The Convention (Ab)Use

Discuss

Another early evening at the weekend. The friends had gathered once again at The Cholai. There were unoccupied chairs on this evening. The slow background music was in agreement with the atmosphere. A few workers stood at their stations almost blending into the background with their dark coloured shirts, while the others served customers. A large jug lay on the table close to Edward's seat. The sofa was fully occupied with Edward and Rajeev at both ends. 

"I did not expect this to escalate this way. I mean, even The Reflector has an article on it." Ahmed held up the newspaper.

"Raj mentioned this to me, let me see." Wes grabbed it. He sat at a right angle to Rajeev.

"Yes, I was even called for an interview," said Rajeev. "Radio Mirchi contacted me on Facebook. They've asked for an interview. They don't mind if it's in the studio or through the phone. If I can rope in Vinod and Wes, that would be better."

"About that, I don't think I'm ready to entertain questions." Wes placed his jaw on his fist as he looked down on the paper. "I can't do much of anything that puts me out there as I don't want people finding out about my connection with this let alone my sister and you know who."

"It seems quite a number of people were already uneasy with the way some of these diplomats have been conducting themselves," said Neha. "People are sharing their experiences on the group. And to think we would have just let all this go if Vinod's daughter's case had not popped up."

"Yeah, it's crazy," Ahmed added. "I would never have guessed that the woman I was on the bus with was Vinod's wife or that that was his daughter. So sad."

"I noticed a random person shared pictures from the Halloween night on the Facebook group." Edward pulled out his phone. "I'm not sure, but it seems it was one of the guys who witnessed the accident that day." He shrugged and passed his phone to Rajeev.

"Ooookkkaaaay, this was one of the guys that saw the whole thing that night. Wow, this has added fuel to our fire. There's that Dzmitri dude by the car, and the other guy with the police."

"Oh yes, the Alexander Steptantrum guy," said Edward.

"Hahaha, I think it was Alexander Stepanchuk. You are something else," said Rajeev.

"Oooh I know, I rechristened him as Alex Steptantrum after the way he behaved that night." Edward was now sliding through the photographs. "Aww, there's Wes on the ground."

"Huh, on the wha?" Wes got up and moved to Edward's side. "Oh come on, I didn't want any pictures of me to be on the group."

"Too late mate, they've been on there for three days now. Well, we could ask him to take them down but I don't think it's very obvious you are the one in the picture."

"Why take them down? We're making a good case here. If we hide the severity of the consequences of the diplomats' reckless driving, our case is weakened." Neha looked at Wes expecting an answer.

"Hmm, fine," said Wes as he sighed reluctantly. "I'll just let it be." His reluctance was tangible.

At this instance Ed began singing, "Let it be, let it beeeee, let it beeeee, let it beeeee, whisper words of wisdom, let it..."

"Oh come on Ed," said Judy as she shook her head and gave him a derisive look before letting way to a smile.

"Good song that," said Wes.

"More like great song eh," replied Ed.

"It's okay, not that good," said Judy. "And you guys are so old-school."

"Come on, it's a masterpiece."

"Hey, let's get back to what we were discussing." Rajeev lightly tapped the table twice as he spoke. "Alright, as we all know, there have been suggestions we take this thing to the street. We already have some decent publicity on our case and more people are coming forward with their own experiences."

"Which is good," added Neha. "It shows we can put pressure on the consulate to at least take responsibility for their diplomats' actions, and not just hide behind immunity."

"Wouldn't we have to get a permit to do a public protest or campaign?" asked Judy.

"I think so, we have to get an NOC," replied Neha.

"Get an EhNoSee? What's EhNosee?" Wes shrugged.

"No Objection Certificate."

"No objection cert... Oh, you mean NOC." Wes laughed.

"I was almost wondering what drinking Hennessy had to do with this," said Edward as he took his Cholai drink in his hand.

Neha laughed and carried on speaking. "I'll follow up on the NOC and let you all know what's up."

"Okay, cool. We're making progress." Rajeev clapped his hands in satisfaction.

A protest was now almost tangible.