One of the highlighting feature of a reunion with your old friends is the opportunity for boozing that is coupled with it. If you are lucky enough to be a part of a drinking company you will have enjoyed the very moments and will be cherishing it even now provided you are in a state to remember something. As per virtuosos in this field, Booze Company lasts for ever (I’m counting on that!!!). Hope you do follow. What make this drinking company so enjoyable are the talks, booze gives one confidence to talk, more that that it makes you feel free, to talk about anything and everything. I don’t know why the police are still relying on their infamous methods of questioning. They should just get the accused drunk and they will disclose everything they did. It is not even expensive, cheaper the better.
Right from the moment I and Narayan set foot in Trivandrum there has been a single word in our lips ‘Akathalam’. It is a bar located in Sreekaryam near our college. Akathalam can’t just be said as a bar, it is more than that for CETians. Any sort of celebration we had then always ended either in ZAM ZAM or Akathalam one way or another. Zam Zam is known for its sumptuous Shawai and the latter often connotes hospitality, warm comfort and ambience. Akathalam is one of the most prominent things we have missed after leaving the college. Most of us had gone to Trivandrum many a time after leaving the college for different reasons, be it for a tryst with your girlfriend or the everlasting commitment with university. But we didn’t make it to Akathalam. Without a company to hangout even Akathalam doesn’t sound enticing.
Even after having an earnest desire to hang out in Akathalam the plan didn’t work out as we expected.We didn’t get ample time for such a process since many of the members of the team [Me Junu Naru and Renji] were busy with tryst. And the team got bigger, much bigger, with addition of some of our college mates who were staying in Trivandrum. The problem of having a bigger team is that the planning part consumes great chunk of time, more often taking the action part out of the picture . Needless to say the same happened with us. Going to Veli, Kovalam, Sankumukham and many other tourist points came into consideration. What really happened in the end was, made fabulous plans stared each others faces with frustration most of the time and finally went to see a fort for the sake of doing something. After that we, the initial team were left on our own.
We excluding Renji (he left for Calicut) set forth to Akathalam. Sreekaryam, the town was almost silent apart from the sound of a loud speaker. Akathalam is at a walkable distance from Sreekaryam junction. There is a huge gate leading to local bar and our elite Akathalam. The gate was locked. We couldn’t muster any sensible reason for its untimely closure, brain wasn’t fully cooperating. Then the sound from loudspeaker, much the shrieks, became more audible though we were standing at a good distance from it. They were giving accounts of good deeds of Sree Narayana Guru. The day we chose happened to be his Jayanthi or Samadhi what ever.
This is the problem with amateur drinkers. Unlike regular drinkers novices never foresee things. A holiday like Gandhi Jayanthi or Guru Samadhi ain't a normal one for accustomed drinkers. Even if they forget any other eventful day they will keep track of these alcohol non available days.
Frustrated and desperate, we walked back to where we were staying ( our college mate Naushad's house in Chavadymukku). It wasn’t anymore about Akathalam and its warmth or ambience, it was just about getting drunk and having some kind of revenge no matter on whom.
The path leading to the house was an open air hangout for the locals there. There was a wry smile on our faces when we saw three locals getting drunk. One of them noticed it.
X : Entharadei chirickkanathu? (Why the hell are you laughing?)
Messing with Trivandrum locals is the last thing you want to do, certainly not when they are drunk.
I shrugged my shoulders to suggest a 'nothing' . And it did nothing.
Narayan addressed him as Anna and narrated the incident. May be the way he addressed him or the realization that we were younger brothers in the trade, mellowed him. He had a pleasant chat with us and offered us little rum they were having. We weren’t drinkers enough to try Rum, so we humbly denied it.
Our Annan looked at me.
Ninne kandal ariyam vellamadikkum ennu..(You certainly look like a drunkard!!)
Was that a compliment? It was pretty big one considering the fact that it came from a person who is a virtuoso in the field, but I didn’t know if I had to be thankful or not.
Anyways I wasn’t ready to accept it, not yet. So I humbly denied it.
Anna, satyamayittum look undanne ullu. (though I may be have the looks of a drinker, I'm still a novice)
I would have certainly taken it, if he asked me for the second time. I was standing there with a face wearing an expression which might have said ‘Annan Nirbandhikkukayanengil Kazhikkam’, so were the others.
Your face says it all. He invited us again and none of the objections were strong enough. We had drinks.
Like I said earlier the booze company lasts for ever, when ever we met him after that our Annan smiles and shares a few words with us.
Akathalam still beckons. But I can only say or rather hope: As soon As Possible
