An evening in Phi Phi
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy..I had spoken with pride the names of Russian authors I had read about.
It was a pleasant evening in July, 2009 in Phi Phi Islands and we were sharing a table with this charming lady from Russia with her girl friend who was sporting a bandana.
My other two friends did not have anything specific to talk about. One was just quiet and only opened his mouth when it came to gadgets, which was not a bit relevant. The other one was desperate and had to ask, what are you doing tomorrow evening? Let’s call him Satya. She had kind of rolled her eyes.
You appear to be a connoisseur of Russian Literature, she had said to me. I had acknowledged with a smile but I was beaming inside. That compliment was probably a Bharat Ratna compared to the reactions the other two gentlemen sitting with me had garnered. Made me reminisce about my Engineering college hostel days where Satya had seen me trying to read a novel and had asked, why do you need to read out of syllabus books? Such a waste of time. I had no wise answer back then.
Long story short. We had spent a nice evening with good food, drinks and conversation, and she had invited us over for a party her friend with a bandana was hosting the next day in Phuket.
It was an evening well spent but was clearly out of syllabus for Satya.
