I watched Before Sunrise a few years ago, during my bachelor’s studies. I did not appreciate it back then, and I can’t say I appreciate it now either (I don’t really remember much of it). Mine is not a popular opinion as many people have made it clear to me. That said I’m up for giving it another watch, though I can’t say when.
But the reason I bring it up is because today I remembered a particular day from 2018.
Those who know me, know me. I’m not someone who feels entirely comfortable going up to random people and having conversations with them (though I do find myself doing this more often now). It’s not that I don’t like talking, I just like listening more.
Anyway on this particular day in October two years ago, I attended a sound workshop part of BLR Design Week. I had hoped that we would get to record sounds and put them together, and had taken my laptop along with me in much excitement. But for the three hours the group of us sat there, we listened to someone talking about the process and its technicalities the entire time.
It was a mixed bunch, present for different reasons and interests: a 50-something-year-old who’d started making podcasts, a fresh-in-college kid who wanted to produce their own music, a fashion-graduate exploring something new at Design Week, and me, a confused-art-and-design-graduate wanting to go deeper into sound design. While the Q&A session afterwards was slightly more interesting, I was still fairly disappointed. And my plan was to leave, grab a quick lunch and head somewhere else. In the process of doing the leaving, two people approached me; I’d apparently asked a question that struck a chord with both the fashion-graduate and college-fresher.
Needless to say, the rest of the afternoon and evening was spent with the fashion-graduate and college-fresher. The conversation was surprisingly easy during (the best) lunch at Indian Coffee House and our walking up and down Brigade Road; it was easy, but it was also open, deep and maybe a bit raw too. We impromptu performed Riptide by Vance Joy at Music House Instruments (we were linked by sound/music): I’d picked up a ukulele, college-fresher has a beautiful voice, fashion-graduate joined in with enthu. (We’d gone in for different reasons: to buy guitar strings (me), to check out guitars (college-fresher), to play around with different instruments particularly the hang drum (fashion-graduate); not that this matters though, I just want to remember it later).
It all just happened on its own and it still is a surreal moment (and day) for me. Even though we vibed so well, I can’t remember their names, and of course we didn’t exchange any contact details because we wanted to Before Sunrise the day.
We’d all ditched our plans. I was thinking of surprising friends at my old workplace (I was talked into not going, and am very glad), college-fresher was in two minds about meeting the person they had a crush on (we convinced them to just go for it), and fashion-graduate was planning-to-but-unsure-about meeting their ex/friend (we talked them out of it).
At some point in the evening, we sent college-fresher off in an auto to head to their crush’s place, before the two of us head on towards Koramangala. Fashion-graduate was looking for a particular store they’d mentioned earlier in the day, and I was looking to kill time before heading home for dinner (we didn’t find the store, and I can’t remember what made it particular).
Before leaving, college-fresher had suggested meeting at a night trek trip that they’d heard about, organised on a specific weekend. But to keep with the Before Sunrise theme we were going for, none of us agreed to it — we wanted to leave it to chance. We didn’t know if we were going to bump into each other ever again in the future.
I still don’t. I hope college-fresher (probably a grad now) is pursuing their music and fashion-graduate found something they really like doing. And if I get to bump into them ever again, it would be pretty cool.
