View from the Other Side – The Froth

He looked at the shiny crystal glass in his right hand – filled partly with a honey coloured single malt whisky, his favourite. He twirled the drink around and its woody aroma filled his senses! The smooth liquid along with two ice cubes splashed gently hitting the sides of the glass. He kept staring at the ripples in the whisky and his mind flew back to the past.

Krishna had just got back from the college after finishing his final examinations. A young Brahmin lad born and brought up in a conservative and orthodox environment, he and his close friends had all worn the sacred thread when they were just 7 years old. Performing religious rituals three times and visiting the village temple, every day were part and parcel of their lives. Being a pure vegetarian, considering touching an egg, itself was a taboo. He could not even think of walking past a hotel serving non-vegetarian food.

However, today Krishna had decided to be part of a sacrilegious act. He was shivering with excitement waiting for his partners in crime near the wooden bridge built over the stream flowing on the outskirts of his village. His mind was filled with uncontrollable joy one moment and screaming out with pure panic the other. He could only imagine what was to happen in the next one hour. 

As dusk approached, he saw three men walking towards him and he could just make out their silhouettes. “Oh my God”, he thought. The game was going to get over even before it started. He tried desperately to hide behind the trunk of a coconut tree, hoping that they had not seen him. “Oye Krishna”, cried a voice. “Come out from behind the tree, your bum shows anyway” chirped his friend Anand and there was a cackle of laughter as his friends Prem and Ravi joined in. He relaxed visibly. He had frozen solid with fright. “Where are the other two rascals?” he quipped. “Oh, there they are. Think of the devils.” laughed Prem. Prashant and Guru joined in and there was round of back-slapping and friendly banter, however, the tension was evident, coiled like a spring.

Now the team was complete. The six of them! They knew each other from the time they were born. And today they were fully ready to commit a crime of their lives. None of them spoke for a few moments. Then Anand piped in.  “Who will go and get the stuff?” They all looked at one another and then as if it was all pre-planned, Prem and Prashant pointed their finger and said ‘Krishna, who else”. He nearly jumped out of his skin, “Not me” he screamed. “Shhhh” whispered Anand hoarsely, “you want the whole village to know is it?” “You are the bravest and smartest amongst us,” said one. “Most studious” said someone else. There was something fishy but Krishna could not figure it out. But pride overtook common sense and he said “OK”. “Yeah” cheered his friends.

“How many should I get?” “Get four” said Prem. “Yes” nodded others. Money exchanged hands as each one emptied their pockets of the money they had saved for this one landmark day.

They were going to have their first ‘Hard drinks’ of their lives – Beer!!!

Fear tried to overpower Krishna but a friendly push sent him scurrying to the only liquor shop in the village. Halfway through, courage deserted him and he ran back to his friends. “How will I carry four bottles in my hand, you dumbos?” he shouted. They all looked at him blankly and then in a rush of activity each one took off searching for something to carry their precious bottles. Prem came cheerfully back with a worn out gunny bag stinking of rotten vegetables. “Wrap the bottles in this.” he said. Krishna dragged his feet to the liquor shop. A few villagers passed by looking at him and the gunny bag in his hand. It seemed everyone knew what he was doing. He looked furtively on both sides before rushing into the shop.

“God exists,” he thought. There was no one else in the shop, not even the owner who knew his father. Only Vibhu, the owner’s son was behind the counter. The shop was dimly lit with two hurricane lanterns casting a yellow glow on the merchandise. This was the first time that Krishna had entered any liquor shop. So many different bottles, of varying sizes, different colours of liquid in each of them. “What do you want? Are you deaf?” asked Vibhu the second time. Krishna was still dumbstruck. “Bbbee..er” he stammered. “How many?” “Fffo..ur” he whispered hoarsely. “Four?” asked Vibhu. Krishna was about to say something, by then Vibhu had already turned and gone into the dark recess of the shop. Krishna looked at the entrance hoping no one came when he was there. Lots of explanations would need to be given and many lies exchanged. What if somebody told his father? He started sweating as Vibhu casually returned with the bottles clinking gaily in both his hands. “Someone was bound to hear this,” though Krishna. “Oh my God, Oh my God”.

“How much..” he was about to ask. “48 rupees” pat came the reply. He fumbled in his pocket for all the coins his friends had given, saved by not paying for the bus tickets. Some coins clattered noisily on the counter. Three crumpled 10 rupee notes, two rupee coins, and some 50 paise coins. “Oh my God, Oh my God”. Someone is going to come in before I pay up, thought Krishna. Oh no! He was surely going to fall short of money. Another crumpled note came out of his pocket. It was a 10-rupee note. He threw it on the counter, dumped the four bottles in inside the stinky gunnysack and rushed out. It was thankfully dark. He slunk out and started walking quickly towards where his friends were waiting. Suddenly a figure loomed out of the darkness. “Hey Krishna, where are you going, my son?” asked his uncle who had just stepped out of his house. Krishna froze as he tucked the sack behind his back in a un-named Yoga pose. “Just going to meet my friend Anand, Uncle. Had to complete some project work”. “Oh, very good, go, go, go,” said his uncle and continued to walk towards the village temple blissfully unaware that he had just spoken to the criminal of the century. “God exists,” thought Krishna again.

He let out a sigh of relief and started running towards his friends. The bottles clinked noisily but he threw all caution to the winds. He reached the wooden bridge and Anand was the first to meet him. “Are you trying to get us killed?” he asked angrily. “The whole village would know by now, the clinking could be heard all the way here”. By then, the others had gathered around. “Did you get it?” asked Prem. “Yes” said Krishna breathlessly.

Phase One of the crime had gone smoothly!!!

Now the next worry started. Where would they go and have the elixir of life? “I know a place” said Ravi and they followed him to the old carpenter uncle’s shop. The main door was not locked as expected. Ravi pushed open the door and it creaked noisily. “Shhhh” cried Anand. “You are going to get the whole village here.” They all pushed themselves into the cramped shop. Someone stubbed his toe and there was a hushed “Ouch”. “Shhhh” whimpered Anand again. He was running out of words to say to his friends. They didn’t dare to switch on the light. It would be noticed from far. The bottles clinked lightly. The mood was swinging between excitement and worry. Anand switched on the torch he had bought and they could see the wooden worktable in the dim light. “Bring the bottles here,” said Anand. Prem took the bottles out one by one and five pairs of eyes followed every movement of his. “Wow” sighed someone. Nobody cared. They all looked lovingly at the trophies of their crime.

Phase Two of the action was over!!!

“Oh no, how will we open the bottle caps now?” asked Prem. “Tan-da-dan” chirped in Prashant and produced a crude piece of tool designed like a bottle opener. “This should serve the purpose”. “Great” shouted everyone. “You are the man.” said Prem. The mood became light again with pats on the back, this time for Prashant. “Damn,” said Ravi. “there are only four bottles and six of us. How are we going to drink?” They had reached close to the finish point but they could not cross the line. Drinking from the same bottle was sacrilege. Ugh!! Anything else but not that! There was pin drop silence. “Let’s look for something.” said someone and each one of them scattered. The front door creaked open and they all froze with shock. “It is me,” said Krishna as he was leaving through the front door looking for something to have the heavenly drink in. “Close the bloody door” yelled Anand. He was already frayed at his nerves. They all clattered around the carpenter shop. “Ouch” moaned someone as a nail pricked him in the toe. “Shhhh,” came the reply from Anand.

The door opened again with a ghastly creak. Everyone froze again like rabbits trapped in the headlights of a car. It was Krishna again. “What did you get?” “Here” said Krishna and showed them four hemispherical coconut shells. “You are a genius,” said Anand, giving him a bear hug. There was joy all around.

The final act of opening the bottle proceeded without much delay. Prashant picked up one bottle, clipped the hook of the rough tool to the edge of the bottle cap and with a stylish flourish flicked his hand upward. The cap flipped open...

The warm beer having been thoroughly shaken during the run from the liquor shop gushed out with all its bottled up fury, frothing over, wave after wave, like a waterfall after torrential rains. “You… see how much you have wasted. Oh my God. Tomorrow the whole shop will be stinking. We are going to be found out,” cried everyone in synchrony. While everyone was berating Prashant, Krishna calmly pulled the bottle from Prashant’s wet hands and tilted it lovingly over the lip of the coconut shell. The amber liquid quietly poured itself into the natural cup, its fizz already drained out. 

The frothy liquid rippled in the faint light of the torch as Krishna raised it to his lips and took a long swig of the bitter elixir!!!

“Cheers” said his friend Anand 

He was brought back to the present. 

“Cheers” said Krishna, his eyes moist. “We have come a long way, isn’t it?” as he raised his crystal glass and clinked it with his friends’ glass.

The CFOs of two of largest finance companies smiled at each other and sipped on their drink… Both lost in their own thoughts.