THE STORY (contd...) :
In general, I am a little shy! That day when I made The Decision and went out boldly at the pan-shop just beside the Alipore Zoo, I felt a little gurgling in my stomach ;) ... taking over me. However, I kept my cool and tried to be a 'natural'.
I said, "A Gold Flake please." (This name came to me as it was the most popular and regular 'diet' of my college friends). He handed me over the White Stick and I gave him a 2 rupee coin. Then again, acting as a natural, I said, "Dada, where's the fire please?" He handed me over a matchbox.
I lighted a match, held it at the end of the stick (yuck! the filter tastes bad) and oh my gosh, the white wont burn! (It never occurred to me that at the same time firing it, I should've sucked it!) The shopkeeper had assumed that I had managed to do it and took away the box. Embarrassed, I stood staring at the burnt end and then at the shop-keeper!
Hm... by this time the man knew I was a 'beginner' ! He lighted the next match himself and held it at the end. This time I made no mistake, I kept on sucking hard till atleast 1cm of it had been burnt. But, what a tremendous series of coughs, huffs & puffs I had! I kept on coughing and moved away from him to avoid further embarrassment! I moved on to the 230 Bus Stand and tried to concentrate ;)
Now I had another problem... no matter how much I suck, no smoke came out of my mouth. I gave out a wide fooooooo after sucking in, but no smoke :( I was rather confused !! Anyways, I assumed that something had come into my mouth after each suction and though I could feel nothing, I tried to gulp it down. This time, Hurrah! some smoke did come out of my nose (but still none from the mouth) ... anyways, I didn't give up hope and played the nosy game for some time, but the damned stick wont get finished.
Next I tried another trick... I tried to 'inhale' (that's what my friends say they do while smoking), so after sucking I tried to breathe in through the mouth. But wait! I had a tremendous pain in my chest, followed by another series of coughs, huffs & puffs !! Some people around did actually notice me doing something 'strange'... anyways I chose to ignore them and continue. Now I badly wanted this to finish!
Then I hurriedly kep on sucking, and without any smoke coming out. After sometime, when the thing got very small (touched the label), I got bored and decided to give up... I just threw it away (though now I repent that I should've kept it as a memoir/momento!). My whole mouth was filled in a very horribly bitter taste, two of my fingers smelt awefully bad and I was very apprehensive yet somewhat excited! I got a Chlor-Mint to freshen my breath and headed for the bus, with that aweful pain in my chest.
EPILOGUE :
After all this, I deecided at the spot, that, well... I still preferred Ice Cream over that damned stick and had no intention to have a go again... bless the pain in the chest! I headed for the British Council Library, raring to share the experience with someone, and I did post the first part from there!
In general, I am a little shy! That day when I made The Decision and went out boldly at the pan-shop just beside the Alipore Zoo, I felt a little gurgling in my stomach ;) ... taking over me. However, I kept my cool and tried to be a 'natural'.
I said, "A Gold Flake please." (This name came to me as it was the most popular and regular 'diet' of my college friends). He handed me over the White Stick and I gave him a 2 rupee coin. Then again, acting as a natural, I said, "Dada, where's the fire please?" He handed me over a matchbox.
I lighted a match, held it at the end of the stick (yuck! the filter tastes bad) and oh my gosh, the white wont burn! (It never occurred to me that at the same time firing it, I should've sucked it!) The shopkeeper had assumed that I had managed to do it and took away the box. Embarrassed, I stood staring at the burnt end and then at the shop-keeper!
Hm... by this time the man knew I was a 'beginner' ! He lighted the next match himself and held it at the end. This time I made no mistake, I kept on sucking hard till atleast 1cm of it had been burnt. But, what a tremendous series of coughs, huffs & puffs I had! I kept on coughing and moved away from him to avoid further embarrassment! I moved on to the 230 Bus Stand and tried to concentrate ;)
Now I had another problem... no matter how much I suck, no smoke came out of my mouth. I gave out a wide fooooooo after sucking in, but no smoke :( I was rather confused !! Anyways, I assumed that something had come into my mouth after each suction and though I could feel nothing, I tried to gulp it down. This time, Hurrah! some smoke did come out of my nose (but still none from the mouth) ... anyways, I didn't give up hope and played the nosy game for some time, but the damned stick wont get finished.
Next I tried another trick... I tried to 'inhale' (that's what my friends say they do while smoking), so after sucking I tried to breathe in through the mouth. But wait! I had a tremendous pain in my chest, followed by another series of coughs, huffs & puffs !! Some people around did actually notice me doing something 'strange'... anyways I chose to ignore them and continue. Now I badly wanted this to finish!
Then I hurriedly kep on sucking, and without any smoke coming out. After sometime, when the thing got very small (touched the label), I got bored and decided to give up... I just threw it away (though now I repent that I should've kept it as a memoir/momento!). My whole mouth was filled in a very horribly bitter taste, two of my fingers smelt awefully bad and I was very apprehensive yet somewhat excited! I got a Chlor-Mint to freshen my breath and headed for the bus, with that aweful pain in my chest.
EPILOGUE :
After all this, I deecided at the spot, that, well... I still preferred Ice Cream over that damned stick and had no intention to have a go again... bless the pain in the chest! I headed for the British Council Library, raring to share the experience with someone, and I did post the first part from there!
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