talk to girls, but I would feel shy about talking very openly and that too about getting laid. For me, even if I could get a kiss, or some amount of petting, which I had heard other guys in our college had indulged in, would have been good enough. So drinking was a common denominator for us to talk about different numerators that we were running for in life.
"Whiskey with soda?" asked Saurabh. "Old memories, my friend. I know you do not like to pay for your booze, but do not worry, this would be from me."
It is true that I was a miser when it came down to spending hard-earned money on booze. It did not sit well in my upbringing. It was considered sinful to even think about booze, forget the next steps about buying and having it. That was the reason, I was never good at managing my drink, just like the getting laid concept with girls. It was a sin to touch a girl, forget the next steps even kissing or petting thoughts that I would fancy getting during college days. Life had changed but now it was more focused on the job and my family was in an overdrive to find a suitable bride of their choice, one who, according to my estimate, was a lady who would stay home and take diligent care of them. No one was thinking about me, at least in the family and here I meet Saurabh, who remembers what I sin on.
I nodded in agreement and said, "Only if you are going to have rum and coke like the old times."
"Cheers," we said to each other and clinched our glasses. We were chatting about our old days of college and then about the first jobs we got and how with his father's transfer, he and his family had to relocate again. After a healthy round of talks, which also led to a few more pegs of hard drinks getting into us, Saurabh and I both got dizzy. Again, this was not the first time. We had been like this, dizzy with drinking whenever we went out. Most of the time, we would fall asleep in the taxi which Saurabh used to pay for and take me along to drop me to my home and then go to his own home which was separated by just a common wall.