Night with a Drunk

In May of 2018, I graduated from college. I had several job offers in hand. I decided to join Ola, an internet-based ride-hailing company in Bangalore. My joining date was 2nd July along with sixty other freshers from the top tier colleges of India. I reached Bangalore two days before the joining day. One other guy (we will call him Shashank here) from my college was also placed there. We got to know each other during the recruitment process. For our interview, we had to catch a 3 a.m flight to Bangalore from Kolkata and I stayed in his home in Kolkata for one day. His parents were very sweet during my visit.

    After my flight landed I waited for him at the Airport. It was pre-decided that we will stay at a guest house for a few days, find an apartment near EGL Tech Park (our workplace was situated here), and move in as flatmates. He landed with his parents (a complete surprise to me) and we all went to the guest house. The next day I went to my cousin’s sister’s place and she insisted I should stay with her for a few days. So I obeyed. Also, I wanted to give them space.

    Our induction program was in Hotel Royal Orchid, a luxury hotel near EGL. We were instructed to reach the hotel at 10 a.m. My sister’s place was nine kilometers away from that hotel. I like to be punctual. I was ready by 8.30 and opened the Ola app in my mobile to book a ride to the hotel at 8.30. To my surprise, the estimated time of arrival was a little over one hour, and on top of that, I was not getting a cab for a long time. I tried Uber (a rival to Ola in the e-ride-hailing space) too. After trying in both the apps for nearly half an hour I got one cab. It was 9.05 a.m when I got into the cab. I had never been to any of the big cities before except for a brief one-month stay in Kolkata. During the stay also, I used to travel to my training center in the early morning and be back at 1pm. So I had never met the office time traffic there. In the city where I stay, traveling a distance of ten kilometers will take twenty to thirty minutes at peak traffic hours. So my mind assumed whatever expected time of arrival I was seeing in the app would be the worst-case scenario and I would reach the hotel before 10.30.

    I was wrong. I was introduced to Bangalore's traffic that day. An independent ride was costing me nearly five hundred rupees. I was staying in a new city on my father’s money. So I booked a shared ride. The cab picked up two others and dropped one before reaching my destination. It was past 11 a.m when I reached the hotel’s reception. As I went in, I was sure the induction process must have begun and someone is going to point out that I was late on my first day.

    I was wrong, again. As it turns out this was the case with everyone else’s. The people in charge of the induction program were also confident this would happen. And they got lazy. All in all, the program started at 12. It was a week-long event, where we got to interact with the directors, VPs, CEOs and CTOs of the group. All of them wished us success in our careers. The Chief Technology Officer of the Ola group, invited us to the party on Friday, which would be sponsored by Ola.

    When we were busy in the induction program, Shashank’s father was busy finding a good Paying Guest house for us. He voluntarily took this exercise and he found a room for us in a new well furnished PG. The security deposit amount was ten thousand rupees each and we both paid it on Thursday. Shashank moved in that day.

    On Friday, our induction ended early and we were free to leave for home post lunch and were requested to join the party at 7pm in the evening. In the evening, before coming to the hotel, I went to the room we rented which was in a walking distance of the hotel and our office. I had a bag with me, I do not remember what was in it, maybe some spare clothes in case I had to stay the night. I had keys to the room and I went in, kept my bag there and came to the hotel to join the party. I was late by half an hour. We all had made a friend group by then. So I went and met with them. Ola had booked the entire bar and drinks were free. People had already started drinking. I ordered a coke for myself (I am a teetotaler) and joined one conversation. Some time later in the party, I saw Shashank, completely drunk. He had started blabbering by then. He came to me and hugged me in a bro-hood fashion of the modern pop drunkards and asked me what are you having. I showed him my coke glass, he laughed and said, “bro we are not in college. Have some man-ish drinks. Don’t worry it's free”. I smiled and asked him, “What are you having?”. “I have had Old Monk thrice” he boasted showing a large transparent glass jug with yellow fluid inside to me and he named some other five or six variety of alcohol, which I can not recall. There are some people encouraging him to drink as for them it was fun. He vanished in the crowd with one of them. I went out to the lawn with the group I was with. We had a nice chat about our colleges. I was a listener for the most part. At about ten we had our dinner. The dinner arrangement was also on the lawn. After dinner and a few talks with some of them and said my goodbyes and left the party.

    I walked to the PG to collect my bag. I went in the room, washed my face and was about to leave, I got a call from an unknown number. “Hey dude!! Are you from NIT Rourkela?” - the voice in the phone asked in a sense of urgency. - “Yes” - “Where are you?”- “I left the party and I am going home” - “Can you come back to the party, quickly?”- “Yes… Why?”- “Your friend is out of control. Please come as soon as you can”. He cut the call. I ran back to the hotel. Three people were waiting for me at the reception. We went in. Shashank was on the lawn, with a few other freshers. He was angrily scolding them. These guys were stopping him from entering into a marriage ceremony taking place there. I approached him. He was too happy seeing me though I was more concerned. He shouted at them, “My brother has come and you all can f*** off”. ‘My brother’? I had only met this guy twice before this induction process and stayed at his house for one night. I requested some of the guys to stay. After a few talks, I was successful in diverting his mind from entering into the marriage. He then tried throwing his phone in the air and catching it. Everytime the phone was falling down and in his mind he was successfully catching the phone. By this time everyone has started noticing this. A few seniors from Ola were also there. Though I had not met them, I was a little embarrassed. It is not the way I had hoped to get introduced to the corporate world. I was unsuccessful in convincing him to come with me to the PG. To be honest, I had never interacted with a drunk before. So I requested some people there to help me. One guy named Shivam helped me. He placed his hand on his shoulder and complied with all the stupid things he was saying. Then both of them started talking like they were friends for a long time. He was able to convince him to go with him, I followed them. Shivam went dancing with him till our PG lane and from there I took him to our room. The caretaker was absent at the time. The lady who does the cleaning job was present. I didn't even look at her. It was my first week in a new state. I was afraid and ashamed at the same time. We went in. I put him down on his bed, removed his shoes and turned off the light. I sat in my bed waiting for him to sleep. Fifteen Twenty minutes later when I thought he was asleep, I switched on the fan, slowly closed the door and left.

    I came down and went to the cleaning lady, who was resting on a bed in a staff room  near the reception and told her in Hindi that my friend was staying here. I wrote my number on a registar there and asked her to call in that number in case of emergency. I started booking a cab to my sister's house. I was standing at a place close to Indiranagar, an area in Bangalore which is said to have the highest density of pubs and bars in Asia (I have not verified this fact from any reliable source). And it was a Friday night. It was difficult getting a cab at that time. The cleaning lady came out and sat in a chair at the reception and was constantly observing me. I was a stranger who went in with a drunkard and came out alone. I felt uncomfortable. So I went out of the PG and waited outside. After half an hour some time I got a cab. The cab came and I got inside. 

Half a minute later, I got a call from an unknown number. “Are you the guy who had put this drunkard in my PG?” - “What happened?”, I asked. My heart started pounding. - “Where are you? Come back immediately, else I am calling the police.” He cut the call. I was surprised. I stopped the cab and ran back to the PG. The manager and caretaker of the PG were there. The manager was a pretty dark middle aged man with moustache. He was furious by the time I reached the PG. “Who are you? And why did you put this guy in my PG?”- “Sir! We have rented a room in your PG.” - “I do not care. You take him out right now. Else I am calling the police. He is creating disturbance for all the inmates and using foul language. I am getting complaints from everyone.” He pointed at the caretaker - “He tried to stop him but he is scolding him. I will throw this guy out now.” - “Sir, please let me check.” I ran to the first floor and they followed me. The room's door was open and Shashank was not inside. I looked at the manager, He was surprised too. He told me he had tried to lock him up in one room but he started hitting the door and then the switch board. He showed me the half broken switch board and said he is not ready to see someone die getting electrocuted in his PG. So he wanted to call the police. I requested him not to do that. I told him we were fresh out of college and if you do that he will be in trouble. Also requested him as we were new to Bangalore please let us stay there. I promised I would also stay for the night and will make sure nothing happens. By the time, we saw Shashank in the lift apparently he went to the upper floor and someone has brought him down. I went towards him. In his semi senselessness he was relieved to see me. He hugged me. I tried to pull him into the room. After a little resistance he obeyed my order to sleep on the bed. But he pleaded not to leave him there. After five minutes I came out. The manager, the caretaker along with inmates from the nearby rooms were waiting. I came out and the manager told me in a strong voice, “You stay here and make sure he is safe till tomorrow morning. I will throw him out in the morning. If a single noise comes out of this room and I hear any complaint, you will directly deal with the police.” I agreed to his condition, went in and closed the door.

I was sitting on the bed and Shashank was blabbering how he trusts me and considers me a brother. I was not used to these types of talks. When I got a cab, I called my parents and assured them I have got a cab and I will be reaching my sister’s place soon. I shared the location of the cab with them (ola cabs had a feature for that). I had not told them that Shashank was drunk and I left him in PG. As soon as they saw my cab reached its destination, they called me. Shashank was asleep and I was lying down on the other bed. My phone rang in my pocket and I quickly picked it up, my father was on the call and told him that I had to stay at the PG and I will call them later and cut the  call. Something sounded fishy to them and they were concerned. It was natural for them to be worried as I was in an unknown city where they did not have any contacts. So they immediately called my sister to ask if she knows why I am not coming to her house. She was waiting for me till then. She was worried too. After five minutes I got another call and as I picked it up, Shashank woke up and he thought maybe I will leave and he started shouting for me not to leave. I assured him I am not leaving and I cut the call. This worried my parents and sister and they started calling me. So I put my phone on silent for some time. Fifteen, twenty minutes later when I thought he was asleep, I took out my phone and quickly texted my mom and sister, “I am safe and at the PG. I will explain tomorrow.” It was one in the night then and the next day I got to know my sister had woken up her husband and they were getting ready to come to the hotel by then. They did not have the location of the PG and my text message stopped them from coming. 

I was uncomfortable sleeping in jeans and my shoes on. I was not even moving on the bed in the fear that I would wake him up. At two thirty I took out my phone. I had some whatsapp messages from my mom. I replied to one of them, assuring her again that I am safe. To my surprise the tick marked turned blue on the message delivery sign indicating the message was read. My mom was awake till then. It is way past her bedtime of eleven. Shashank came to his consciousness by the mobile screen light and put his hand on me and again started murmuring. I put my phone in my pocket. I was not getting sleep. As the night grew, I was feeling cold and I did not have a blanket. Bangalore’s weather gets pretty cold at night. I could listen to the ticks of the clock in the adjacent room and sound of the frogs and grasshoppers outside. At three in the night, Shashank got up from his bed and went to the washroom and started vomiting. After some time he came out and got rid of all his clothes. And in the raw appearance in which our maker has made all of us, he fell on his bed. After lying down he moved his hand towards my bed to see if I am still there. I did not move an inch. I had my hand on my forehead and I was observing the whole situation.

After two hours or so later he woke up again. Maybe his senses were coming back to him. He went to the cupboard and picked a half pant and put it on and again went back to the bed. I could hear the crows outside by then, so I assured myself that my agony is soon to end. When the first ray of sun came through the gap between the door, I was relieved and I dozed off for some time.I woke up at 8.30 in the morning and went to the washroom and it was not in the usable state. I came back and woke him up. After he was awake I asked him to go and wash his face. He went to the washroom and saw the situation. When he came back, he seemed concerned. He could not remember last night's events. I told him everything in a brief. He asked me if he has created any nuisance in the party and has anyone observed. I chose not to answer that question.
    I reached my sister’s place at 9.30 by cab. In the cab I called my parents told them everything. After I reached my sister's place and told her last night’s story. I had my breakfast and went to sleep. I woke up after three hours. I had told Shashank’s father that I would be moving in on Saturday. In the late afternoon, I got a call from him inquiring when I was going there. I told him, I will not do that without giving him any details. After some time I got a call from Shashank. He assured me that this will never happen again and requested me to move in. I humbly denied.

Today, after three years, having gone to a lot of parties, pubs and gatherings, I have got comfortable around half sober humans. But whenever I think of that night, it gives me goosebumps.