MEMORIES AND MEMENTO

"Before entering into the blogger world, I wish to commend the authors of:

• Fish Faced Follies @ www.adlibbingalltheway.blogspot.com: Although I do not know the author personally, I think that this blog is a masterpiece in itself and is my greatest inspiration.
• Same Difference @ www.whatsinsidshead.blogspot.com: The author is one of my best friends. It is he who introduced me to the delight of this fascinating hobby."

My last few days at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata during my winter project revealed new and interesting features about the ‘monochrome’ campus. Take for example what it does to the residents who dare to stay on campus for a period more than three weeks (because that is the time we stayed and we are sure that we are still the same). It causes them to develop a certain addiction to locking themselves in their rooms on the pretext of promoting ‘high level research’ giving the campus a curfew like atmosphere throughout the day. However to people like us who possess the innate capability of inserting ‘Enrique’, ‘Shakira’ and ‘Prison Break’ intermissions in between the most rigorous schedules, the campus is lot more lenient. It just contents itself by giving them a ghastly grin, letting them explore new and innovative ways of killing time. Now, after having watched ‘Memento’ for the umpteenth time, the other Devdeep decided to figure out, what would the situation be like if I developed the same condition as Leonard, once I walked into a lifeless campus as this.

SCENE 1:

Venue: The godforsaken mess of the institute.

Characters: Me and my project partner Viz. Also a few ISIites , also referred to as nerds.

Me: Look, did I tell you about the strange fix I am in?

Viz mumbles something indiscernible while trying to fish out prawns from the small ‘pond’ that was served. You see, the mess at ISI, tried to feed you with the queerest kind of dishes, one can possibly imagine. But that is another story.

Viz: I know the fix that we are in now. This food!!

Me: Well... you see... I have developed this condition. It is called short term memory loss. Since the time I have entered ISI I have forgotten the very purpose we are here for. Also I am unable to make new memories. Anything that lasts for a bit too long fades.

Viz tries to comprehend the situation and his face resembles the one on my profile. (For those who are unaware of the character, look for Mike in Disney’s Monsters Inc.) In doing so, his attention wanders to the table nearby, where two nerds are discussing the differences between a generator and a ‘God only knows what.’

Viz: Look this is what we are here for. We are here for churning out our brains on whatever our guide serves us on a plate.

For that is what projects at ISI were like. You were given a topic. That’s all you could expect as a receiver. Beyond that it is all up to you. Anyways, while Viz is explaining this I suddenly get interested in a notice that hung by my side which went on something like this.

THE ADVENTURERS

For the first time at ISI

Rock Climbing Training at Darjeeling

Those who are interested, please contact _______

Me (Hardly hearing whatever Viz just said): Hey! Why don’t we go for this? Sounds cool.

Viz(Irritated Mode): Let us move out. I will explain on the way.

SCENE 2:

Venue: Out in the cold, in the curfew like environment of ISI campus.

Characters: The same old. What do you expect? I am no Shakespeare or Bernard Shaw. By the way, we also have Dr. Guide in this scene, who doesn’t speak a word for reasons soon to be clear.

Situation: Viz has got this strange idea of throwing me in front of the instructor with a stranger hope that putting me in an even greater fix will help me recover from my condition.

Me: So where are we heading?

Viz: You mentioned rock climbing right? That is where we are heading.

Me: Did I? You see, I have this condition...

Viz: I have realized that. I hear this every time we start a conversation. Tell that to the person we are about to meet.

Me: So who is he? Rock climbing instructor?

Viz: Yeah. Just call him instructor. Will you remember that?

Me: Sorry! And stop blabbering. You speak too much. I have started to forget why we are going to this man after all.

Viz(Super irritated mode): You will soon know. Just call him instructor. And you need to do the talking.

We climb the stairs to reach the eighth floor of a nine storey building, thrice during which I have tried to explain to Viz about my condition at the end of which he repeats the instructions narrated previously. The last instance of this cycle happens just before we enter the concerned chamber.

Viz: Hello! Mr. Guide, we are here for...

Me: Rock climbing, dear instructor.

Refer to my profile picture again to if you cannot imagine the expression on Mr. Guide. For some strange reason, Viz suddenly becomes greatly interested in his over-chewed nails.

Me: So when do we get to practice on the equipments? Please... now?

Viz understands that his foiled plan was about to lead him to a life of pain and suffering, proceeds to explain Mr. Guide about my condition, while I try to tug what seems to be a thick cord which turns out a cable connected to Mr. Guide’s Apple Mac at one end and loose at the other.

Apple Mac: CRASH!!!

Viz seems to decide that it is time to say goodbye to Mr. Guide. He fights a raging battle between the intimate desire of setting me on fire and the sincere hope that this short term memory loss is communicative and both he and Mr. Guide have a weak immune system.

SCENE 3

Venue: My room (Room no. 4, M.Tech. Hostel)

Characters: same old and a nerd.

Situation: I have just returned from the showers and am showing my bare skin to whoever is interested. However, presently there is no one in the room but me.

All of a sudden, Viz enters the room with a black marker in his hand.

Me: What the hell!!!

Viz: I had no time to look for needles and colours and I am not gifting you my cell camera this Christmas.

Me: What do you mean? And what the hell are you blabbering. By the way, can you just help me get my clothes? Can’t remember where I placed them.

Viz does not seem to hear a thing. He forces me on the bed and yells with his mouth near my ear: Let my write a few things on you. It is going to sort out this problem.

All this scene and commotion makes the nerd next door shout something indistinctly similar to “Brokeback.”(Readers unfamiliar with the term may check out IMDB for the 2005 blockbuster Brokeback Mountain.)

SCENE 4:

Epilogue

It is Christmas time. When midnight strikes, Viz walks in with two cans of super strong beer hoping to revive his spirits and keeping his fingers crossed against the notion that the beer might clear my head. Fast forward two hours.

I simply ask the reason as to why there are numerous scratches all over my body, and who was the guy with a broken PC whose face had been stamped on my door? Also my next door neighbour’s behaviour seemed utterly mysterious to me. I mean why should someone send me a bouquet of roses with a card that says: “With lots of love!”?

A few days later, Viz lures me to Howrah and sends me back to Dhanbad. He himself returns a week later after completing the project. He has still kept the bouquet as a memento to something he simply ‘can’t remember to forget.’