What dumbness

Mount Carmel in our days was what Jerusalem is to a Jew. It was holy land. It was where every woman was pretty and every second woman a Miss India contestant. Or so the legend said. It was where beauty met brains and if the girls looked down upon the rest of humanity, it was considered slightly arrogant but yet appropriate. And when ‘Cul-ah’ (the ah we always thought was orgasmic, but let us not digress here) happened, the best of men in the best of clothes lined up in serpentine queues to get into the forbidden land. Come to think of it, it could only have been the male libido which could have braved pesky policemen, the occasional swing of the lathi and the almost disappearing self esteem to still stand there and hope for utopia.

Anyways, we went there with the best intentions to participate (however believable that is). And at the coffee table yesterday, we were talking team names, which is why I am writing this in the first place. Dumb Charades was one of those big ticket events. Suri, KB and Paaps formed the triumvirate while me and Seige preferred watching from the sidelines and every now and then gaily suggesting ‘What dumbness I say’.

The boys had practised for god knows how long. They had almost ceased talking. Even words like ubiquitous and preposterous were being enacted and cracked. Secret cheat codes were practised. The mid night oil was being burned. Anyways, there the boys were finally – on stage. The moment of reckoning had come. A smart looking girl who was organizing the event called the team on stage and asked one of the team members to go register the team name. Paaps was obvious choice to be sent as envoy with team name. He strides up to the three pretty women in the ‘spotters’ panel and registers - ‘Two plates idly with extra sambar’. The girls giggle. And then recomposing themselves in full MCC demeanour blurts back – ‘This is too long. Make it shorter’. Paaps turns back and communicates the message. ‘No worries’, quipped Suri. ’Make that one plate idly then’. Paaps turned back and with a charming smile told the girls -‘Make that one plate idly please’.

Mount Carmel girls don’t smile at strangers. At least, not at ‘Cul-ah’. But I think they smiled then. And the name stuck.

The only other team who had a wackier name was one called themselves ‘Men wh(o) pause’