The sky was even more darker than morning , the birds too have nestled
in their nests with their babies , all i glanced from my car window was that
the drizzling has now changed into heavy rain , the grayish color clouds whom I
considered as cotton balls spread across the sky now has turned into massive brown and
charcoal imaginary sculptures of men sometimes , sometimes it took form of
horse , sometimes a giant palace and the lightening and thunder sounds helped
me to draw a perfect picture of clouds above me as WORRIERS AT WAR . It was eight thirty in my watch and I am late
today , I turn on the radio which was currently playing track “ Masti Ki
Pathashaala “ my tensed mood turns into
jolly one , I again looked to my left and I was abash three youngsters who
might be around early seventeen was enjoying this horrifying rain , they were
cute as they smiled , crazy as they danced but something special in them was
their BONDING – FRIENDSHIP which
spreads smile on my face and makes my eyes go moist .
“ FRIENDS “ whom I was
untouched since seven years due to my job , I missed being crazy and jovial
person as I was in my graduation time . I clearly remember I didn’t make even a
single friend in my PG but my under graduation went awesome due to my three
buddies Kirtivardhan whom I always misspelled as Keerti , Amna who was just
alter ego of me and Nitisha who most of the time chooses to stay quiet but the
moment she speaks , a thought flushed into our mind “ how long her sentence
would be ? “ and as expected she hardly speaks two or three words at a time and
those words were actually those with whom she used to tag us . The cloud of
memories and gamut of feelings were getting heavy on my head and I didn’t
realized when I reached home . I locked the car and stepped inside , I gave
side hug to my hubby Aniket who was already waiting on the door for me .
“ you are okay Aadya ? “ he asked gazing at me warmly .
NO RESPONSE
“ Aadya are you fine ? “ he asked again , little tensed .
“ A.a..d..y..a…..” he almost cried out my name .
“ Holy shit “ I speak to myself and turned to him , his brows were
narrower , his eyes were baffled due to my behavior , his heart beats were
faster . Without wasting any second he was right holding me in his arms .
“ you are okay Aadya ?? “ he asked in his soft voice .
“ Ummm , missing friends “ I
replied .
“ you always do Adu , what happen ? tell me clearly “ he asked in his
pleasing smile .
I narrated the whole incident , rain , three friends , their fun and
my somewhere empty life without my friends . Just like any other day he listens
to me carefully , yeah he might have taken down some points in his mind how to
cheer me up as he is doing from last five years .
“ Call them Adu “ he said while giving me my cell phone .
“ No , I can’t . See I promised to stay with them forever and I only
broke that promise , it’s been seven years
I never turned up neither I replied to their messages nor call due to my
work “ I replied and sink my head down.
“ I understand and they too Adu , but they were never angry on you .
See they tags you in every status and pictures in social networking sites ,
they always drop you personal message on your and mine birthday , even in our
anniversary and yeah at times of festivals and new year eve . So how can you
say they would be angry on you and trust me sweetheart you too miss them the
most still and they are even acquainted by
this fact , okay common call them “ he said and winked .
I unlocked the screen pattern and took a deep breath and there my eyes
stopped as those three familiar names flashed. I smiled and dialed one of the number but soon disconnect it .
Again my heart sinks “ How I stay away from my closet buddies ? Am I that busy ? “ I thought and rushed into
my room .
After a while I heard footsteps coming to me , I opened my eyes and found
an envelop lying on bed right to me . I quickly glanced at it , it was from my
university . Alumni meet , but I haven’t registered for it since I passed out ,
my eyes searched for my dear hubby who was smiling mischievously at me “ Ani
you are such a sweetheart “ I said and
hugged him tightly .
“ okay , open it I haven’t read it yet “ he said .
“ yeah sure “ I replied and started reading it .
“ This means we have to go Lucknow , ohh crap “ I almost cried out .
“ So ….. ?? We will go together don’t worry and yeah your boss won’t
sue you okay . Listen don’t panic I too will be taking leave from office na ….
So stop mulling over now . “ he replied and I relaxed .
11:30 Pm - Ani is still working
on his laptop while I twirling in our room holding the invitation card . He
looked at me and I flashed him my perfect smile , he adjusts his specs and again started working .
I opened my Facebook Account and thought of uploading picture of
Alumni Meet and tag my closed buddies but they are faster than me . I was
already tagged with a caption “ DO COME AADYA WE MISS YOU “ , it was the most
euphoric moment for me , I turned at Ani whose eyes were still gulled on his
laptop screen so I decided not to disturb him , I ‘ ll inform as soon he
finishs his work .
“ Told you , they miss you Adu “ he speaks out of the blue ,
I was on cloud nine , it was red letter day for my life .
“ So when we will be go for our shopping ? “ He asked teasingly
.
“ tomorrow “ I replied and planted a kiss on his left cheek .
Monday ,
25th August 2015
“ So , finally our packing is done . How are you
feeling right now shona ? “ He smiled
and gave a peck on my cheek .
“ Ummmm
,..,, all done and thank you “ I replied and nestled in his arms .
AIR INDIA FLIGHT
411 , DELHI ( DEL ) TO LUCKNOW ( LKO ) WAS SCHEDULED TO DEPART AT 6:53 AM IS
NOW CANCELLED DUE TO HEAVY FALL IN DELHI . RESCHEDULED TIME SHALL BE ANNOUNCED
AS SOON AS THE RAIN STOPS .
Ani reads
the news flashing on the television . He decided not tell inform me and
silently he closed it . He went to our room and return with my laptop .
“ Adu ,
let’s have a ride to your graduation days “ Ani holds me by waist and made me
sit next to him while I was clueless what he was doing . “ hey , why you all
are holding empty cans of coke ? “ he
asked with curiosity .
“ aahhhh
this one , we clicked this picture in our first semester , we bunked our
business mathematics class as well hated maths except Nitisha and then we
decided to drink coke as it was scorching heat outside and these cold drink
cans we never return to the canteen , we
always throw here and there and then run away . “ I explained , while he was controlling his laughter because
since the day we met I kept on mentioning my fear for MATHS and then there was
a valid proof . We glanced at other picture it was of during the statistic
lecture . “ why you and Amna are standing , where are rest of the students , I
guess only the lecturer and you both including the person who clicked are present
, isn’t it ? “ Ani asked . “ ohhh yeah , you got it right only I , Keerti and
Amna were present , we mocked at sir
that day because he was having cold and we both are standing because sir called
me Amna and her Aadya and we both continued this till the class got over and
Keerti clicked this picture as he was sitting behind us ‘ I replied and we both
giggled . We kept on looking at the picture , “ all three cute girls together “
I remarked . “ ohhh , this . You know in this picture we sat in the corridor
and we all decided how many guys glanced at us who passes by “ I said , “ so how many tuned ? “ he asked , “
just thirty “ I replied and winked at him , “ not a bad score “ he said and planted a kiss on my cheeks .
We kept on
reloading my graduation memories , from my bunking lectures to canteen fun ,
from our horror movie plans to mine and Amna dead faces as they both mentioned
about ghosts and witches , from our favorite stars to fighting on issue who is
the best . I told him how Keerti once have secret crush on Nitisha and as soon
as he got to know she was already in relationship how does it effect on Amna
and me .
“ You know
it was New Year Even , we planned for a movie but Nitisha and Amna had already
planned to go with their school friends , I and Keerti were angry later we
decide that we would go and enjoy the day . We went to Wave mall and booked two
tickets . He glanced and made me sit on the other side in the audi , I didn’t asked the reason but as
the movie finished I asked him then he told me a group of guys were sitting
next to me , I nodded and then I received message of Amna , we picked her and
then we visit park . It was drizzling and we enjoyed the day most . “ I told Ani , he smiled and then added “
Keerti is a genuine guy , I am thankful to him he take care of my love “ .
“ ohhh no ,
Ani we missed our flight , its 4: 00 pm now , what we will do now “ I panicked and I was at brim of shedding
tears , he cupped my face and just then the door bell rings .
“ wait Adu
I am just coming , please don’t be sad “ Ani tried to console and went to open
the door .
“ Finally “
Ani whispers .
“ where is
she ? “ a male voice asked .
“ there on
the couch “ Ani replied .
Few steps
walked near me , I didn’t bother to turn back and just then someone female covered my eyes with her hand , I tired
to recognize that touch but I was already deeply sinked in my own thoughts I
don’t double think and petulantly
shouted “ Ani where are you ? “ . “ With you my love “ he answered and I can
sensed that he was at certain distance from me .
*SURPRISE* some familiar voices sang in
chorus , I was abash they were Amna , Nitisha and Keerti , I couldn’t believe
for a second and I pinched by hand just to assure I wasn’t dreaming and yes I
wasn’t dreaming , they were in front of me and with me . We had our group hug after so many years but
still warmth wasn’t gone .
“ Aadya
please tell me my name spelling ? “ Keerti asked.
“ it’s K….
E… E..R…T…I… Keerti “ I replied whiling gamboling .
“ You’ll
never gonna learn my name , that’s why I never let you fill any of my forms “
Keerti replied and we all laughed .
“ So madam
tell us how are you ??” Nitisha asked , “ yes , please have your seats guys and
sorry we missed our flights but how you all are here , I mean how you all planned
to surprise in such a short time “ I replied while taking my seat next to Amna
.
“ Ohhh,
dear ; it wasn’t ours . It was someone else planning . “
Keerti replied while
munching chips .
“ Your man
, Aniket . We were scattered stars earlier but he played role of thread to bind
us together , there he is , you can ask him “ Amna replied and gestured towards
Ani.
“ O my ,
you planned for me this adorable surprise “ I asked raising my brows in
excitement .
“ Aadya , I
must say though you were busy but Aniket keeps our old Aadya alive . He never
let you change my dear . By meeting him and talking to him we all just feel
that he too was with us that time and now our friend is trying to reunite each
of us . God bless you both . “ Keerti replied while finishing his soft drink
down to the last drop .
The
emotional mode was shifted to partying one . We ate our pizzas , we danced and
emptied a dozen cans of soft drink . All memories were again reloaded with my
closed friend and my dear husband from our university to mine and Ani’s
marriage . All were enjoying each other company but among us one person was
there who was more elated that was Ani . I would always be thankful to him ,
just like any other day I fall in love with him again .
Past isn’t
a good place to stay but I would love to visit it every second because the
beautiful picture of my life was drawn years back on that plain white canvas . More
than dull colors it has bright colors , dull part is associated with my
isolation from the fact that my friends won’t miss me as I was parted from them
and the bright because life has given me a person who is soulmate but he stayed
with me in my every worst phase just like a best friend did . I was not having
any friend around but no someone was there who be my friend every time I took a
step . “ There are some people in life that you laugh a little louder , smile a
little bigger and live just a little bit
letter “ I read them somewhere and it keep on connecting with Ani , the person
who loves me the most .
Friendship is a bond which is
unbreakable but lovely are those part which you found with your better half . A
journey without friend is impossible but then some right person turns them into
beautiful bliss.
©Aditi Srivastava
