Again a blast from
the past.
I have known these
three other guys from my school days. That is from the age of 5. We had our
share of fights, enjoyments, hanging outs etc. Before the rise of social media,
I had parted from the other three and moved far from them. We had no clue of
who was up to what but things changed some years back.
I came back to the
city again and whenever we could, we would ensure that all four of us meet and
share a great time. Sometimes at the beach, sometimes near our school, sometimes
some restaurant or some good place nearby and occasionally it would also be
some bar.
One of my friends
in the group was in a relationship in between. That is the time when our group
was reduced to 3 instead of 4. He would rarely or sometimes not meet us. Less
messages and sometimes no messages at all for weeks all together. We used to
say,’ Chalo gang mein se ek nikal gaya’
(One member has quit our gang). Still we were happy for him, because he was
happy.
The relation
lasted 6 months and by then, the lass called it quits.
He was suffering
from the usual heart break. We would do our part of visiting him and cracking
jokes. He used to have a good laugh and again change of expressions. We allowed
him to be alone, but making sure that we were with him all the time.
Out of us 3
friends (excluding the break up guy), me and other friend were single and singing jingles. The third one had
a pool of girl friends. (You know what I mean…devilish smile).
When we 3 used to
meet each other sometimes after work, we would often have this conversation,
My single friend: See, a girl comes into
your life and you are no longer going to be the same guy. This is why I enjoy
staying single.
Quoting the
incident of the other friend’s heartbreak.
Me: True mate! (Sour grapes)
My playboy friend: Not if you have more
than one…devilish smile.
DHHHOOOM…DHHAAAMM…
We singles would
kick the other guy for making us jealous and he would run around like a headless chicken. Great fun.
Months passed and
the heart broken friend started getting normal. He started hanging around with
us. Though not the usual fun, but still our group was cool. In our group, out
of the two singles I was more emotionally charged. The other one was practical and
not even close to emotions. He was more of a tech savvy guy. The guy with a
pool of girlfriends was romantically charged. The fourth guy who became single
now was a bit emotional and more of intelligent kind.
Now henceforth,
the incident revolves around me and the guy who suffered a break up.
I was free one of
these days, and I got a text from this guy. He was on leave from office and
bored. He asked if we could meet up. The other 2 were busy with some
engagements.
I texted him back
saying I was ever ready.
Now is the time
for some truth.
We planned to meet
up at the beach, it was fun to sea water splashing over the rocks and we as a
group used to witness the beautiful sunset from this point. I met him there
later, in the evening.
Me: How’s you mate?
Him: I’m good. Alone is better. No messages,
no problems of hanging around with friends late night, no late night calls
….bla…bla… black sheep……
Already knowing what
I indirectly asked.
Me: You were the most intelligent among us.
It surprises me that you didn’t know that you would want to go through all
these. If you say alone is better, then why waste time, energy and money on
something that you never wanted. So this is what you wanted? Freedom, Right?
I am definitely
going behind him. Digging up facts and knowing the psychological side of a
person has always interested me.
Him: I almost went down the line and got
married. Now I always say that it’s better alone and it’s just a fine mask. My
world pretty much revolved around that relationship. From morning greets to the
night byes.
Me: Bro, What now? How do you feel? You
know you can always share and if there is anything that can be done, let’s do
that.
Him: In the early days, space looked really
void. I desperately tried to get back or at least get someone to fill in the
emptiness.
I interrupt him
again, ‘So you want to get back again or
launch a hunt for a new one …hehe’
Him: No, not exactly.
I am confused. This
conversation isn't going anywhere, looks like that. I look at him pathetically.
Today the water
splashing on the huge boulders were less. We moved to one of those huge
boulders. I sit down on one of them, while he stands on the other and picking
up small stones and throwing them into the deep sea. I feel like I am also a
part of those culturally and emotionally rich regional movies where the hero
takes ages to speak up.
I draw his
attention by asking him,’ So? What
exactly?’
Him: You won’t understand. As of now it
won’t work with any other girl. You ask me why I don’t know why. But one thing
I know for sure is that I never ever want to see her again, forget about
getting back. I wish she never existed. Don’t want to see her in this life,
neither in the next nor the one after that.
He is serious and
I don’t dare to crack a joke. Who would want to drown in salt water and have a
date with the fate?
I get the answer
for my psychological quest. I understand that he is wounded deep inside.
I just
sit there thinking to myself, while my emotionally high friend is still
throwing pebbles into the deep sea.
I get up from my
place after a while, and tell him,
It’s getting dark and I am starving. We
have this new burger place open while you were away. Let’s go and have some
burger.
Him: Cool.
Me: This place has a hot waitress and you
might want to re-think on your words.
He giggles and ‘You
sick Bastard!!!’
There is laughs all the way as we keep bitching about life
and I whole heartedly pray that he gets well and feels better soon.
