Sixth Finger - A dedication to the fraternity of Bitsian Smokers

"Now wasn’t that like Maddy? Had u missed that one, here it goes again”. R, in a swift flick of his fist transferred the matchbox from one had to another; so fast that it is hardly visible and lo! Within a jiffy a matchstick burns. V watched it in amazement, for he knew not a matchstick had held in that hand at the first place. Before the smile of achievement, which had suffused R’s face vanished, R lit the CIGERETTE he held in his mouth. “Now wasn’t that like Minnale Maddy? Mech na oru fire vaenum”. That explained the innumerable burnt out matchsticks at R’s room. He had been practicing. V was now curious to try the trick. Much to his surprise and R’s shock, the very first attempt was successful. “It is hard to be consistent at it” says R. How can it be that V can get it right so easily while R had to practice a lot? Ok.. but the second and third attempts were successful too. That is it; R couldn’t stand it any more. “Enough don’t waste the sticks” said R as he wrested the matchbox from V’s hands and walked away.
‘Man that was koool trick’ thought V. On an aimless stroll across P’s room, v saw him trying to conquer ‘Rajni style’. “hey superstar” said V. “as if you could have done any better” was P’s repartee. “hmm, you are obsolete, come let me show u maddy style”. Wow, fourth consecutive success. And so he lit the ‘energy stick’ that P had held. “Mech na oru fire vaenum”. WHY did V do that? He had strongly objected smoking. As a matter of fact he didn’t elect Mr P.C rao for the post of N.V secretary for K.G mess just because Rao was a smoker. V used to wonder as to how people could fail to possess a little bit of self restraint? He had advised P several times to quit smoking. But now he lit a cig for him!!! Things were changing.
Within a span of 2 weeks, the style was perverse. Everybody had tried their hands at it. C from Ram bhawan was so successful that he was now the lord of the “rings” too. Hence the large female fans of his. The single slogan “Mech na oru fire vaenum” had spawned several smokers at Krishna bhawan. No no, it didn’t have anything to do with Thermodynamics; Maddy had said that in movie Minnale. Among V’s friend circle, SR, SB, M, P and R have taken to smoking. At the same time V had managed to more invent more tricks. He needs only one hand to do the same trick and he is ambidextrous as well. “Tricks are not the challenge. The real challenge for a man is to smoke. You aint proving nothing with those vain tricks” said P and SR. “How dare you insult me, bring it on, get me a cig” said V. Oops, what has he done. What could he have done? They had questioned his masculinity. A cavalier remark off the tongue. But there is not going back now. V went to his room flipped a coin hoping to make God speak on this forbidden trial. The coin showed him green side! So began the story. The first puff wasn’t followed by a cough. The smoke had comfortable done a tour-de- lung and had chosen the mouth to exit. “Dude.. you didn’t cough, you didn’t hold it in your mouth but took it in and didn’t let it out through your nose either. You are a born smoker” said SR. V was flattered. By the ‘compliment’?? “I have proved myself for the sake of it ok? But don’t bring this thing near me henceforth” said V and ran to his room to limn the achievement into his journal.
Pretty soon, V’s fame has spread among the smoking circles. He had to perform times where able men gathered. Wait, V wasn’t trying to enter your fraternity but the fraternity had acknowledged him as a member. As the situation demanded, the classification of smoking as bad shifted a bit. It wasn’t wrong at trying. As long as V does not start pursuing it as a habit, he is still morally spotless.
But that too was to change. The smoke was all over the campus. Batch 2k had already possessed the largest number of smokers, many of whom had started out to prove their masculinity or to taster for once and once alone. But now each of them has become a master of certain trick. Dum is now a common word. Both the word and the thing it represented filled everyone’s conversation and breathe. It was there everywhere every time. While in deep thought, while alone at night, in a boisterous gathering, over the numerous night-outs, during last minute ‘ghoting’, distress, despair, tension, anger, stress, rest and at hostel rooms, bogs, lawns, sky, behind IC, institute terrace, C’not, inside 2214, ANC, GYM- G.
V had succumbed to the habit. The dum was his preferred partner always all the time. Cold winter and stress over a night out were V’s preferred excuses. He even managed to coin a new word, “Koltheit”, meaning ‘light it’, which later came to be commonly used among his “Dum partners”. What he derived out of it he doesn’t know. May be he is sending out a signal that he can be against set norms? That he is macho? That he is a thinker and the dum would be among his identities? Nicotine in his blood stream he believes to be an analgesic. After all it is not all that bad coz he made a lot of friends in the esteemed fraternity. He wouldn’t have gotten to know this many nice guys otherwise. Nice guys!!? A total reversal of stands over a span of 2 years. Yet he held the highest regard for those who stood strong against the smoke. He can even measure time and distance with dum. The railway station from his office he proudly says is 2 Dums away. Isn’t that a feat?
After the 4 year trail of ash & having invested a staggering Rs 18000 to expedite his peaceful settlement at the grave, V looks back shocked at his patronage to ITC simply through Wills navy cut, which costs only Rs 2.5. Chief warden had earlier caught him for smoking inside campus. V had already prepared himself for the likely retribution and hence said “My father knows that I smoke and he had asked me not to tell my mom”. Perplexed by this kind of unexpected audacious lie from an inveterate psenti-semite smoker, Chief Warden washed his hands off V. It has been a year since his parents came to know about it, or he confessed rather. Now he has actually gotten more discretion to pursue than to quit. After all parents know him for the habits he pursued, why fear now? Yet the pressing necessity to quit hasn’t risen! How can that be? V has promised his parent s that he would quit. But smarty hasn’t specified the time. Of course had been saying that he would could if his parents asked him to. But 22 years old dude has rights to choose right? Why not consult his wife instead thought he. If incase he was to get married in another 8 years from now. Till then? Obviously, have fun is the motto. Some non smokers called it procrastination. V contented the contextual definition of procrastination.
How can he quit? How can he do that when he has joined orkut Navy cut and Cancer Inc. communities? He still hasn’t decided on what to choose between life and cigarette. But what is life without dum? Boy it is a tricky question. In a dark room, under confined solitude, he thinks, ponders over the pros and cons of quitting, but not without his ally of thought, the DUM itself. The ring of smoke raised splendidly through the still air, taking with it, its share of his life span. His conscience laughs at the irony. “This guy is a reprobate. Only time can bring across a chance, even its potency in this regard remains dubious.”