Today I spent most of the time with Rohit meandering through Rajpur road, our first stop was the Piccolo Caffe where we sat for a few hours in the late afternoon sun drinking lemonade and binging on Fish Figures. Our discussions revolved around stories film scripts and prospective projects that we could mutually work on. Rohit was kind enough to share a one-pager on his story titled Farewell which is a nostalgic yarn. I was in no mood to develop his concept and suggested that it would be better if he shared the stories from my books. I was more interred in the fish fingers and thought it only prudent to divert Rohit’s attention from developing his story as no intention of doing it. I would from time to time lose myself in conversations and would meander out of the cafe just staring at the thick canopy of trees all around the cafe .” You know not all stories can be adapted into film or visual content our story Airport Kabul is based in Afghanistan the producer will ask what is the Indian angle in the book. All writers feel they have written a perfect book but the visual medium is different thus not all books can be adapted to a web series .’ Rohit went on to explain to me, that has struggled in Bollywood as long as me he has learned through experience and he had made a valid point.
“ You know Chetan Bhagat has been writing for twenty years, he is a name a brand it will ate you some time to reach there. But keep at it you will reach somewhere .” Rohit went on to explain as he dived into a plate of chili paneer. It was now evening time and we decided to walk downhill, as luck would have it we saw three monks gay fully walking on the road sometimes stepping on the footpath, and then back playfully gossiping wearing their orange and maroon monk robes and lungis.
I decided to strike up a conversation with a monk from Nepal by the name of Gurung, So can you guys have sex, or is celibacy the norm for monks ?” I asked Gurung a short monk with a shaven head with chinky eyes, this bespectacled being enlightened me on the matter .” Yes no sex for us we mediate and we do not have any need for sex as a monk we must stay away from the desire of the flesh, no women are allowed in the monastery for women there is a separate monastery and they are called Nuns. We use meditation to take our energies up and not think of sex .” Gurung explained to me the protocol followed by the monks. He was from Nepal and was keen to answer my queries .” So no sex, no masturbation also ?” I probed further .” Well, we have night falls that are natural and cannot be stopped but no sex we abstain from it as it is desire and through mediations, we need to cut desire .” Gurung went on to explain .” Do you know there are stories of Buddha and a prostitute one of his disciples visited one in a village and even stayed with her? There are stories of Jesus and the prostitute, Vivekanand and the prostitute, and so forth .” I went on to elaborate trying to mix vice sex and monkhood into one. “ Yes, one day you come and meditate with us, till then bye-bye .” Saying this Gurung walked forth with his fellow monks but not before I took a few snaps with him and his friends.
It was now almost night and I was getting hungry with all the walking and talking so we decided to have dinner in a fine Chinese and continental restaurant. I once again forgot all about my dieting today as I tucked into Pork chops, fried rice, and Yum Yum soup. I also managed a diet coke but was stopped from having desserts by Rohit, he reminded me about my weight loss program .” You are a lucky man, you know you were saved from death and came out well from the tragedy of your dad’s murder. Rohit reminded me .” That adversity made me a man before that I was a child but after dad’s death I had to grow up, I sold my flat at the right price even though builders told me that the gangster Vijay Palande had threatened anyone who bought it. Then I invested the money wisely into mutual Funds so now my life is comfortable. I went on to chat with Rohit as I sipped my net coke with lemon. It was decided that we would catch the 10.45 pm show of Kashmir Files at a common friend’s shopping mall called Silver City. But there were still two hours for us to kill, so we decided to walk further, I spotted a Saloon and decided to get a haircut and color my hair jet black. I have been growing my hair for two years and I was getting tired of my ponytail. The hair cut went well and I managed to get a peculiar cut which I never had and also got my hair dyed black, the total cost one thousand five hundred. I sent my friends the first snaps of my hair cut and most feel that I look like a gay now even more than before. But I like it anyway it’s chic and very fashionable, I enjoy it I know it makes me look more effeminate. By the time the haircut was over and I had sent my new pics on WhatsApp to friends it was time for the movie The Kashmir files. We had free entry as it’s a common friends cinema hall. The movie was very intense and a history lesson for both me and Rohit, some scenes were very shocking. The movie was raw and more documentary style, I loved Mithun, Anupam Kher, and Pallavi Joshi the actors were A one and the film was honest and very raw, I watched it intently without losing my concentration from time to time which is common while watching a three-hour film. I had ice cream and a scoop of butterscotch on a cone at the interval and then got engrossed in the film it was very revetting and some scenes were very disturbing. But the movie was an eye-opener for me there was a lot that I learned from it. It was almost 2:00 am when we walked out of the cinema hall still numbed by what we had seen on the way back to the house all we did was discuss the films and how the star made a mistake by Turing a blind eye on the Kashmir issue, I would recommend the film to everyone and two thumbs up to the makers the banner of Kashmir Files fly high.
