Hello everyone,
I hope you all are in good health. Annnnddd
I am back again. I've been back so many times that even that it is not even funny. It is just sad. And what more sad it that I ran out of excuses. I don't know what to say. So it's better for me to tell a story. That way I can keep you distracted from my inconsistent appearance. That is true I learn how to distract from the masters themselves, The Indian news media. But I will bitch about that later. Now onto the story...

It's complicated

“Take it easy, Bhai.”
The glare from him, shut me up for good.
I was sitting there silently as he poured another round of single malt whisky into both our glasses.
I wanted to enjoy the evening like every other Saturday. Drinking whisky, Eating chicken, and watching the 9XM. But this one has gone down the drain faster than I could turn on the TV.

“Bhai, If you are in a relationship. You are bound to get into gooey emotional mess. That is why ye dekh.” I said pointing to my purple T-shirt printed with the quote ‘Not falling for that S#it again.’Still no response.

He proceeded with the third round within the span of 5mins. I was in my second. And I wasn’t in the mood for that love and breakup bullshit. But I didn’t want the waste the entire bottle just like that. So I asked for a break from the drinking.

“Let’s go to the balcony, Man. Will have a smoke and maybe then the whiskey might kick in. What you say?” I suggested. He nodded in agreement.
Finally some progress, Otherwise a whiskey would have wasted. My inner dialogue continues.

I lit the cigarette and puff a huge smoke cloud. Even though we were on the balcony there was no wind the cloud stayed in front of us and then slowly vanished. Took another puff and handed the cigarette to the dude next to me. We stood there in silence for about two minutes. I reached out to get my cigarette back, but he signaled to light another one. Shit now he will waste cigarettes too. But he won the battle before It could start. I am not going to argue with a man who is pissed, down 3 rounds of whiskey, is agitate, and was a former district-level kabbadi player for 3 consecutive years. Cigarettes are costly, but broken bones cost more.

“AAAAAARRRRGGGGGGhhhhhHHH!!!!” He shouted.
Before I could react he punched the wall so hard that his knuckle got scrapped and it turned red as the blood slowly started oozing out.
“F*** man!!! Have you gone mad or what?” I started shouting at him. “Let's go inside, Bhai.” I will get a bandaid. He started shaking his hand may be to ease the pain. “Ayee, Don’t do that. You are...”. I noticed the blood drops on the white tile. “Bhai, Ruk. Jhataak Mat, Dard Hoga.” [Stop Bro!! Don’t Shake. It will hurt more]

I got him to wash the hand and I cleaned again with antiseptic solution. And after the patchwork, we were back to the original place. This time I took the bottle and made the drink. I noticed that he hasn’t spoken a single word. Usually, he wouldn’t shut up about the shitty relationship he was in. But today was different. I realized this is not the girl that got him running around circles for the past 6months has nothing to do with the situation. I just wanted to have fun but looks like things will go bad.

I handed him the glass. Maybe it's the whiskey, the cigarette, the punching or scream, I don't know what but he seemed to calmed. The rage has gone. He was sitting in the chair and was lost in deep thoughts. “Bhai.!!!” I called him. But I could ask about his story. My phone rang. ‘Ashish’s Home Calling’. He looked at me and I showed him the screen. I was waiting for further instruction on what to do, But he looked away.

“Hello, Aunty!!!” I answered the phone.

“Sorry Di, Mujhe laga aap aunty bol rahe ho.” [Sorry Sister, I thought you were aunty]. I said after knowing that it was Ashish’s sister who was on the phone.

“Haan, Haan, Ashish yahin hain.” [Yes... Yes... Ashish is with me] I replied to her query.

I looked at Ashish, When his sister asked for him to be one phone.
“Nahi Di, koi baat nahi. Mein call karvata hun naa.” [Na Sister, No problem, I will have him call you back]. I replied after seeing Ashish’s fuming face.

“Theek hain di. Ok Bye”. I said bye to her. And kept my phone on the table.

Now I had lot of question which needs to be answered. But I started with the most important one. “phone kidhar bhai?” [Where is the phone, Bro]. And he tossed the answer right next to my phone. The answer was a dead iPhone6s. And by the looks I can tell that It wasn’t an accident. It was brutally murdered.

The glass was still in his hand with little drink left. Good Sign. He is slowing down.
“What happened bhai? Di was also sounding little worried.” I asked the question which I should have asked before. And it again triggered him. He finished the glass and slammed it on the table. I could see him fighting his tears and struggling to speak. “No problem, Bhai. Whenever you are ready.”

I was making another round when I heard him mumble something.
“Huh?” I asked for him to speak clearly.
“I said, How would you feel if your mother...” and he choked a little “How would you feel if your family lied to you?” He managed to speak.
“Holy F***, Bhai you adopted?” I was surprised.
“I wish, I wish I was an orphan” he replied.
“Aise mat bol bhai” [Don’t say stuff like that] I tried to understand the situation. But couldn’t.
“Di is my Mom.” Ashish let the big swelled tear rolled.

I am inuke.
I am not sure if I will be writing the next episode of this story. I will try to but can't promise anything. Things are going up and down with my health and office work. At this point, it feels more like complaining so I will just skip that part. And wish you all a good mental and physical health. Please do let me know how you liked my story.
Before I go a special thanks to my friends from the BeAwesome and Indiaunited team for their love and support.