The ten year challenge 2 - A helping hand is always good, when yours are full

 The ten year challenge 2

Having spoken to Tarun had been quite unsettling for me for many reasons. The very thought of his suffering made me feel sad. He may be an eclectic individual with uncanny taste in books and music, but that definitely does not mean he deserved the depressive state that Jiya’s cheating and manipulation pushed him into. It was almost a fraternal bias rising in me, but I had to calm myself down. Jiya had been an old acquaintance, and we often ran into each other randomly. I needed something to clear my  head, so i went over to Misha, an old friend from college. 

“Chai? Oh haan aap to badey log ho chai kyun piogey”, She mocked at me.

“Rasna chal jaega”
“Odd, what is bothering you?, You even brought sweet snacks. What’s troubling you”

This is the thing about Misha, I could crash at her place anytime, da or night and she could tell by the snacks I picked if I was okay or not.
“There's this thing” [I shrugged my shoulder, not so sure what to say or how to explain]

“Is it about you? Someone said something?” She asked concerned.

“Well, no! It is something someone said about somebody but not to them, so it is complicated”

“How complicated Shireen? Are you in anyway part of it?”

“NO Hell No. I would never do anything like that!”
“To meri bolti popat itta suspense kaayeko?, spill the beans so I may be of some help.”
“I can’t, not with details.”
“Okay then let’s do our people play. Take that glass, use this scrunchy, that salt shaker and make them your characters. Simple”
“Well, I know how it works okay.” Basically if we did not wanna give out names we did a little hypothetical charade of nearest available objects to describe the limbo we were stuck in. Worked pretty great.

“Well, so you are the handspray that was betrayed?”, “ NO”

“You are the scrunchy that was dumped?”, EEnhh No

“You are the Salt shaker that lead to the pair splitting?”, EENNHHH NO

“Let me make it easier for you, I’m this glass of Rasna who was told by the scrunchy holder holder of how salt and oregano sachet got together and in the meantime salt shaker here bitched about the personal life of handspray to scrunchie, oregano sachet and god knows how many other condiments!”

“Okay, well have you considered how scrunchie might me the jealous ex who wants to tarnish salt cuz oregano on pizza is way better than a three day old scrunchie?”, She was enjoying this punny conversation. Who am I kidding, It was funnier and easier this way.

“Well, A Scrunchie is a reliable hair holding device, and B they were not lying”

“How are you so sure?” “Is scrunchie a guy or a girl? I mean what if they’re playing victim card to get close to you hon.?”
“Because over time Rasna and Handspray became a decent combo at weddings thanks to germophobia if you like. And on a serious note, scrunchie would never want to play a victim card or sweet talk me into anything of all people, we were friends as kids”

“Wait wait wait, So you’re saying it is all true”
“Yeah, every stupid shit was word to word real, I know cause I was ally to those secrets too. Of Course I could not right away admit it and had to pretend that I simply had faith in them”
“So you did doubt scrunchie?”

“Well, Salt here is and old acquaintance too. So, you know” I Moved my hand to gesture a 50-50 

“So you have to tell Handspray, lest the poor thing gets in touch with scrunchie and the heartbreak gets bigger cuz not only salt not keep their word, but Rasna glass that now you have emptied did not warn handspray”, “These set up convos are so much fun, these objects are people in our story, what a metaphor”. Misha giggled ( with her broken cycle on a bumpy road kind of laughter). It always got me. The laughter being funnier than the joke it self.

We laughed for quite a while. I decided I would have a face to face conversation with our Handspray, that was Anamika, to make sure she hears it from me rather than receiving it on text. Technology may have brought people closer, but it had potential of raising walls that become impossible to break. Plus she was coming to town in two months, for her sister’s wedding. We could meet then, if she has been in the dark for so long, she could go without knowing a little longer. As for our salt shaker Jiya, it turned out she was happy with her oregano, or atleast so it seemed from her social media feed.
And part of me was mature enough to know that she must’ve had her reasons or cultural bias for having done what she did. I would have appreciated had she handled it better or come clean so as to not hurt anyone nor need to belittle her own close friends in order to be accepted and celebrated.

Alas! As the saying goes, to each his own.

Continued from . . . Part 1