It was a Saturday 30 AUGUST, and everything seemed fine and perfect. Early that morning, my mom and aunt went to a function at Sangita Aunty's house in Kohalpur. That left me in charge of all the cooking, and I had no idea what I was doing. Somehow, I managed to make rice, dal, and an omelet. The rice was hard and the dal was watery, but hey, I managed to cook something.
After lunch, I was just sitting around when Vishan called. "Hey friend, where are you?" he asked. "Let's go to Viewchula, please." I politely said no. A little later, I had to go to my shop because my brother needed to drop our sister Santu at her home. Vishan called again, pleading with me to join them. I turned him down again. Just as some customers came into the shop, his name flashed on my screen once more. "Please join us," he urged.
By this point, I started to think they might be in some kind of trouble. I messaged him, "I'm busy right now, I'll let you know later." He kept calling and messaging, but I was tied up at the shop. After a while, I went home and told my father I had to go out. He said okay and gave me some money for petrol and other expenses. I texted Vishan, "I'll be there in 20 minutes."
I took a quick shower, washed my face, and spent some time trying on different outfits. I still didn't know who I was going with, which was a little awkward, but I felt confident, albeit a bit nervous. Once I was ready, I filled up my bike at the petrol pump and headed to Simtali Chowk. I called Vishan, and he came out to show me the way to his place. When I got there, everyone was ready to go. A girl named Ek Dui Tin sat on the back of my bike. I didn't even get a proper look at her before we set off for our destination.
At first, it was too awkward to speak, so I stayed silent until we reached Kapase. I had told myself I would start a conversation once we got there. But right as we arrived, Samikxya popped up out of nowhere and yelled, "Talk to each other!" It was so mortifying that I just kept quiet until we reached Katakuwa. The girl didn't say a word either. It was just pure, uncomfortable silence. At Katakuwa, Bipin, Salina, Samikxya's sister, and her boyfriend were waiting for us. Again, Samikxya chimed in, "Ek arka sanga bolana!" (Just talk to each other!), which only made things more awkward.
As we moved on from Katakuwa, I finally gathered some courage. "So, are you a new friend of Samikxya's group?" I asked. That was our first real conversation, and thankfully, it started to flow. Or maybe I was just being delusional. To be more precise, it felt like I was asking all the questions and she was just giving answers, like a Q&A session. But then, she started a new topic, and we finally began talking for real, conversing the rest of the way. The road to our destination was so bad that a trip that normally takes 25-30 minutes took us around 45. Ek Dui Tin and I had to wait for the others for about five minutes near the final spot, and we had a normal conversation while we waited. When the others arrived, we tackled the final route—a steep, off-road uphill climb. Vishan's bike slipped as he neared the top, and I wondered what on earth he was doing, but we all managed to reach our destination safely. The moment we got there, Ek Dui Tin and I put on our raincoats because we were in summer clothes and it was freezing.
We picked a spot on a hill and sat down. Before anyone else could get settled, Vishan and I ate all the Moong Dal, even though we hadn't contributed a single penny for the snacks. As everyone gathered, Samikxya, Vishan, Bipin, and Samikxya's sister started drinking Khukuri Rum, while her sister's boyfriend just vaped. Ek Dui Tin and I stuck to the snacks, joking with each other. It was a lot of fun. Samikxya and I had some kind of playful beef going on and argued throughout our stay. We were all gossiping about other people while Bipin and Salina were just enjoying the moment. I think Ek Dui Tin might have been bored then because when it was just the two of us, she talked a lot, but in the group, she barely uttered a word. We clicked photos, made some TikToks, and just lived in the moment. It was really fun. Eventually, we decided to head back down to the valley because it was getting late.
We carefully got our bikes back down the off-road trail. It had started to rain mildly, so Vishan put on a raincoat Bipin gave him. Ek Dui Tin and I were already wearing ours. We had some great conversations on the way back, talking about things I can't even remember now, but I was truly living in that moment. On our way back to the valley, it started raining heavily, so we had to take shelter. Samikxya, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend didn't have raincoats, so we all huddled in a small hut, laughing and talking. After a while, the rain let up a bit, so we continued our journey. I was riding, she was talking—it was nice. We were ahead of everyone else, so we reached Katakuwa first and waited. When I looked over at Ek Dui Tin, I thought she looked like a pest control worker in her raincoat.
After everyone arrived, we left Katakuwa. As we rode through the jungle, Ek Dui Tin was teasing some people we passed. Out of nowhere, we made a bet for 100 rupees on how to properly pronounce "Nabil Bank." We finally reached the valley and went to Samikxya's sister's home. Vishan and Samikxya were there, so Ek Dui Tin and I gave the raincoat back to Vishan, since it was his.
We said bye to them and I started driving her home. On the way, she said something like, "Malai mamu lai call garnu xa, timro mobile deuna" (I need to call my mom, can I use your phone?). I pulled the bike over to the side of the road and handed her my phone. After the call, we started our journey again. Near the Khajura bridge, traffic police stopped us to check for MaPaSe (drunk driving), and she just laughed. Then, as we reached Deuti Bajai Chowk, it started pouring. The raindrops felt like tiny bullets hitting my skin. I was riding so fast, and I don't even know what we were talking about. I was just really worried about my phone getting soaked.
We got near her house, she hopped off, we said our goodbyes, and I immediately headed straight home. It was raining so hard, I can't even describe it. It was incredibly difficult to ride the bike, and my main thought was, "When am I going to get home?"
I reached my house safely, changed out of my wet clothes, and took my phone out of its cover. I wiped it down with a dry towel and put it on to charge. Just then, Ek Dui Tin's mom called me. I answered, "Hello? Hello?" I couldn't hear anyone on the other end, so I joked, "Mic check!" From the other side, her mother started speaking. "Babu, khai ta Ek Dui Tin aayena ta?" (Son, where is Ek Dui Tin? She hasn't arrived). I replied, "Maile ta ghar ma chodeko ho, aunty" (Aunty, I already dropped her at home). She just said, "Aa," and cut the call. I went to the kitchen to have dinner.
After dinner, I went back to my room. Vishan was messaging me, asking me to send him the photos, but my mobile data wasn't working and the electricity was out, so I had no way to send them. I managed to send three photos using my data before I put my phone on airplane mode and tried to sleep. I had a headache and my eyes felt heavy. I went to bed around 8 PM but didn't actually fall asleep until 11 PM. I don't know why, but random thoughts just kept popping into my head. I even woke up around 4:30 in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep properly.
P.S. It was nice to connect with new people... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Everyone was too nice to be truee...
