a 33 year old guy gets locked out of his house. its dark. its hot. its sweaty. its a bad time to be on the streets. there are mosquitoes everywhere. its only midnight and there is atleast 6 hours before he can go back home.
a big shout out to the coffee vendors on cycles. they are our saviors, atleast one of them was my savior last night.
yes, i stupidly locked myself of the house AGAIN last night.to add insult to injury, i did not even have the office keys on me. *note to self- keep office and home keys seperate.
around midnight or maybe a lil past midnight:
i was just roaming around in the area outside my house and eventually realised that walking was just a waste of energy and i would not wanna do that. so i went to this coffee vendor down the street and checked in. there were a few groups waiting for their coffee, smokes, gutkas and what not. i sat on a shop bench and lit one smoke and asked for a coffee. 'arey chiragbhai, itna din baad aaya?' he said (he knew me... during my djing days, he was the last person i saw before i went home). 'haan, aaj raat bhar yahin bhaithunga.'
'phirse chabi bhool gaye kya?' he said.
now that made me realise that this has not happened for the first time in my life. i have lost keys in the past and spent nights at this place and it brought all the memories back.
somewhere around 1.30ish:
the crowd had disappeared and i was on my 3rd coffee and the second smoke. i had stretched my legs on the bench and michael, the coffee vendor, was talking to the security guys of a jewellery store at a distance. occasionally, a car or a bike or an auto would stop for coffee, smokes and what not. michael would run to his cycle, serve his customer, have small talk and then linger around again. i asked him if he had any idlis. just as i did, 3 local strays came sniffing in my direction. now, living with a dog makes u smell like one too and u attract a lot of attention from other canines. these guys started sniffiing my toes before one of them went on his rear two, tail wagging and all excited. i was glad i had some company now. we played on the streets for a while and we all had idli together.
the hours when the portals open and dark entities and activities start. (for those who dont know... between 2 and 4ish):
i was back on me bench and was havin another coffee (maybe my 7th or so). 1 of the dogs decided to give me company and shared my space as he got cosy and slept. the other 2 kept checking on me every now and then. michael, by now had served a few more customers and was standing by his cycle, looking far away into the street. patrol cars kept doing rounds but no one really stopped. i was fooling around on me phone when i stumbled upon my collection of calvin and hobbes cartoon stripes. there is nothing more entertaining that i could have asked for in that place at that time. i swiped through strip after strip, marvelling at the creative mind of calvin and his side kick hobbes.
early hours of dawn:
cycle bells started to ring as the milkmen zoomed past on their 'bhaiya' cycles carrying cans of milk for delivery. some sang as they rode while some also played songs from their mobile phones kept in their shirt pocket. i suddenly realised looking at the pool of plastic cups that i had had more than required caffeine in my system and i had started feeling good. i dont know why but i asked michael for another coffee and he did his job. i wasnt sleepy anymore and the previous hour had just gone by. i was oblivious to this world until i heard the cycle bell ring. a few ragpickers came with sacks on their backs. they kept the sacks at a distance and came and sat on the footpath as michael served them coffee and idlis. they chatted away in their native language (tamil i guess). the dog was still sleeping by my side and i could see the sky lighting up very slowly.
6am:
i was wide awake with all the coffee i had. i lit one last smoke before i headed home. asked michael how much i owed him and he just looked at the pile of empty plactic glasses and smiled at me. 'maine kabhi aapka hisaab rakha hai kya chirag bhai?' he said. i pulled out a hundred from my wallet and gave it to him and walked away.
noon:
i have been on a caffeine high since morning and it doesnt seem to fade away. i like this high but i guess its gonna take its toll tomorrow. anyway, so far so good. eh?
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