Saturday, August 13, 2011

In Memoriam

He waited anxiously at the park. He had never ever been to a park. Boys never go to a park. They have addas, they roam, they zoom past on bikes, they play cricket. They don't go to parks. But he was at the park. He was waiting. He didn't like to wait. Like, ever !! But he was waiting. And patiently. The people around him were not that interesting, 2 couples lost amongst themselves, an elderly woman taking a stroll wearing adidas shoes with her loose fitting salwar kameez, an ice cream vendor moving around. He looked at his watch, it was over 40 minutes. He looked up. He saw her crossing the road. Ah Finally !! She gave one look at him, with a shy smile from across the road. She moved her fingers through her hair, which flew onto her face as a car whizzed past her. He smiled back. Thus froze the moment...An eternity, maybe?

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He had just got done dumping his 3rd bag under his seat. The train left in 10 mins. There was family to see him off. She called...He had to take this call...He couldn't take this call...It was an emotional moment....He had to be physically present at the platform, comforting, assuring kith and kin that he'll be fine. The mind was on her however. Distance never mattered...or maybe it will....too many questions...too little time...the whistle blew....

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It was his second coffee at the shop, while he kept waiting....wasting time on a small weekend wasn't his kind of idea of having fun....but today was different...he wouldn't mind waiting...it wasn't the first time he was waiting for her...She came...the same familiar angelic face, maybe a little plumper but pretty, decently stylised as per the demands of big cities...long hair...and yet none of it mattered....That smile, the one he'd remember for a lifetime and more was missing....She did smile nonetheless, but it was nothing short of a stranger greeting you. Familiarity is a bad thing... you can never renew certain things...they have to be either the same or the kind that didn't matter. This missing smile could have been a good indicator of the proceedings ahead.... they were strangers after all !! 3 years...yes...one does change the most in his/her formative years...and yes, it never is the same...so he realised. The bitterness may go...but these two strangers could never go back to the idea that two youngsters nurtured..of hopelessly falling in love....maybe yet again !! He bid goodbye.....

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He was leaving for home...from work....tiring day...and a lot on his mind...and then he saw that office building on his way back...he normally saw it twice a day...what was so different? why would he patiently look at it, until, it went out of sight ? He tried noticing people around for a change...software coolies, IT giants...and amongst them stood out a guy, maybe in his early twenties...smart formals with sleeves rolled up, with a giant office bag pulling his lean frame down, spectacled and with buck teeth....yet not being able to hide them....as he smiled to some one across the road. The smile grew wider with passing moments....... He looked at the other end of the road....there was a girl at whom he was smiling....the lady was apparently trying to cross the road to get to him....His vehicle came nearer....."Driver, gaadi roko ek second !!"......The lovers were united....they did throw a puzzled expression as to why the car stopped immediately to allow her to cross...but soon they were lost within themselves.....

He had to divert his attention....he never dwelled in memories any longer...or atleast he liked to believe so....He ordered the driver to switch on the radio....and a song followed....

""Teri nigaahon ke..teri hi raahon ke kareeb se gayi zindagi... 
Tujhe kyun dekha naa..tujhe kyun jaana naa...shikayatein karoon ya nahin... 
thami hai yeh saansein...bhari hai yeh aankhein..sahoon kaise ab yeh faasla... 
Bin tere bin tere....koi khalish hai hawaon mein bin tere...."

Didn't make things easy....



P.S - the link to the song, which was much of an inspiration for the post. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3O1geddgus 


Image Courtesy - Edvard Munch - Separation - Oil on Canvas


2 comments:

  1. The article begins with an end and yet the title subtly justifies the whole parting,with touches of male-genred'emotions,i find the piece quite calm,in ways tht sorrow has been accepted,grief has been overtaken.
    In short,Quaint.More so.
    Cheers :) :)

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  2. Thanks Pru. You read between the lines pretty well. Grief has been overtaken, but this was also nostalgia of pain if you look at it that way..

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