CHAPTER 7-BLACK,BLUE,YELLOW AND RED!!!!

We were in Nepal and we were getting bolder by the day. We knew we weren’t going to get this much space any time soon and wanted to make the most of it. Everyday we became a bit more frivolous and naughty. Shah showed us some places that he had seen on his previous trip but were not part of our tour plan. There were mostly things like massage centers and local markets where we could get branded shoes and clothes at a very reasonable rate. Hardik was interested in a massage that was given by a blind man who was very popular but I talked him out of it as I did not think any straight guy would like to be touched by another guy especially a blind one. What if he was not really blind and only pretended to be? What if he asked Hardik to take off all his clothes and liked what he saw? What if he tried to end the massage with a happy ending?
Last day of our tour and we had the whole day to ourselves. The professors had allowed us to spend the day as we chose by either going shopping or staying in and packing for home but we were supposed to be back by 4.00 pm as we were scheduled to leave by 5.00 pm. Everyday we got a bit more used to the place, we knew the people, their customs a bit better now. We also knew where all the hot girls would be and at what time. There were a lot of schools who had come for their excursion to Nepal and the girls from Bishops Cotton School, Bangalore were really hot. We used to pray that we bumped into them at least once everyday. Some of the girls gave us smiles and giggled amongst themselves when they saw us. We never knew if they were being flirty or just laughing at how our mouths opened and our eyes popped every time we saw them in their tiny shorts and little skirts. Sights like those were a rarity in Hyderabad and we wanted to make the most of it. Shah had found out that the girls had come to Nepal on the same time as we did and he guessed they too would leave on that day. He thought that all the girls would be doing some last minute shopping at the local market near by and as they too were away from home we might have a chance of befriending some of them and getting their phone numbers if we tried. Tarun and Dhawal got really excited about this, I was excited too but I knew we weren’t going to get that lucky. Anyway, I decided to go with the flow and we reached the market. No sooner had we gotten there we started searching for the babes from Bangalore but with no luck. It was getting closer to 2 pm and the girls were no where in sight. We were getting more desperate and restless by the minute. Some of us had already given up and were already settling for what we saw in abundance there, Nepali girls. Those beauties were everywhere, shopping, selling or just wandering about the place like they were there just to entice us and all of them smiled at us, maybe out of courtesy but it was all the encouragement we needed. Sometimes we used to ask them for directions and where we could find certain stores so that we could start a conversation but never succeeded. It was our last day in Nepal and I think Shah thought it was his last chance to have some fun. He wanted to be with a girl. So he zeroed upon the hottest Nepali shopkeeper in the market who was selling scarves, wooden baskets and other souvenirs. He went up to her and started chatting her up by asking her the prices of various goods in her shop but with no intention to buy anything whatsoever. She was polite and patient initially but after 10 minutes of all speaking and no spending she looked a bit irritated and tried to brush him off. Shah was persistent tough and did not give up. I think he knew no one other than the gang was going to know about this even if he did not succeed. At least he would have given it his best shot and had some fun.
Shah tried to be a bit bolder now and tried brushing his fingers across her palm when she showed him a keychain. she looked at him with anger in her eyes. Shah was scared now but he gave a sheepish smile and continued talking to her anyway. Her anger had reached simmering point now and she asked all of us to get out. Shah thought she was being a bit rude and said something that sounded to me like “anyway we were not going to buy anything; we were here just for you.” I don’t know what he was thinking when he said that. Maybe he thought she would take it as a compliment or maybe she would feel a bit shy and her temper would cool off. But none of us had expected what happened next. The hot NepaI girl lost it. She started abusing us and yelling at us at the top of her voice. Hearing this, the other shopkeepers from the neighboring shops and tourists started gathering around us. She said something to one of them in their native tongue and we knew we were in deep trouble. We panicked and Chottu said “Bhaago” and we all started running like mad dogs. The Nepali’s ran after us like the cops ran after the bad guys in old Hindi movies. Chottu, Hardik and I managed to escape to safety but the others were not so lucky. We hid behind a huge boulder and from our vantage point we could see a couple of guys had caught hold of Dhawal and Andy and beat the hell out of them. They were made to lie on the floor and kicked everywhere. Shah tried to run but was caught by a guy who was much more agile and fitter than any of us. He was punched in the eye and the face and his nose started bleeding. Tarun tried to help him but the Nepali guy who was much smaller in stature, looked like he was the illegitimate son of Jackie Chan jumped with both his legs in the air and kicked Tarun in the chest. Tarun fell at least three feet away and I think could not breathe for a minute but as soon as he could he ran like there was no tomorrow. The attention had shifted to Tarun and Shah managed to make his escape too. All of us met in the veranda of the school we were staying at, to check the wounds and could not stop laughing at what we had just been through. Shah had gotten a Black eye, Tarun’s face looked lifeless and Blue, Yellow was the color of the shit that we had gotten ourselves into and Red was the color that our faces would turn to trying to explain this misadventure to our teachers and mates. Alas, Shah had to wear sunglasses for a few days, Andy could not walk straight, Tarun did not talk to me for a couple of days because I stood there and saw the whole Tamasha instead of helping him and Chottu came up with a story to cover up the incident. Our Nepal excursion was supposed to be a memorable and colorful chapter of our lives and it indeed was. Every memory, all the fun and all the colors are etched into our minds for ever.