"I see two moons. I drank some of whisky Tuinche brought." That statement, from the Rev. James, was delivered in a casual tone. But it rang out like a pistol shot that clear night on the Sunkosi riverbank. In the deepening silence, we held our collective breath; hearts hammered, and I hoped we were downwind from the Reverend.

Class comedian and mimic par excellence, Tuinche attempted a laconic response. Didn't fly. In the midst of the 'identify the constellation' lesson we did on camping trips, the reverend gave us a sharp reminder that us 8th grade whippersnappers were nowhere near to pulling the wool over his eyes. For earlier in the growing dusk, Tuinche had stealthily unwrapped the contraband tucked away the bottom of his backpack. Most times, it took a few well aimed cuss words to get volunteers to fetch water. But not that night for there were several uncharacteristically eager volunteers heading for the river nearby.

Armed with a dented and soot blackened pot the lot pretended casual haste as they marched to the river and scooped up some clear mountain water. Into which was surreptitiously poured the hooch. Taking turns, hasty gulps were swallowed, all the while pretending animatede interest in the chilly waters rushing past. Had to be rainbow trout and carp fishing that was on our minds. Yea, like we could tell a mackerel from a dolphin.

For a chap that had a special distaste for OH-group fluids, I surprised myself by taking those few gulps. Arghh, it tasted like..sheesh. Not quite as bad as some of Sishne's camp cooking, but that was setting the standard pretty low. It weren't for me, I concluded. Still, it was mostly a sure fire source of levity.

Such as summer days in grade ten that whenever I sometimes noticed a classmate come back from lunch break with a crooked, if sloppy, grin on his face I knew I could expect a musical exhibition of sorts. Dignifying what then ensued as musical would be a stretch, but I'll not quibble such details as was an expression of some sort. Back at his desk behind me, the fellow would grab a protractor and pen and start hammering a wild staccato on his metal geometry box. Was it the Deep Purple or Pink Floyd sloshing around in his head? Whatever it was, it now flowered into full artistic expression, encouraged in large measure by the four or five glasses of sauni especial jaand that had helped wash down his lunch a short while ago.

For the next several minutes, with eyes closed in focus, he?d do his best take on Nick Mason and perhaps a bit of Roger Waters thrown in for good measure. That sometimes led me to wonder if he bore any family resemblance to Cacofonix. Toc, toc, toc, that singer was crazy.

Then there was the time another feller, a James Dean wannabe with this BSA motorbike and tall tales of gang fights. Loaded to the gills on some of ye olde sauni especial, he'd sometimes yank out that rusty Ram Singh chaap knife from his jeans and provide a dramatic enactment of how he faced down the roughnecks in some fight in Dillibazaar. Was it fact or fancy? Who knew, but what mattered was he believed it, and it was good listening anyway.

Except for the time when his power slide demo partially shredded my father's favourite roses. This gave rise to an instant vision of the old man sighting down the well-oiled barrel of his Holland and Holland 375 magnum. He'd intended to hunt water buffalo with that canon, and I idly contemplated what effect it might have on the engine block of that BSA. With alacrity, I hustled that would be pre-Kollywood martyr out the gate and bade him a hasty farewell.

The piece de resistance, of course, was when we were preppies in college. With the flat mate's sister and her friends gathered to provide us lads, far from home and country, a somewhat meaningful day of blessings on Bhai Tika, the man of the moment became Mike. For on a dare half an hour earlier, he'd guzzled nearly a half bottle of liquid gold from Scotland. Our man felt the effects in a hurry just as we sat down to eat, steam rising from the laden plates. In front of all assembled, out came his breakfast in one go, right onto his plate. Hic.

Cheers, all !

My gratitude to readers if they would kindly overlook the unintended, but nonetheless shameful, grammatical and other errors.

czarrrrrrrrrrrr broooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Long time... How are you?
Too drunk to read those words written by you, haaaaaaa... I swear I will read it tomorrow.... You know How much eager I must be to go thru em.... ahhhhh!!!

Bro, seriously, ekdum happy to see u back in bizznizz you are best at... ah...

Czar...nice posting..( it reminds me of my GRE test though) :P:P:P
keep it up man
:)

A czar in our midst? One who writes too? A rare feat. :)) How come i havent see you around? And the 2 clowns above seem to know you too ;) Im new, and they might just tell you.,.. im always gone with the wind.. but get bk real quickly too.Made for good reading.Keep postin wud ya?

Gone with the wind...

Hey Czar,

Good to see you back on Sajha. Enjoyed reading your post.

I suggest you buy a Guiness each to your readers to express your gratitude for making them read your full of typos and grammar error posts. :-) You know you have caused us inconvenience beyond explanation.

C'mon if Czar apologizes for typos and grammar errors, then I should just stop writing!!!

If not guiness, then some pale ale or sauni ko bhatti ko aye-la. Fair deal, no?

Hey hey Czar;

So good to see you with your incomparable humor. Fishing eh? Reminds me of Deep's jyalincha fishing.

Czar Dai,
great to see you after a long tyaaam. how is your voice screening going? So, is there any chance we can have some "love potion no. 9" sometime next week :). I'll be around the area. If Kalanki is sober by then, I will try to drag him too.

and Iso bro, whazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzup?

hiya olden fellas...
good one, czar, as always.

czar,

thanks for the nice read...was the james dean wannabe follower of 'rebel without a cause'?

IF : I trust the scholarship of your chosen field is richly rewarding. To celebrate which, I invite you to join me as we take the froth of a few at Ye Olde Irish Inn. Perhaps the fair lasses therein will send smiles your way that promise more than the Garden of Eden. Cheers!

Kalanki : You, sir, of the of the uncanny wit and observations, my thanks to you. Yet I advantage of this moment to exclaim that for far too long we have not heard of that water distribution business and that sauni?s nubile daughters who are neglected and remain bereft of your charms. Will you not spin for us another tale that transports us to those places of yore?

Scarlet : An inimical faun that breeze in out, blows hot and cold, whirls like a dervish, swirls in the imagination, and possibly of tempestuous storms you can unleash up on the immoderate. Thank you for reading. Enchante bien, mademoiselle.

Sitara : My compliments to the lady. We remain, as ever, in anticipation of your next literary creation.

John Galt: An avid fan of your writing, I thank you for the courtesy. As for that 'live fast, die young' fellow, he beat the odds and made it to staid adulthood.

Oys kaji,
I have the guitars tuned, vocals all warmed up ! Next week is excellent. Shoot me an email, I will send you my contact info.

My appreciations to Birkhe and Echoes, thanks !

Czar... i really enjoyed reading your posting...

:) nice one. kept me smiling..

czar,
That was a craking read. Wonder why I missed seeing your shadow flitting across my screen.

Your post reminded of my watching the Robert Redford film - The River Runs Through It.

Here's to Mike (like him! :). Cheers.

Nice Nice czar..:)

Czar!!!!!,

Welcome back!!!! Enjoyed reading your post..ani kata bepatta ho yettika barsa samma?

A river runs through it? :)

"As the moon lingers a moment over the bitter roots before its routine descent into the invisible, my mind is filled with a song and i find myself humming- not to the music, but some place else. A field of grass where noone seems to have been except the deers and the memories. Memories of you dancing in my awkard arms ........
Eventually all memoirs of life merge into one and a river runs through it"

My favorite movie indeed. aah! urge to go fishin' again. Thanx Sandurst Lahure for the reminder.

Czar dai, will be shooting you an email soon....i hope this time I won't need the emergency blinkers like the last tyam ;)

Czar,
Quite entertaining yet commendable piece.
Isn't it fun to freshen up memories of good old days?

Back at his desk behind me, the fellow would grab a protractor and pen and start hammering a wild staccato on his metal geometry box. Was it the Deep Purple or Pink Floyd sloshing around in his head? Whatever it was, it now flowered into full artistic expression, encouraged in large measure by the four or five glasses of sauni especial jaand that had helped wash down his lunch a short while ago.

CLASSIC!!.............LoL

Waiting for your next piece.