Tempest

Friday, 15 December 2006

Alice in Wonderland: Yr 2006!! PART II

While Alice struggled to catch her breath (which gave Rabbit a reason to smirk even more) and the car zigzagged through the inner lanes of Harrow, both Savvos the driver (who is also a greek guy with the perfect profile…she couldn’t believe she’d just met one of them!) and Martha the co-passenger (middle-aged woman with a reddish orange curly mop on her head wearing a similar coloured gypsy dress…she couldn’t believe she was meeting one of them either….both fell perfectly in the pages of books she’d read) introduced themselves and bombarded Alice with questions all of which she couldn’t answer as she was still trying to catch her breath much to the delight of Rabbit who immediately came to the rescue and answered all the questions for her (not because he was being helpful but because he is superfast and knows everything!).They reached their destination and as is always the men left to park the car and the women walked over to the house. ‘The food is upstairs’ yelled a short disoriented English man with a sweet smile as Martha and Alice walked past him without so much of a handshake. Alice would have liked to stop and say Hi but she just followed the gypsy feeling suddenly abandoned by Rabbit. So, they barged into the kitchen loaded their plates with lasagne, some sort of vegetable stew and chilli curry and started cramming the food into their mouths at breakneck speed. Nay, Alice is way too polite and ladylike to do that (ignore Rabbit’s guffaw here). She did stuff her plate with a whole load of food though (I mean she is a poor international student in the world’s most expensive city isn’t she?). Plate in hand, as she walked into the living room, the first thought that passed through Alice’s mind was ‘Oh my God, it’s the London Opera’. She was assailed by a chorus of greetings ‘hi’, ‘Hi’, ‘hI’, ‘HI’, ‘Hie’……’hi’, ‘hy’ (I cannot do anymore permutations and combinations of this two letter word…I have a few limitations as a writer). The seating arrangement was circular. There were people of all colours (white, yellow, brown and black) and ages. It looked like one of those counselling groups. Alice plonked herself next to a white haired man who was the only person in the room without a plate (he must either have great will power or an extremely strict dietician or wife, she thought to herself). Silence followed and stretched. All that could be heard was occasional sighs and regular munching. After the sudden cacophony of hi’s, this was unnerving. ‘Gosh Rabbit truly believes I need psychopathic counselling’, thought poor Alice. ‘So, where are you from?’ asked James’s wife Frances. And thus began the first conversation of the afternoon. Everyone started halted talks with one another before the symphony began again. ‘hi’, ‘Hey’, ‘Heya Rabbit’, ‘ho’ ‘Hi’, ‘hI’, ‘hie’….Rabbit was back!! Its amazing how popular Rabbit was among this diverse group inspite of being the ‘larger than thou’ person that he is. They all actually loved him!! The welcome was apparent. After that everything was alright. Conversation picked up and knowing that Rabbit hadn’t left her in some sort of ‘madness resolution group’, Alice threw herself into enjoying her surroundings and mixing with fellow colours. Its surprising how similar people from different part of the world really are. For one they would all go anywhere for free food and for another they loved talking about food. So, there was Alice in her elements talking nineteen to a dozen as if she were Penelope Cruz from ‘Woman on top’ about Indian recipes hoping against hope Rabbit wouldn’t hear a word of what she was saying. You see, in spite of all his short comings, he’s a master chef! (groan).

The first few minutes had seemed to drag but, the next two hours flew so quickly! Everyone seemed to be talking at the same time. There was buzz of conversation. Sudden bursts of loud laughter, sounds of breaking crockery and amateur tunes from the piano from time to time stood out in the buzz. But even they seemed to somehow blend. A guy from Jamaica exhibited a typically Indian sense of humour, a sixteen year old high school kid shared the same interest in books as Alice, a girl from china rehearsed some forgotten piano notes with her, Savvos from Greece shared similar theories about epistemology in spite of the cultural difference, an English woman surprisingly seemed to know more about making excellent mutter paneer than her (though this I think is because Rabbit must have let her in on some trade secrets)! It’s surprising how a bunch of people put into a room in a foreign country; all from different lands and cultures can so easily mix and match and blend and bond. There is something about circles. Alice always used to laugh and think to herself ‘what a waste of time these counseling sessions must be. Everyone uncomfortable, forced to talk. How can it resolve problems?’ But you can so easily open up to strangers and let things slip that you otherwise would never have let yourself says. But I think there’s something more that makes the colour of skin and age wither away into nothingness in a foreign place. It is like some sort of comraderie, some sort of brethren. It is like there is an unwritten, subconscious agreement. It says, we all come from different places, we all know different homes, we all speak different languages, we all have different names for vegetables and relatives, but we are all first and foremost men and women who have come under various circumstances to follow our dreams. We all understand dreams. ‘There is something about circles’, thought Alice, ‘they make you feel at home’. POP!

Rabbit: C’mon grab your coat and lets go. Farewells and sincere promises to meet again followed. And once more the symphonies ‘bi’, ‘bye’, ‘buy’ ‘BYE’, ‘Bi’, ‘bI’….’bbye’ (there aren’t many permutations and combinations for three letter words either)!

We were greeted by chilly air and the beginnings of a shower. But for once Alice was too content to crib (which is a good thing because Rabbit needs the least amount of an excuse to start lecturing…not that Alice cribs often! What?? Its true). They hit crossroads. So, was it a left or a right? Alice definitely thought it was a left. Obviously Rabbit was not one to listen to her keen sense of direction (she does have one….no matter what Rabbit says….you’ll have to agree with her because I have the copyright to this story!) So they went right. And they walked uphill against the cold wind.
Alice: Are you sure you know the way?
Rabbit: Ofcourse I do.
Alice: Do you want to ask someone…?
Rabbit: Just follow me. And she did like a lamb (which is very rare for Alice, Rabbit should be eternally grateful).
They walked in silence. They breathed in fresh air; they took in the sights of rows and rows of tiny cottages. They sang. Oh yeah they did.

Rabbit: Yaaron dosti badi hi hassen….
Alice: Yeh naa ho toh…kya phir bolo…
They aren’t the world’s best singers. In fact they aren’t very good singers. Let me put this more plainly, neither of them has any tune sense whatsoever! (Rabbit might disagree but the truth is the truth!) But they still sang. Old songs, bizarre songs. It didn’t matter…they were songs. Like circles, there is also always something about afternoons like these…where the wind blows, the rain falls but you don’t care, you still sing.

Crossroads again. They had come back full circle from where they started. Not all circles have a good feeling about them and this was one of those. And then the banter, the ruse, the arguing, the war on whose sense of directionality is better began. Alice won. They this time took Alice’s chosen path which took them right up to their doorsteps. (Though to be fair to Rabbit it wasn’t because her sense of direction was any good; she had chosen the path based on merely inky pinky ponky. As an author I would definitely say Rabbit won, but Alice is becoming quite a stubborn character!)

Alice, Rabbit: Neela aasman so gaya…
They could see the sun setting behind the chimney tops.
Alice: Chim chimney chim chimney chimchim chimey…look up at the rooftops. Have you seen mary poppins.
Rabbit: Do it!
Alice (confused): Do what?
Rabbit: Click your heels.
Ha ha ha laughter. Pure innocent unadulterated laughter at the simplest thing that always without fail makes you happy. Jumping up high in air. They tried to best each other. Of course here Rabbit won hands down (I mean he is a Rabbit for Gods sakes and he is also six feet tall!)

Thus, they walked, rather hopped, skipped and jumped (don’t forget the singing) back to the University. It was then that Alice realized why she’d enjoyed every moment so thoroughly…She hadn’t for even a second thought about her assignments waiting to be completed, her job, things to be planned, nothing. All she had done was, gone out with a friend and lived every moment to what it was without any badgering thoughts. Her daddy had always told her ‘live every moment to the fullest. Play with your entire spirit when you play and study with complete concentration when you study, but don’t cheat on either activity.’ It’s amazing how many of daddy’s wise words she had neglected and overlooked over the years. It’s amazing how many she was remembering in these few months. Full circles.

She walked into her room and turned on the comp she with a smile,

Page 1. Google mail.

Mom: how was your day?
Alice: Wonderful
Mom: What did you eat for lunch?
Alice: Carrots.

Like I said there is something about circles....wonderful!

Posted by Pavitra :: 15:54 :: 5 comments