Smoke'n

One summer morning as the wavelength of the Sun's light plummeted (for the uninitiated : Energy of a light beam is inversely proportional to its wavelength), I waited under the tree for my friend as he walked up to me with an eagerness so profuse which was only seen again when M S Dhoni walked up to the dais to pick up the T20 World Cup trophy 9 years later. I had been waiting there for the last 15mins or may be more, in fact definitely more, while he had been whispering sweet nothings to the new nightingale in his life. My Casanova of a friend had handed her a long (definitely longer than what this post would amount to) Love Letter (LL) the last time. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that the three of us used to go to the same tuition.

Today was The Day, I mean THE DAY - if you haven't already realised the significance of "THE DAY", damn!! fcu|< ya. "the day" when he would either get the NOD or the ROD.
We walked out of the serene shadow of the tree to the generous offerings of white-hot warmth of a yellow Sun God.

He took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and opened it up with fumbling fingers. We read, I read and then he read it again. I'm pretty sure he would've thought that the Monsoons had for a change shed its water on the Sun cooling it down. My dude had just got the NOD. You realise what "THE NOD" means, I hope. Because, if you don't then I sincerely hope you'll fall in love someday and get "THE ROD" instead, after all its the failures that give meaning to the victories.

Although I don't remember exactly what was written in that letter, but I remember the last sentence - "Please don't disclose this to anyone else." :))
Did someone else just come to know of something he shouldn't have? Well, I don't think so because I ain't "anyone"!! :)

So, now on to the main purpose of this post - my first puff of nicotine wrapped in white paper, fitted with an yellow filter at the end. Sorry for the elaborate description of the thing I just mentioned, I can't recollect the term - its been so many years you see.
We went to my place. My parents had already left for work and we were left to take the next step towards adulthood. Well, he had already done that a few days back with his cousins so it was his turn to pass on the knowledge to me, his confidant. There were certain directions that I was given regarding the procedure of inhalation and the subsequent discharge of unwanted gaseous particles. What followed was an excited sequence of activities - opening of windows, drawing of curtains, switching on fans and grasping a deo spray for the immediate vanquishing of suspicious odour from the room.

Then came the Big Moment, after a small demo from my friend. My hand trembled as I held the lighted torch in between the index and the middle finger of my right hand. With an air of adulthood visibly circling my brow ( or was it the halo that I was about to forgo forever! ) I put the yellow, spongy, unlighted end of the torch - the light that would show me the road to adulthood, between my lips. I followed the standard procedure of inhalation through mouth, stayed for a moment and then dispelled the air out of my system with utmost contempt as of a man who had just stepped out of adolescence. I looked earnestly at my friend as if waiting for his approval. I took another fag, and another and a few more, till the fire had engulfed the entire white portion of the thing. I stood and waited for something to happen, with an eagerness to know what would happen. I asked my friend if I had stood up to his expectations. He gave me the thumbs up. But then, why isn't it happening I wondered, without having the slightest clue of what it was that I was expecting to happen to me. Although I was proud of my latest achievement I didn't get what I was expecting out of it, sadly till today I'm not sure what was I expecting anyway. So much for the step towards adulthood!! By the way, this was an event of celebration for the Nod. :)



PS : Hope the friend and the nightingale doesn't mind the disclosure of something that perhaps wasn't meant to be disclosed to anyone. :)