Somewhere inside is a world where nothing ever stops changing. You think this is the way you’ll remain forever, that it’s the best person you could be, but lo and behold, tomorrow you are sure to be different, and feel not one atom different about it. You’ll think again you have only changed in the past but that won’t happen again in the future. Life is strange.

Change is not variation in life. Change is not a property of life. Change is life. The only ones who have ceased changing have ceased living. This is not only true for us, but for most things. Sanskrit was an ancient Indian language. The perfect, logical, balanced language. It wouldn’t evolve because its structure couldn’t admit it. Today, no one speaks that language. It’s dead.

 

1Life  I’m feeling down.

Neo  Why?

1Life  I dunno. Just down.

Neo  Do you want to be like that?

1Life  [looks into his eyes] Why can’t you ever approach something without analyzing it like this?

Neo  Because being down isn’t good.

1Life  I wish I hadn’t told you.

Neo  Don’t be a baby. Come on, what’s wrong?

1Life  Nothing. Maybe everything. Maybe there are so many minute things wrong that I can’t really point one out.

Neo  Let’s take them off the top?

1Life  Sometimes you have to learn that when someone is down, he  may need company more than an immediate solution.

Neo  You like to be down?

1Life  You’re a blockhead.

Neo  What’s wrong?

1Life  I dunno. I guess it’s partly because of the rain.

Neo  The rain isn’t harming you in any way. Or do you not like it when it rains?

1Life  I love it when it rains. I just get sort of melancholy when it does. That’s it.

Neo  But you said you’re down. I mean, down…

1Life  Um… I dunno. Old problems maybe. Repression at home. Hey Neo?

Neo  Yeah?

1Life  I’ve dreamt of flocks of birds. Mostly pigeons. And mostly in a dark, confined space, fluttering. But they don’t scare me. I read in a site it means I feel a need to escape. You think so?

Neo  Sure. Some quiet place, loads of time to spend, more rain, and with her of course.

1Life  [smiles.] Thanks, Neo. You’re great.

Neo  I just gave you an idea. I don’t see it coming true. Why are you thanking me?

1Life  I hate you.

Neo  Here, gimme a hug. We’ll make it through.

[hug]

1Life  We’re becoming gay.

Neo  [breaks off laughing, clutching his tummy.] We are the same person, Life. We’ve got to be like this if we have to exist.

1Life  Hey, tonight when I was returning from Chemistry class, I was going to cross the road and there were cars whizzing by, and I thought, I’m actually steps away from death. Neo, I miss my friends.

Neo  And they think you don’t call because you’ve forgotten them.

1Life  I love her a lot, Neo.

Neo  You sure?

1Life  I hate your tone of voice.

Neo  Okay, my widgie-pidgie, you suuurrreeey?

1Life  [laughs.] Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks Neo. You keep me alive.

Neo  But first you’ve got to keep me alive, isn’t it?

1Life  We’re symbiotic. Some people at school think I’m a girl.

Neo  That’s coz you are all Indians. If you weren’t, they’d call you gay.

1Life  I don’t feel like one when I sometimes think of having a kid to look after. I don’t feel like one when I think of her.

Neo  Wo, don’t get worked up, soldier. You don’t have to defend yourself to me.

1Life  I’m not. I’m just getting it out of the system.

Neo  By the way, I thought mas was over. History. I thought I’d pulled you through.

1Life  You have. But there are infrequent occasions. Don’t worry.

Neo  Okay, but make sure it doesn’t return.

1Life  It won’t. Well, right now I’m not worried about that. I was talking about missing my friends, and that they call me a girl.

Neo  These are the people who’ll prepare a speech if you don’t call them one day.

1Life  Don’t divert me. You know why they call me a girl?

Neo  Why?

1Life  Coz I ain’t got muscles. I ain’t got brawn! That’s the fucking reason! And the other day, I told The Flightless Bird that I felt left out at an all-boys party, and she was elated about it and spread it all around. But do you know why I felt left out?

Neo  Why?

1Life  Coz they were watching porn videos on a mobile.

Neo  That’s a cool thing to do.

1Life  What, watching porn videos?

Neo  No, feeling left out because of that reason.

1Life  Thanks. Hey, time up.

Neo  Guess so. Bye.

1Life  Ciao.

 

1Life/Neo.

#1#120906050 / 14050150.