Viper-o-logy

I was back home after a lot of delays, cancelled tickets and curfews. Hiring a cab to be home was the last thing on my mind but I did not have too much to choose either. So that was it. End of an interesting holiday... if you permit me to say so.
Back home my potted plants looked pale and sick, the house was dusty but then it feels good to be home. Wearing my worn out tee, faded pajamas, cooking a quick dinner for me and my girl, I got to my duties once I stepped inside the four walls of my home. But my mind was still somewhere out there... amidst those tea plantations, the long walks by the river side, feeling the moisture in the air, watching the sun set, the laughter and well I was actually missing him.
When the whole house seemed still and silent I called my Wolverine man. It must have been past midnight. I have never done a thing like this earlier. This time around I did not even think twice. I just knew one thing. I wanted to hear his voice once before it was shut eye time.
The feeling I assume is mutual.
Shamelessly I told him how much I was missing him. It must have come across as very blunt or raw, but then again you see, its me. I prefer straight talks.
"Goodness, I am missing you too my Viper", is all he said.
Yes Viper surely loves her Wolverine. Both of them plans to get a similar tattoo done... so much for being friends for life... they plan to do a road trip together soon... which is very soon...up to the mountains.
Wolverine is a mountain man an Viper is a beach bum.
He essentially promised Viper that he'll take her to the seas as well. Feel the waves crashing on the soles of his feet, taste the saltiness and sand in the air and skin too.
I don't know what all this means. He is a friend I'd never let trade off even if if a certain Depp was in exchange!
One day he told me, "Give me baby Wolverine. I want to take her away with me. I will raise her up like my own child".
"How am I going to live without her?" I asked my Wolverine.
"Then why don't you come along? We will put her in a good school there up in those high mountains. They might not have the frills of the schools you find here but I am sure we can give her wholesome education. She will be one with nature and will love it there."
I waited for a long time before I answered. I think I was having difficulty in breathing and speaking when he said this.
"Take her the day I am no more or if something happens to her dad. I know you will bring her up like your own baby. I trust you".
He did not like the "no more" bit. And I said, "if you can wait for another twenty years which should not be a long time as because twenty years have already passed since the time we first met, I will be with you, spending my retirement life; up there in the mountains, meditating, praying and feeling wholesome."
"I will wait for that day", said Wolverine.
And I know none of us are joking.

My Wolverine!

So I was in this sleepy little town of Upper Assam after almost about a year. Dibrugarh is one place I really never look forward to go. But then I have too many near and dear ones from this little town. And ten days ago I was there again. I knew I had to stay there for more than a week and I wasn't too happy about it. My stays in this town has never stretched beyond three days. A week looked a long time... I felt like a guest overstaying and taking undue advantage of a humble host.
And when you don't know what to do keep quite and fix yourself a solid rum and things go fine!
The days were hot and humid and nights were accompanied with prolonged power failures. I wished it rained. Because this town changes from hot and humid to a pleasant little town when it rains. 
That Sunday evening when I was feeling heavy after a very late lunch I didn't even think of going out of the room to the balcony for a smoke. The air condition was a good companion and I wasn't complaining. 
A knock on the door and before I could open Sid walked in with a smile I am so familiar. It was good to see him after a long time. I met him briefly the day after my birthday which was six months ago. He was my wake up call that morning when I was feeling absolutely groggy and was hung after drinking like a fish. And prior to that I faintly recall when was the last time we met. 
This time he was looking good. He looked fit, in absolute control and seemed his body was sculpted with a lot of details.
"Hey Sid! You look good and fit!", I told him.
He blushed and you know he really looked cute.
He is a mountain man. This has kept him so fit. This is what he said. 
It was also the first time he met Nior. My daughter. He did see her once or twice but she was still an infant.
And they talked. Sid is good when it comes handling babies. They also decided to watch The Wolverine the next day.
So it was set. We were meeting again post lunch.
I didn't enjoy the 126 minutes of Wolverine but Sid on my right and Nior on my left thoroughly loved it. Seemed they were of the same age and they also had the same expressions. Nior cannot behave like a 37 year old but I know Sid can be a 5 year old. And that was cuter!
"Lets take Nior to the park", said Sid.
"Which park?", I asked him.
"Get inside the car both of you. Baby is going to love the park and Mommy is going to love the drive", he said as he wasted no time and put the ignition on.
He was right. The drive was good. And the park made Nior happy.
So for the next six days I never got a minute to think that this town has nothing... no place to go... nothing to do... because Sid was with us - a constant companion. 
And it was good. To bond after so long. You know how it is ... to talk to a good old buddy you've known since last twenty years. We went back to the time when we had first met. How things changed and how busy we got with our own lives and how good it was to be like this again. 
He calls Nior his baby Wolverine and it was then I told him, "you are the Wolverive then!"
To which both baby and Wolverine made me the Viper!!!
Dibrugarh is a small town. But still we went on drives along the tea plantations, to the river side, walked on wet sands, feeling the moisture in the air, watching the sky changing from blue to grey and then to complete black. We stopped by the roadside tea shops and sipped piping hot teas. 
Interestingly all the days we met I don't know how come we ended choosing same colour codes. Like it was a blue shirt and a pair of Levis he was wearing & I was wearing a kurta in a similar shade of blue and Levis. The next day he was in a white shirt and that same Levis and so was I... in a white kurta and my same pair of Levis! 
I have a huge bunch of friends in Dibrugarh including my husband. And my busy hubby for the last eleven years too was happy that Sid kept us busy with one thing or the other.
So we went to visit a couple friend of our and there were another few friends too waiting to meet me & Nior. They all complimented me how slim I looked than the last time they saw me. I felt good. And Sid who was sitting next to me said, "Yes Viper... you've shed oodles of weight and you look stunning".
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?", I asked him.
"I didn't find the right moment to tell you. I was busy", he said.
"Busy with what?", I almost demanded.
"Busy looking at you"!!! 
Sid comes up with the unexpected and this time it was my turn to go complete red!
And after eight days which didn't seem like an overstay as I had thought we reached home and strangely it was for the first time I was missing Dibrugarh. 
These are the moments I'd like to treasure. They will not come back. They will be just memories and will bring so much of smile... to baby Wolverine, Viper and the Wolverine himself.