Hyeee peeeople!!

The last one year in Chicago has certainly been very eventful with lots of things happening (and not happening!). But what I cherish the most are the new friends I have made here. It is amazing how strangers walk into your life and then become friends in no time... or should I say a family!
As I walked back from my college every day I crossed a cozy pub (Rick's Bar) at the corner of Taylor St and Western. With its open door and bright neon sign, it was very welcoming and used to attract me. I could see people laughing inside, having a good time. It was generally late every day and although I wanted to go through those welcoming doors, I wasn't sure whether I should or not. I guess I hesitated because I have never been a regular bar person and there was a wall around me that stopped me from stepping outside my comfort zone and experience something new. Every day I saw people with drinks, playing pool or darts, smiling and talking. Just by walking past this pub and seeing those smiling faces made me smile and by the time I reached home, I used to feel very peaceful and happy. I used to see the same set of customers everyday. The person behind the bar changed everyday but I assumed that there might be rotations. So it was the same person every other day (approximately). For some reason, I felt that it was a family owned pub. These were the people I saw behind the bar and you can see for yourself why I made that connection - a cool tall guy in his early 30's, a young vivacious beautiful girl in her early 20's (although with girls you never know their age and should never guess!), a blonde lady with a not-so-cheerful face (or more accurately - with an artificial smile) in her late 50's, and finally a short grumpy man (must be Rick) with wrinkled face maybe in his late 50's too. So there I was, it seemed like a family! Anyways... so everyday I saw the "son" or the "daughter" of that grumpy man and occasionally their mother and the grumpy father himself behind the bar. Sometimes they would also stand outside near the open doors, sharing a smoke on a cold night, cheerful as usual. And as I walked past, once in a while I thought - Maybe they have lots of problems in life and that's why they come here... but then its good that they can find happiness in this family pub!

One day, after Neena came to Chicago and had started going to college here, as we were walking down Taylor St., we decided to stop and go through those welcoming doors! Neena was much more conversant with pubs and I felt confident going inside with her. I knew I wouldn't make a fool of myself with her as she knew a lot about drinks, etc. So there we were, INSIDE Rick's bar!! There were a lot of hilarious one-liners on the wall around us (e.g. "Never trust a man who is not drunk" - So you get the point right?). The place was dimly lit. On the far end was a dart board against the wall and another console game by its side. There was a door which I figured led to a small restaurant next door. On the far end, but against another wall was a "juke-box" (I still don't know what it is exactly called!). There were 4-5 tall round tables along the same wall that led to the door. The main door (yes, those welcoming doors!) were facing the bar. Behind the bar, there were rows and rows and rows (... and more rows!) of bottles (of course vodka, tequila, rum etc.) of all colors and shapes that you can possibly think of. Separating these rows in half was a not-so-new cash register and below the register there were some more exotic looking bottles. The wall behind the bottles had a huge mirror (running across pretty much the entire wall). There were a couple of drink-list of beers with their prices stuck on top of the mirror. A plastic notice board hung casually at the end of the wall below a medium sized TV. There were 3 TV's - 2 huge and 1 medium sized. One huge TV was facing us when we sat at the bar with our back towards the door while another one was stuck high on the wall next to the door. So I had to stretch my neck to the left side to see it... Oh I forgot to mention the dance floor and the pool table. So once you enter the pub through those welcoming doors, you have a huge window with all the neon signs on your left (facing Western) and another row of windows on your right (facing Taylor). Then you have the bar on the left, the tall tables on the right. As you keep on walking and once you go past the bar, you hit the pool table. To your immediate left is the dance floor and immediate right is that song-box. Go past the pool table and dance floor and song table, and you'll end up playing darts and some video game. If you feel like taking a piss then the door is right next to the video game console on your left (that's the male one bro!). Of course the female one is right next to it! There is a black and white picture of the Beatles group hanging between the console and the restroom. A sign hanging above the bar mentions that minimum credit card purchase is $10 and then there are all those funny one-liners all around. "How may I help you today?" (a female voice breaks my observation spree)..... I am still coming to terms that I am INSIDE the pub - "Uhhh?"... I didn't know what to order ("A Miller Lite please" would have been just fine .. but that's so boring!). And I had Neena with me... so I just looked at her and she quickly made her mind (and mine) and we were all set (I don't remember what we had the first time... must be some margarita or something... or maybe the Irish Creme?). And then we started chatting with "Rick's daughter". She asked us if we were new to the place and we started telling her about how we had moved from Atlanta blah blah blah... I saw the same faces that I had seen all these months and they were laughing as usual, cracking jokes and pulling each other's legs. There was an old man too in that group. he didn't seem to have any teeth but he was really enjoying his beer. There he was, sitting in his usual spot - one seat away from me on my left, happily sipping his beer. He poured his beer into a glass and then had it slowly. There was another late-50's man in between us and he had a small laptop in front. He was also drinking beer but directly from the bottle (wonder what the difference in drinking styles reflects about the person). He had the CTA (Chicago Transportation Authority) website open in his laptop and he was looking at the live-update for route #49. Let me put you in the right context here. Bus route #49 runs north-south on Western and there's a CTA website where you can check the exact time a bus is supposed to arrive at a bus-stop. The Western and Taylor bus-stop was right across the road. So by checking the bus-timing for that stop, one could predict when the bus would go past the pub. So.. my man was sitting inside this pub, checking the bus timing and predicting when the bus would go past the Western facing window and then looking outside to check if the website was actually reporting accurate task. What a wonderful way to spend your time!! The young girl was talking to the customers and always had a smile on her face. I realized from the way they were talking to her that they were long-time customers and knew her well.

Everybody seemed to have their own small world but also seemed to be a part of this pub. As we walked out of the pub that day after finishing our drinks, we saw that everyone was still sitting and drinking and talking. It seemed as if they didn't have any rush to go anywhere or do anything. The only person moving was that young girl. I felt that if I were to walk in the next day, I would see the same set of people in the same place doing the same thing... as if time had stopped inside the pub for these people. Rachael wished us goodnight and we wished her the same. So Rachael was Rick's daughter... hmmm... We became Neena and Chandan instead of 2 strangers who had walked into that pub for the first time. After the wall had been broken, I wanted to go there every friday! There was something about that place that attracted me a lot. Now when I walked past that pub and saw those familiar faces, I smiled at some, waved at some and they waved and smiled back at me. Neena and I went to that pub many more times after that but not as frequently as those other people. The girl behind the bar became Rachael - a good friend of ours (and NOT Rick's daughter!!!!), Rick's son became Dave (and he was NOT Rick's son!!!), the toothless man became Franky, and the CTA bus-tracker man became Richard. There were other people who sat at the tall tables but they were kind of in the background when you sat at the bar and I never got to know anyone well. The people at the bar were a part of one family (the bar-family) and the ones at the table were the table-family.

Whenever we walked past that pub, Frankie used to wave to us and say "Hyeee Peeeople". For him we were "people" :) I have never heard anyone greet like that so it was really unique. He had a distinct voice and very friendly demeanor. Although old (late 70's), he's still young at heart. We found out that Franky worked at the Lu-Lu's, a hamburger place on Taylor. He didn't seem to have a famliy.... ummmm.. I'll take that back... Rachael, Dave, Richard, and the people in Rick's Bar were his family.

Yesterday we went to Rick's Bar again after 2 months. It was Rachael's birthday yesterday and she was so excited to see us. We gave her a bunch of pink roses and 2 chocolates and then sat down at that familiar bar. We sat at the same place as always. Richard was right there on my left but this time he was playing with a small handheld video-game. I asked Rachael about Franky and she smiled at me. After a while, Franky walked in, smiling as usual and said "Hyeeee Peeeople". The same old style and distinct voice. The same love and affection. I looked at him and smiled. He came straight towards me and put his hand on my shoulder. I was sitting at the bar and so turned towards him. He asked me - "Where have you been?". I told him that we had gone to India to get married over the summer. I suddenly realized that I had become a part of his family too and he was missing us all summer. I felt like hugging him but didn't. He smiled again and patted me on my shoulder and waved at Rachael while pointing to us. Before I could realize it, he had bought us a drink to celebrate our return to the "bar-family". He did it with such flair and style that he should have been in his early 30's and not late 70's. Rachel was also quick to notice the gesture and asked us what we would like. We had a Blue MF (I don't swear in public :P). We thanked Franky for the drinks. I was still trying to make sense of the whole situation. I had not realized that we had become a part of those people in Rick's Bar who always used to laugh, have fun, crack jokes and relax. I was no longer looking at them from outside while walking back home from college. I was INSIDE the pub, within those welcoming doors with Franky and the rest of the bar-family around me. Rachael was her usual as well. She was very excited that we had come to meet her and brought her flowers. We felt that we were at home. Franky returned to his usual seat and poured beer into his glass and started sipping. I smiled at him and he smiled back... full of love and peace. Franky reminded me of my grandfather. That's right, Franky was the eldest in the bar-family and he must have got worried when two small kids (me and Neena) were missing for two months. Maybe I am just imagining too much but then that's what I was feeling at that time... We bought Franky one round of drinks too. He was very happy and gave me a toothless smile. As we walked out of that pub yesterday after wishing Rachel Happy Birthday again, we were feeling very happy and content. Maybe it was the Blue MF or maybe it was the bar-family... Who cares what it was actually. All I cared was that we were back and had become "people" again.... "Hyeee Peeeople" :)

(18th September, 2010)

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