Wednesday 30 November 2011

The aquaintances.

When I met him years later,the happiness and careless jocundity had been replaced by a forbidden and hateful logic that I hated in people. The long lost friend had become a stranger ,a not so known aquaintance whom we all shirk away from.As I remembered  him I got lost in the era of innocent chatter ,the endless antakasharis,the loosely ended gossip sessions of our mothers and of mimic games in which we left noone from our elders to the younger cousins and distant relatives .

He was barely five feet five inches tall,a height considered obliquely inappropriate for an Indian male,with jet-black curly hair(so intertwined that I thought a swallow can actually build a house in there),a swarthy complexion with sharp features.What made him attractive was his unique quietness that always mesmerized me and his taste in music and literature.

His present state was similar in physicality,only that his cheek bones were not visible now;yet the glow was visible on the dark ,smooth face.He tapped me from behind and called my nick-name ,'Hey sweety,is that you?You seem to have grown twenty kilograms since I last saw you..was it fifteen years or twenty?'I calculated in my mind and replied,"Oh my God !Is it you cheeku?'Yes surely it was him,I told myself.
It only seemed like yesterday when we both shared our sides of love stories...some completely incapable of culmination and some falsely muddled up only in our heads.Yet we did share our most intimate thoughts,dreams and aspirations.

Now that I found him looking at me with questioning eyes I muttered,"How come you are here?""I'm here for an interview.Having some time I decided to take a quick snack.And you?"
I told him that I worked a few yards away as an editor for a local newspaper and I generally took a tea break at that time.

We were forced into the conversation as the chaiwallah was delaying his one minute promise of tea and samosa.Struggling out of the queue ,  I finally made my way to a greasy table and sat down expecting him to be there in a while.I saw him carrying an idli plate and carefully managing to put it on the table without a thud.I asked him if he was still a bachelor and if he still believed strongly in the innate desire of freedom and complete life-saving live-ins.He laughed off the matter and showed me the picture of his wife on his blackberry and confirmed the loss of his carefree days.

"I was wrong",said he intently; looking straight into my eyes.I gazed at the flie-stricken floor and got up to leave.
"I need to take a meeting with my team",I told him coldly."All the best for your interview and bye".

He called my nick-name again by the time I had  already reached the door .I deliberately didn't turn around lest he should see tears draining my crisp,white office shirt.He will understand ,like the way I had in these years.

5 comments:

  1. I felt as if i was reading a page from a novel... very well written... :)

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  2. Really awesome piece of work...excited to read more of ur stories..keep up the good work ma'am! :)

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