A tale of 3 cities

Mumbai arrived late. Mumbai, in most cases, was delayed by circumstances beyond his control. "Got stuck in the lift" he sighed as he took a seat opposite me. His hair was ruffled and shirt untucked and crumpled. "I look like a mess, don't I?" He asked, running his hands through his hair. "You always do" smiled Delhi, who was on his fourth drink. Mumbai excused himself and went to tidy up. "Polite fucker" said Delhi, as he watched Mumbai make his way to the men's room. "He'll look like crap even after he grooms himself", continued Delhi as he took a large swig of his drink. "He's very occupied" said I defensively.

I was on my first drink and Delhi was on his fourth. "Easy my friend, you're driving", said I carefully. I always measured my words when I spoke with Delhi. He was easily offended, very aggressive and often vindictive. He ignored me and downed the remainder of his drink in a single gulp. He smacked his lips, smirked at me and signaled to the waiter to refill. Mumbai had returned and he ordered for a beer.

"Who drinks beer on New Years!" Said Delhi as he scoffed. Mumbai still looked untidy but less tired and grumpy. Delhi looked at me again "he's such a mild fucker". I kept quiet and smiled apologetically. Mumbai was unfazed by Delhi's deriding taunts.

"So Bangalore, how's 2016 been?" Asked Mumbai, looking directly at me. "I've kept a low profile this year except maybe for my skirmish with a Tanzanian girl." Said I. "Oh yeah that was some shit!" Said Delhi winking at me. Mumbai cleared his throat. "That's a marked improvement, considering your previous scuffles with north East Indians."

"Look whose talking!" Said Delhi, "dude how many North Indians have you beaten?". Mumbai looked at us with glassy eyes "none! But yeah I've watched them being beaten and I've done nothing". "Bystanders are as guilty as the culprits, I hope you know that", said Delhi as he took a sip of his 5th drink.

"And you Delhi? How many girls did you rape this year?" I asked a bit vehemently. "Fewer girls than you molested" said Delhi. Mumbai had grown detached from our conversation and began to scroll through his phone.
I turned to Delhi "has the 2012 case been closed?".
"Which one?" He shrugged
"The one where you raped a girl in a moving bus." I said with a sneer. I was no saint, but this act of Delhi made me cringe.
"I'm on bail. I'm always on bail because you know, I have an influential father."

Mumbai turned to the both of us and said, "we are spineless jerks. All the three of us. I watch women being raped, robbed, molested and I do nothing. I am a by- stander. I watch apathetically and click videos and maybe photos sometimes. You Bangalore, were once really nice, but of late, you've grown arrogant and your audacity has crossed Delhi's limit as well. I won't call it bravery! Oh no! It's audacity. You've molested women openly without fear of consequence. And you Delhi, I don't know what to say about you. Either your wrongdoings are not being reported or you aren't getting caught. You're that spoilt brat who drives his dad's car slowly and eve teases women on sidewalks. You're that spineless jerk who needs four other friends to pin down a girl and outrage her modesty. We are all jerks."

There was stunned silence on our table after this rant.
"I'll change I swear", said I, "2017 will be a new year and a new Bangalore". Mumbai raised his cup to me. Delhi looked at us with droopy eyes, he was drunk. "I won't rape women ok?" He said. We raised our glass to him.

It was past midnight. Mumbai settled the bill, as always. Mumbai paid for everything. I was well off too but I never offered to settle bills. Delhi was the richest of the three of us but he only spoke about his wealth but never offered to pay. We staggered out of the bar. Mumbai hailed a taxi and left for his house. I waved him goodbye, Delhi just showed him the finger. I walked Delhi to his car and told him several times that he's too drunk to drive. He showed me the finger too and zoomed off into the night. It was just me now, on the curb of a lonely night. I saw a girl walking swiftly. We were only two of us on that lonely lane. She was half running and looked very nervous. I looked at my watch, it was nearly 2 am. This is no time for a girl to be on the street thought I. Let me teach her a lesson. I ran forward and groped her as she screamed for help and struggled to get away. I broke my new year resolution on the first day of the year because I can't help it. I simply cannot resist.