Whatsyo numba

'Nann number kodalla.'
Ah! What?



I have a friend.


Let me quote a line from R K Narayan's novel:
'Life is too short to be good to everyone my friend!'

But still, you are good to a few people. You want them to be good to you. In saying so, I define a friend.

So, I have a friend.


Now, I want to scold my country for its hypocrisy.
A country full of people who discriminate between people.

The friend I have, is a girl.


A country as a whole?
No, you shouldn't generalize, I am reminded.
But still, we are hypocrites. We discriminate between people. We discriminate gender.

I still did not have the numbers of the 3 guys with whom I had been to the hotel several times, studied together, discussed the world and shared PJs. I had asked them their numbers, while I had put my hand into my pocket to take my phone out, as we were moving together. I had given them missed calls. They had saved it. Nothing special, everything appears natural. We had moved on.


But then, as I have told you, we are hypocrites. We are happy preaching.


"What is the biggest problem in our country?", I had asked a 'friend'.
He had pointed his finger at me.
"Second biggest", I had asked.
Before he could point his finger at someone else, "Hypocrisy", I had hastened to answer.


A friend is a friend I say.


Whats you number? I walked along putting my hand into the pocket. I had felt the number keys when 'pat' came the reply

I won't give you the number.

"Ah!What?"
"Why?", was my natural reaction
Although later I thought I could have refined it to something like "So do I. I was just joking!"

Evasive tit-bits had followed; and then ended.

I cannot remember exactly what I did in the following few minutes. All logic had collided with itself. A mental block had ensued. I couldn't understand what was happening. I had blindly followed a 'friend' to the 'rest room'.


"Rest room eh? Why do you call it that way?", I remember asking him. He had said something. My mind was too preoccupied to appreciate his answer.

I wanted to blame somebody. I didn't speak to anyone for some time. I felt the world was neither black nor white nor gray. It was coloured. Multiple colour, that too!


I remembered how I had taken my hand out of the pocket.
I thought of asking her why she said what she had said.
I thought more. I became thoughtful. Then, full of thoughts.

Thoughts would eventually subside. But then, it had hurt. I didn't want to ask her anything more.

She is still a friend, indeed.

By the way, who said I am afraid of numbers.



PS: After all, I made a mistake. I owe an apology to the girl who features here.
I fell short in understanding the depth and expanse of the human mind.

Given a chance, I would change the last three lines of the blog thus:

Thoughts would eventually subside. But then, it had hurt.
It had made me think, though. It had made me contemplate. It had made me look out for possible answers to human behaviour. After all every reaction must have had a reason.

I didn't want to ask her anything more; but only for a while.

She is a better friend now.

I always liked numbers. I like them more now :)