Inebriated Sapience
Just another party.When I say that,people conveniently label me as a social butterfly.Whatever.I don’t think being a compulsive party crasher is a prerequisite to realise that most of them are,more or less,the same.
And yet,they aren’t.
I was almost ready to leave the place.I was bored.I was also tired.But mostly,I was bored.And the coconut vodka didn’t really help.That’s around when we started talking.I was amused by his out-of-place tuxedo and shiny shoes.Harvard boys.In spite of the ridiculous amount of alcohol he had consumed,we had a wonderful conversation about the uselessness (or not) of evolutionary biology.I think it was the tipsy pivot that thrilled me…Anticipating which would come first,his eventual fall off the logical train of argument or a sudden fall off the booze swamped table,was more than mildly engrossing.Both happened almost at the same time as he tumbled over crashing onto the floor after a crassly sloppy attempt to kiss me.As I helped him up,I wondered who I should feel sorry for—-his disgraceful drunk self or my incredulous thirst for twisted amusement.Then I remembered that contrary to what people think,I am not really judgmental.
He was a good kid.Sloshed kid,but good kid.So,I didn’t really mind when I found he had followed me outside as I was about to leave.I told him what he needed was a solid 12 hour sleep.His determination and persistence didn’t surprise me.For someone who’s hopping from one Ivy League school to another to pursue geobiology (really?!),it is sorta given. “Look,I really like you…and I am not saying it just because I am drunk.” I smiled a wry smile.Alcohol really gets us,doesn’t it? I looked at him,in his overpriced outfit,swaying from side to side,with an air of the surprising impression that he was going to succeed in seducing me nevertheless. By now he was rambling words and phrases jumbled in acetyl choline and dopamine.”You really should go back to your dorm and sleep,” I said.Struggling hard to stand up straight,he looked at me with disappointed groggy eyes,kissed my forehead as I stepped away and mumbled,somewhat to himself “If it happens,it happens,if it doesn’t,it doesn’t.”
You know how more often than not we walk around with unresolved issues and sometimes something absolutely unrelated acts like a magic wand and helps us figure them out? His bacchanal words brought stuff into incredible focus and I genuinely smiled.I discarded any trace of pity I might have subconsciously felt for him earlier in the night and inwardly thanked him for sharing such a profound thought in a miraculously simple and straightforward fashion without even realising it.
The yard signifies a lot of things to a lot of people,including me.But as I walked out that night,I knew I’d never forget this piece of inebriated sapience.
