The Invisible Man

(Nothing is permanent, not even broken hearts!)

Date: 6th October 2007
Venue: Lovely restaurant, Thimphu

Present, in alphabetical order:

1. Chabilal Bastola, ICT Officer, DIT (Single)
2. Deewakar Chhetri, IN Engineer, BMobile (Single)
3. Heruka Zangpo, Manager, CMTD, BPC (Taken)
4. Karma Wangchuk, Engineer, DCA (Devdas)
5. Singay Dorji, Chief Electrical Engineer, HTMTI (Single)
6. Sonam Phuntsho, ICT Officer, DIT (Single)
7. Sonam Tshering, Trainee Engineer, Druk Air (Engaged)
8. Tenzin Dendup, ICT Officer, DIT (Totally Single)

Missing:

1. Hari Prasad Kafley, MBA Student
2. Sangay Dema, Engineer, Bhutan Telecom
3. Tsheten Dorji, Lecturer, CST, RUB
4. Yam Bahadur Chhetri, Engineer, Bangalore

Guests:
1. Dechen Yangzom
2. Kesang Norden Deker
3. Dr Kezang Dorji
4. Tashi

Binary (On-Off) Guests:

1. Jigme Lhendup
2. Tseten
3. Tshering Wangchuk

Special Appearance:

1. Dr Phub
2. Dr Kelex

There was no rain this time, at least when the group started gathering. But later into the evening, the rain of flowers started, indicating Heaven and Earth were in perfect union, for the graduates of Durgapur 2005 and 2006 had gathered.

And, in so wet an evening, the room where the graduates had gathered was so dry that everyone could feel the crappiness of it on their lips that someone was screamingly found hissing, “Satan damn-it! Lip guards!” in a way of searching for an antidote in complete serpent-ness (what ever that may mean!). On further investigation (by a team of three), the dryness was tracked down to have emanated from, and administered by the Sofa-men (so named by the virtue of their ass-on-sofa settlement), Sonam Senior and Karma Junior, brutally known for their never ending slapstick dry talks, named Dry Gadpus, in short.

By then, the group had gained momentum, keeping in mind one of those famous Newtonian laws which is forgotten for good, saving me from quoting it here.

Like the previous gathering of that memorable 14th September, the innumerable bottles of “Fosters’ and “Hits” had already made their presence, only difference lying in that, no one had growled down to those suggestions. Only when the suggestions for “Spy Juice” cropped up, then were the real presences of the two lovely ladies felt, sweeping the faces of the crowned lusers (dictionary spelling “losers”) warm and leaving them pink for a few hours that followed. Heruka and Singay were saved of that pink hue, since the ladies came in their capacities, either as their dates or guests. So had the evening progressed thus, shy but equally entertaining!

After an hour of the gathering, Sonam Senior attempted to deliver a welcome speech, but so hopeless it turned out that he was found delivering the speech in quotas. And these quotas were executed every next hour from the first. In between these quotas, Heruka found in his managerial wisdom to exercise his speech-delivering prowess since he had a shaming experience back at his office in the audience of his Managing Director, where his thoughts bounced back to its basics, and the poor Manager was found mumbling those famous tooth-in-mouth lines “I believe…..” followed by that welling effect of the tears in the eyes, since his mind was observing emptiness! In line to this, Singay was picked up by the group to deliver a “Vote of Thanks” speech to reiterate that of Heruka’s, since he was absent when Heruka delivered his speech. Poor Singay couldn’t figure out head or tail of the situation, and was duly forgiven for his ignorance.

In an attempt to add meaning to the entertainment, Heruka discovered a game which, he thought, would make the grave of the inventor shake, and the heart of the players’ crack, which indeed did, for someone! With its simplistic rules, “Truth and Dare” was the game of the evening.

“Truth or Dare?” pleaded Sonam Junior with Deewakar. “Truth” blurted out Deewakar and he was fired with questions! “How many pondies did you watch so far” was the bullet of the minute. The man under fire mumbled “One Thousand…” the accuracy to which was further drilled and doubted, and the next shot was fired in the likes of “Which one is the best so far?” “Recommend me a good pondi flick” and so on and so like. Soon Sonam Junior was found obnoxious with his questions. Finally when Deewakar heaved a sigh of blatant relief, he had chosen the next victim for the game.

“Truth or Dare?” and Karma dryly chose to tell some truth. “Tell us the full-proof truth of Devdassic journey you are embarking on these days” “Tell us the name of this beauty you so gave into becoming a Devdas” “Is this why you jumped into poetic hibernation and musing?” so on and so forth…

Karma, full name Karma Wangchuk, or infamously known as Zala to the greater public, had traveled some 50+ odd kilometers from Paro to attend this get-together with Chindey Sonam Tshering (referred to as Sonam Junior) and their guest Tashi. Tashi was favorably chosen as their guest by the virtue of his owning a car, which made transportation way easy than they fathomed. Realities apart, Karma got down to giving answers to the truthful questions which sounded to the ears of the gathering as follows:

The name of the beauty is Yangchen, and it was few months back that this beauty screwed up my sanity. If it was not for her getting married with someone else, things would have been much easier; I would have tried my zala-best to earn the name of a serial rejected! As the way was clearly paved for me to stand as the candidacy for the next abbot, filling in for a post of a Devdas, I happily drank my days to desperation. Yes poems, the curator of a broken heart, are the only good things that is left of a man, who is deserted with marked rejections!

And the man was happily seen covering his face, out of respect for the seat of the abbot.

Rejections!

“Truth” demanded Sonam Senior. “Why did you go to Taba yesterday?” “Tell us this story between you and Dawa, in detail!”, and he was found hunting for cover!

Sonam Senior had to take a few paces back in his memory lane to gain complete control of the matters at hand. Before that, he answered the simplest of questions:

“I went to Taba because I think I have a girl friend there”, and the gathering bought it, albeit the loser-nature of this specimen.

Regarding the dear Dawa question, he told stories that had its roots in the year 2004. He informed the gathering of that fateful year, of challenges he had undertaken, where he had dared dear Dawa that he would make her fall in love with him, by the end of December 2004 failing to manifest which, would accrue him in buying her a giant teddy bear as a bet.

Falling in love never happened, so did the buying of a giant teddy. Time moved on, even Sonam couldn’t stop it! He proposed. She rejected. The trend carried on. Even dear Dawa couldn’t stop him from proposing. It flowed like his blood, these proposals!

The failure nature of this man had been long proven in his Engineering days with a first semester Physics paper, PH101, where he had attempted, in his acts of clearing it, few trudging times! So this new failure in love didn’t come as a surprise, but it was more of a testimony to his success in serial failing. This man was sworn in, in the hard disks and processors of the gathering, as a sack of failures and, that boy, Tenzin respected him in the form of a root Guru!

This Tenzin!

Singay had decided to vote for “Truth” keeping in mind the political developments in the country. But the questions that followed were far removed from it (Politics) than he had expected! “How did you feel when Sangay Dema left you?” “How did you feel when Sangay got married?” and suchlike questions.

So many HOW-DID questions and the man felt as if a few quintals of bad memories had been dropped on his back. The weight was too much for the man to take that he had to release it one after another.

He truly confessed that he went through a bad patch in his life when she left him, but it was all over now. And by the time Sangay got married, he had become insensitive towards the feelings he had for her once.

Life is a Brute!

Sonam Junior, who had also traveled those 50+ odd kilometers from Paro on Tashi’s Alto to attend the gathering for the first time, was literally all chindey. No community of society was residing on his head, which is commonly known to humankind as “hair”.

In the run-through of the “Truth” questions, the man was drunkenly heard answering “I am not gay, but I am gay!” whatever that meant, the ladies present didn’t seem too impressed! And people doubted if he had cleared the top floor in observing his hopelessness in the matters of love but to the utter dismay of the gathering, he said he was engaged to be married. What ever the reasons may be, the light really reflected strongly on his shaved shiny head. In his final attempts to impress the ladies’ present, he was seen throwing two fingers at the ladies and shouting miserably “I am not gay, but I am gay!” Such intoxication of drinks can really waste a man, and he was really stoned to misery!

Gays!

Dr Kezang rode on “Truth”. Sensitizing the gathering on AIDS, he educated the group that it was caused due to three infamous acts of humankind: Drugs through syringe penetration, rectal and normal sex. Although, normal sex contributed to only 10%, he refrained the gathering from indulging in any rectal acts since it was the surest way of getting Aids.

Who would have guessed our rectums were already inflicted with AIDS!

AIDS is rectal, people!

And Sonam Junior left the room excusing himself by saying he needed to pee like a horse!

Somewhere between the gathering, as soon as Jigme and Tsheten had entered, they had gulped down a bottle of beer and had disappeared without any trace! People wondered if they really had made their presence but, they were saved from more investigation by the empty bottle that they had left back.

The choice “Truth” followed questions like “Tenzin, if you were to die tomorrow, what Cartoon movie would you watch?” “What Character in the movie would you be if situation so demanded?”

And that boy Tenzin so wanted to watch that animated movie “Shrek” before he died and he wanted to be a Princess in the movie, if fate had so favored, since he liked that ogre of a Shrek so much! He even flipped his eyelids so daintily, and my Frog(!), people nearly mistook him for a Princess!

“Truth” and Norden was inquired about the welfare of her heart. And she confirmed the gathering that it was fine by and by. One saw her eyes twinkle, and Tenzin’s long said words metamorphosed something close to : Nothing is permanent, not even broken hearts!

“Truth” “Truth” “Truth”. Everyone was in the truth that it seemed the whole world had truly conspired against the liars! As an administrator of the game, Heruka found in his wits to promote people take up more daring acts, and a round of “Dare” demands were implemented.

Heruka dared, and people demanded of him actions!

“Heruka, kindly drain that big glass of beer” and down went the beer along his beer pipe. He turned a pitch darker in complexion after that.

“Heruka, kindly turn to the lovely lady sitting beside you and propose your true feelings” and left-turned Heruka, and blurted out “I can do this!” and said “I really love you” focusing his eyes on the ceiling which nearly bore a hole there, followed by a change in his complexion from pitch dark to a mixture of bluish hue. Too much for the “Truth and Dare” game, it would seem, but the man already had disposals of glass of beer in his contributing stomach, and a pretty face by his side!

Proposals!

In a string of daring acts, Karma was found demanded of a poem recital by the group, portrayal of true Devdas nature, a song which he succeeded in pulling out a line from his blasted memories and he finally ended up proposing the beauty residing by Heruka’s side, Norden.

Next was Sonam Junior in line, and he made such noises from his beer-fed mouth and his light shining head, he ended up having to marriagepropose to the pretty lady residing by Tenzin’s side, Dechen. Sonam’s act of proposing someone to marriage was so unique that, no one remembered to translate it into a photograph. He walked like a stiff stick to the pretty face in the waiting, placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezed them, and snorted “Will you marry me?” and walked back more drunk to his seat.

Norden was made to propose Karma due to his incessant requests of requiting the proposal thus called on some moments previously. She blessed him like a dove, and Karma ran out of his skins with joy! For a few moments, he forgot he was the serially rejected subject of our times.

Tashi was duly ushered to propose miss pretty parked beside Tenzin to exercise his daring acts! He did, and he really had dared!

Now, it was Deewakar yet again. He was pressed so hard to dare sing a song. It took him almost ages before he sang “I am a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world. Imagination; Life is your creation…..” And the song faded away. He had forgotten rest of the lyrics. Boy! Who would have imagined Deewakar in the Barbie world!? Not me, at least!

“We dare you show us your muscles!” and Chabilal Bastola, that man of a muscle shifted his place lest people failed to see his hairy bulk! He was really at his acts and people were starting to appreciate the bulk of those muscles when someone suddenly announced, “Eating time!” Unfortunately… he had to wrap up the show and fall in line for dinner. In fact, the whole gathering had to!

Dinner was self-served, and people like Sonam Senior and Chabilal Muscle found in complete favor to exercise their freedom that they were seen helping themselves to plenty and having dinner of a lifetime!

After dinner, that boy Tenzin so wanted to continue with the “Truth and Dare” game, but time had run short. It was Deewakar’s medicine time, and way past baby Chabilal’s bedtime. So they left home and rest of the gang proceeded to party the night away!

The gathering split into three groups, since there were only three horses at disposal, and headed towards Buzz Club. As they passed through Hongkong Market, car-eating dogs chased them like hell. The car nearly jumped out of its skin, and Dr Kezang was in due time to bring it back to form. It still gives the group goose bumps when they think about the night but, luckily, no damage had been done to the cars… We promise!

Once they reached the Buzz Club, they had to negotiate hard with a lady there who was strict to the bones! In the midst of it, it left members of the group wondering who had paid the entry fees. Some of the group members were pretty sure it wasn’t God who had paid, for sure.

God doesn’t party!

Once inside the discotheque, than were the group swept up in its endless summer. They encountered a hundred inscrutable characters and phenomena. It was as though an entire sea of butterflies had suddenly taken off into the air to hover in a shimmering cloud above the black beetles of the male sex. And this was too much for boy Tenzin to take in, for it was his first time; he had to gulp in great amounts of saliva to capture his monkey mind back to form.

Once he regained form, he encountered waists the like of which he had not seen even in his dreams: slender, narrow waists no thicker the neck of a bottle, on beholding which he respectfully stepped aside lest inadvertently he should jostle them with an impolite elbow; his heart was seized with timidity and fear lest a careless breath of his might snap those most exquisite work of art and nature. But he danced on, his baby steps!

Sonam Junior, Dr Kezang and a few others tried jostling the fat moths but they were being roughed up so bad, they fell back to their dancing zones. Heruka executed few of his shock dance steps to no effect, and Sonam maneuvered his age old century steps, and Singay, his R ‘n’ B steps. Everyone danced on. By the time, the gang had almost implemented “in the mind” best dance steps, the party had gotten over and they had to leave for home.

And deep into the night, Tenzin was found tossing on the bed, frightfully shouting in the mind “No more Linux, only girls!”

The thought was singular, he had just entered puberty…