CHAPTER 40 - Three Amigos, Pizzas and a Film!

Arindam Moulick

Never was there any opportunity that Arinvan, a resident of Paliwall Estate and Manpreet, a resident of Ranjhana Hills could let pass a chance to entertain themselves while working away at their individual workstations put next to each other. They cracked jokes, talked about their personal issues, and regularly went for coffee together, chatted with Sexy Devee and the ‘Truck Driver’ Suraj at the cafeteria on the 6th-floor terrace, even ordered Pizzas on the phone from Domino Pizzas, a newly-opened store on Raj Bhavan Road – on Saturdays or Sundays only.

On almost every weekend, Renzo Anny Munny, one of our associates of the roaming division, and her fun-loving amigos Merlene Thumas and Elizabeth Bernadette Soomi (Elzy, as she was lovingly called by that name) would regularly drop by. Merlene worked with Satyam on the 4th floor of the Tesser Towers and Elizabeth, a guest companion of Renzo and Merlene, often came by to have an inspirational chat with us pizza-loving gentlemen on the 5th floor Satyam office. It was fun. Elizabeth ended up having private feelings for Arinvan; he could intuit about it as much. She fell in….no no…liked him a bit and almost came to confess it at the Domino’s the place he took her to talk to her and do a reality check of sorts while they dined on a freshly made with deliciously soft, buttery, and chewy pan-baked pizza.

A Day-Dreamer Friend

Elizabeth Bernadette Soomi was an itinerant day-dreamer. How? Let me explain: In the quest to fulfill her dreams, she left her native soil Ernakulam in Kerala in search of a life less ordinary that not only, she dreamed, will serve her purpose of becoming preferably an IT professional but also a woman of substance. She was on the right path if you ask anyone that. After completing her graduation, she began achieving her goals one by one by doing a professional computer course here and a degree there, and completing them to be able to chase another goal of hers was her intense desire. She nurtured ideas of getting admittance to a professional college here in the City of Pearls which would eventually help her land a decent job here. Since job opportunities were hard to come by, Renzo – Elzy’s dutiful friend and a peer-loving fellow Ernakulamite – began loaning some well-meant assistance to her chum Elzy; a helping hand here and a shoulder to lean on there for Elzy’s professional goals to bear fruit was a quest that Renzo too had shared wholeheartedly. Elzy was after all as snug as a bug in Renzo’s rug!

Arinvan had a stock situation-specific limerick for Elzy which went something like this:

Elzy, Elzy, from Chelsea,

Elizabeth Taylor ki darzee!

Banaye kapde jaldi jaldi.

Renzo, Merlene ki friend Elzy,

Is healthy, wealthy, and stealthy!

Apparently, Renzo’s helping nature had done a world of good to Elizabeth Soomi’s both personal and professional prospects. Of course, it was really nice for Arinvan and Manpreet to be aware of the fact that Elizabeth was not only thankful for her friend’s unreserved moral backing but also was deeply gratified to have Renzo Anny Munny as a dearly loved friend. Elizabeth was no doubt fortunate to have such a blessed life in relation to Renzo, a like-minded darling friend of hers. The other ‘best friend’ from the trio (three amigos) of ‘Kerala’s Best Buddies Syndicate, Exclusively for Girls’ club was Merlene Thumas, who in her own happy-go-lucky way led a life of niceness, poise, and polished decency.

On Seeing Gladiator

Back in the year 2000, the film Gladiator was just released and was being shown on Skyline. Manpreet and Arinvan had been looking forward to catching the movie in the latter half of the day when Dilnawaz came in to start his work at 3pm. As soon as the guy came in, we sat him wonkily at our workstation and headed off towards Skyline. Last seen, Dilnawaz’s toothy grin on his face gave away his feeling of being mighty amused about how awfully gung-ho we were to see the new film Gladiator.

Manpreet hardly ever rode pillion in his life. He had his own black Kinetic Honda and his aunt’s beige-coloured old Maruti 800 for his daily commute to the office. Not since Manpreet’s substantial weight gain every passing year that had been no less than a grave problem for him to deal with, had he ridden pillion! 

So we decided to peruse my decent bike instead – a red Honda Splendor – for the long ride to the movie theatre. Funny is not the word I would use to describe the way he looked hunkered down behind me on my bike. It was funny! More than funny! Out of the world funny! Just crazily, astoundingly funny!!!

(To be continued...)

By Arindam Moulick

- A slightly different version of this article has been published on EzineArticles.com. Click on the below weblink to read the article: http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Amigos,-Pizzas-and-a-Film!&id=9085639

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. All incidences, places, and characters portrayed in the story are fictional and entirely imaginary. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead is intended or should be inferred.