Talk on dear...

Scene 1

The team is in a resort having fun its own ways - in the pool, at the snooker table, badminton court etc.
All except one who has received a call on his phone and is sitting in a corner and has been talking
for over two hours now..


Scene 2

With the exhaustion evident on his face, eyes red, and sleep lingering on his eyes, the man enters the office.
I inquire of the reason of his state. "Had been on the phone till late in the morning..."


Scene 3

The sun sets, night descends and most of the private rooms in office are occupied - not to attend conference calls - but by many men to indulge in separate private tete-a-tete that can run from anywhere between 2 to 5 hours.


What is it about "engaged" couples that makes them want to talk so much over phone night after night after night? If it was one or two then I would have been inclined to believe that it was only an aberration, but the more men I see getting engaged the more I see them hanging on to the phones involved in long conversations with their counterparts. I am led to believe that maybe there is something intrinsically wrong with me that I find the idea of being on the phone for so long night after night a very frightening, annoying, and a very stressful exercise.

Take the example of the poor man in scene 1. He was on an outing enjoying with his friends and would have probably liked to spend the time (at least I would have loved to) mucking about in the pool with the rest of his friends, or indulge in a game of tennis or badminton. Certainly, these are not activities that one has access to on normal days and the very fact that one has to spend the time meant to be spent with one's friends talking to one's fiance on the phone while the rest of the gang enjoys seems to be a little cruel on the poor chap.

It is a wonder what and how much content could there be to talk about everyday for hours on. Even if I concede that a new couple has a lot of things to share, I cannot imagine that the corpus of information is not exhausted within a month of daily talkathons. What after that? I am sure even an account of the day's activities cannot merit
two-three hours of elaboration.

A lot of guys I know do not enjoy such long conversations - they take part in such conversations only because the other half wants them to - and they play along with the, pardon me for the use of the word, ordeal day after day. Some of them do try to justify that it is essential that a couple talks or communicates so much to lay solid foundation for a long lasting relationship. Does that mean if a guy does not have the financial means to foot the resulting telephone bill then he is doomed in his relationships with the woman he loves? By this logic, the couple in my previous generation should not have stayed together for as long as they have now. Clearly, there is a flaw in that logic. My parents are now married for over 27 years and (touchwood) still seem to going as strong as ever.

So, what is the logic behind this madness of talking over phone? What recourse does a guy who does not like have long conversations over phone have? Does he go and tell the girl that they should limit their conversations to 30 to 60 minutes everyday? "Suicide" is how some of my friends describe such a situation. In a way, there seems to be some justification for the girls' eagerness to spend some talking to their loved ones especially if they see most of their friends bragging about the duration of their romantic conversations the next day. It would naturally make any girl doubt the intensity or sincerity of their fiances' love. Funnily, the duration of phone conversations has become a direct measure of a couple's love in this telecommunication age.

Currently I do not seem to find any solution to this nagging problem and unless girls start talking less, or I change, there seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel. Maybe I am doomed. "18 till I die", someone said. In my case, it probably will be "18 and single till I die".