Virtual Friend

Its days like these I like you most
When I buzz you with a bad mood 
And even if you are in between something better
You let me rant for what can seem like an hour or so

You listen to me go on and on
About some guy who broke my heart 
Or my girl friend with whom I just fought

A small little smiley, a friendly ear you lend
To my mundane problems that ever end
Its crazy how I sometimes imagine you so near
And people sitting next to me so far

I don't have to call you everyday 
Or tell you every detail of my life
And without our little chats
So many weeks pass by
Then again out of a blue moon
When I buzz you, 
We end our conversation 
with the usual "talk to you soon"


Thank You Salma for sharing the love.

...She held onto him tightly as he zipped through the traffic with finesse, like a pro race driver. She was always thrilled when they both were on a bike, and it gave her http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_bumps">goosebumpsa> when he drove fast and cut through the traffic. It was drizzling slightly and even though it could be bad for their health, they just wanted to go on and on. As a child she’d always wanted to drive a bike, maybe because she saw her dad driving the new Yamaha RX 100(15 years back it was new), from her childhood. Now she loved sitting behind this guy, whom she loved, as he throttled the modified http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/4963751340_5ed6223ed0_b.jpg">2000 model CBZ with its stylish toe shift system. She could feel him taking the bike to its limits; she loved it when the roar of the wind drowned the roar of the engine.........

She had a lot of knowledge about bikes; as far as a 20 year old girl is concerned. But then that wasn’t the single reason why she was different from other girls of her age. She hated the company of TYPICAL girls. Maybe it was because she spent 12 years in a girl’s only convent school, or maybe due to the fact that the two women who’d been closest to her in her life; her mom and her elder sister; were such nice people that she hated to be categorised into the so called NORMAL GIRL STEREOTYPE. Now this doesn’t mean she doesn’t live like a woman. She does have feelings of a woman, and the best feeling of all in them was that she was in love with this guy. He wasn’t the best looking guy in town, but then she wasn’t the best looking gal in town either. So she thought she’d go for something other than looks in her dream guy. Actually it wasn’t until he proposed to her that she though more about love and marriage and family and all. Because he was the first person who’d made her feel that she was a mature girl, a girl who could be made a wife, a girl who’d be a good mother to his kids. The day he proposed to her, she wasn’t in the usual dilemma of a girl if he was the right guy for her, instead she was thinking, was she mature enough for something serious like this?

That was 3 years back, now she had no doubt in her mind regarding the fact that he should be her life-partner, for he was the lone person who understood her without even her telling him the problem. To add to this, he had a great job now, working in one of the best Investment Banks in the world-http://group.barclays.com/About-us"> Barclays Plc. He was a globe trotting MBA hotshot thanks to his http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/">IIM Ahmedabad http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/web/iima/pgpprogramme">PGP</a>. In some way it was she who’d inspired him to pursue an MBA, even though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone. It was his wish to match her parents’ question of status in the society that made him quit his decently paying job and write numerous mock cat’s and ace the CAT and get 4 IIM calls(ACLI, if you ask). He always had the ability, but it was the focus provided by a desire to marry her that pushed him forward. She could still remember the day that he proposed his wish to marry her. YES, it wasn’t the typical, I love you and would you be my girl. He was bold enough to ask her, “Would you be my Wife?” It was on the 26th of June, 2004; the day that he got a job in http://www.blogger.com/www.marutisuzuki.com">Marutia>. Maybe it was the feeling in his mind that he had a secure job, a soon to be completed degree, which would make him an engineer. So the next thing would be to have a girl. But he didn’t have interest in going for a college love story, especially since he had just one more year left to complete his B Tech. So he carefully evaluated a few girls. Yeah, even she knew that she wasn’t the first choice in his mind, he’d been frank enough to tell her that, and that was one other thing that she appreciated about him, his frankness and his boldness to tell anyone what he felt; even though he was painfully frank at times. He was a nobody in college, except for some people very close to him, hardly anyone knew him. He was someone who was THE guy when it came to certain things; like technical paper presentations or when someone's car broke down or a bike had a starting trouble; he was the guy who all remembered.

He had a great smile, a smile which in spite of his average looks made him handsome. He walked with what many would call a "happy bouncy walk", which as per some books and psychologists reflects a positive personality. Yes he did have a positive mind-frame when it came to talking about and certain things. But he was totally clueless about how he can have his future planned out.

Like all engineers he had a degree which said he was an engineer, but then he wasn't an engineer who knew each and everything in engineering. He was someone who could be called as a practical engineer; someone who knew how to repair a damaged TV,a broken down car, a malfunctioning amplifier and once he even changed the entire computer network of his department lab. These things aren't what many would call as great set of skills, but to have all these in a single man, that's where the greatness lies.

She on the other hand was what many would call a straight A student. Bright in academics and extracurriculars. She was the star of any programme in college. Be it a dancing competition or a Just A Minute event. She could baffle the audience with her sheer passion in the dancing and the amazing vocabulary she had when it came to speaking in front of a crowd. It wasn't just these, she could very well connect with the crowd and create a happy mood where ever she went. This was one of the prime reasons why he was attracted to her.

They both weren't what anyone would call a great couple. People were surprised when they told that they are together. Both their friends thought that they could get better people and they both deserved better. His friends thought she wasn't the type who'd make a perfect match for him and her friends didn't think he can match up to her talents. But they both somehow knew that the other was the ONE! This relation went on for a year until the time came for him and her to leave for their respective jobs. He went to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi">Delhi since Maruti was his firm and she went to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysore">Mysore for joining http://www.infosys.com/about/what-we-do/pages/index.aspx">Infosys. They both left on separate dates with promises to talk to each other daily. His training started and he was posted on the shopfloor at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Marutisuzuki.jpg">Maruti's Gurgaon factory, while she was posted to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore">Bangalore after her training. They used to talk daily unless work was too much and they just didn't have the energy to talk to each other.

Like this one year passed and they hadn't met. They planned a meeting by taking leave together to come back home. So on 25th June, 2006 both of them reached Kochi, their hometown. They met the next day at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Drive,_Kochi">Marine Drive and walked and talked for a long time. She felt happy to see him and he was delighted to see her. While talking and walking she noticed that he had changed a lot. He had put on some weight and his way of walking had changed from the happy bouncy walk to a rather slow, heavy walk. She heard him describe his work and how he used to be commanding workers in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line">assembly line at Maruti. He was talking with the same animated style that he had, but she noticed that he had an air of authority now which made him feel like the boss of things.

He noticed that her dressing sense had improved and she kept good care of herself and he felt that a good part of her salary was being spent on make-up. But then he thought, "WTH, why should I bother, as long as she's happy am happy". She also looked slimmer than the last time he had seen her, maybe it was the work catching up with her, or maybe the low-on-sleep lifestyle thanks to the job.

He then asked if she wanted to go for a drive. She had never come for a drive with him back in college days as she feared if she'd be seen by someone whom she knew, or someone her parents knew; eventhough she always wanted to do it. Today she somehow didn't think of what will happen IF... She just said ok and they both walked towards the parking and he started his bike and came to the place where she was standing. He stopped and flipped his visor off his helmet and said "Need a lift?" and she laughed and replied "your stupid sense of humour is still intact."

They drove through the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Avenue,_Kochi">Park Avenue and within some minutes they reached the highway and that's when he started speeding....................

...........she held onto him tightly as he zipped through the traffic with finesse,  like a pro race driver. She was always thrilled when they both were on a  bike, and it gave her http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_bumps">goosebumpsa> when he drove fast and cut through the traffic. It was drizzling slightly and even though it could be bad for their health, they just wanted to go on and on.

Both of them were talking about the good times they had back in college, about the jokes that happened and neither of them had a worry of what was happening in the world around them. They both had reached http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vytilla">Vytilla where they were waiting at the signal when she suddenly saw that in the car stopped behind them in the signal was her uncle. She was worried if he had seen her and started to panic. He was also worried and she just wanted to get away from the place unnoticed. She had never thought about this until now. She wished she had never sat behind him in the bike. As soon as the signal was green she was telling him to hurry on and get ahead of the car as far as possible. He sped on, but still her tension wasn't relieved. She wanted him to get away from the car as soon as possible. In all this tension he was also getting worried and he lost focus from driving and also the rain started getting heavier.

They slipped on the road and the http://www.blogger.com/www.mahindrascorpio.com">Scorpio coming from behind them crashed into their bike and she was thrown off the bike. She fell some feet away from the crash where he was jammed between the Scorpio and the road. Eye-witnesses said the crash was very bad and the girl died on the spot due to a head injury, he was alive when he was being taken to the hospital and all the while he wanted to know if the girl was safe. He was worried what her mother will say when she reached home so late. He was asking questions what happened to his girl, the girl whom he had loved. He knew something was amiss when no one told him anything about her. He had multiple fractures and internal bleeding from the accident and before he could reach a surgeons hands he also was dead.

At the time of death the only thoughts in her head were, if only she had not accepted to come with him in his bike, and his last thoughts were if only he was able to get her away from whoever was in the car behind.

If only the world didn't have a problem with two people falling in love with each-other irrespective of their backgrounds, they would both have been alive today.

Abhijith B


PS: This was a post which I had started writing more than two years ago in 2008. I didn't know how to progress and how to end it, and I hope I've done justice to it.

Thank you for your entry...

Happiness

It was nearing midnight and the blowing wind made the whistling sound. The street outside was deserted, except for the occasional group of college goers returning from a beer-bong party with the mirth of youth and carelessness that abounds that phase of life. 

“Where is she?” He worried.  

It’s just like her, to get lost in work and forget about the rest of the world.  It tempted him several times to pick up the phone and ask her what time she would be home. Even after being in an on-off relationship for three years, there was nothing that could get him used to this behavior. Their relationship was found on the basis that they understood each other and for each of them the other was the safe haven that they return to time and again. He knew how much she hated being interrupted when immersed in work. Same went with him and it was accepted to just let the other be.  Both of them were ambitious and driven people, eager to be part of something big and dreamt of that day together countless times.

When he worried about her, he usually started cooking to keep his mind off thinking excessively. Fresh pot of coffee, some dough in the oven, and pasta later; the door clicked open and she walked in the kitchen.  

“Nothing like your anxiety cooked food at night to celebrate” said she and kissed him lightly. 

Seeing her home and with a satisfied smile on her face, calmed him. 

“If this is your new strategy to get out of making dinner, then it works excellently”.

 “Aah” she said, “you read me better than anyone” and started setting the table. She poured some wine in two glasses and handed one to him. 

“What’s the occasion?”

“You mister are talking to the Head of Operations, of Europe division. If you would raise your glass and drink with me, to dreams and their coming true!” 

Things had only started getting somewhat real for them after so many years of being just friends and meeting at conferences. They started living together when both of them by a lucky coincidence were posted to work in London. As happy he was for her success, the job meant relocation to Zurich. This was one of those discussions they had had several times. After all those long nights of animated debates, they had come to the conclusion that whenever something like this would happen, each would follow their dream and there would be no question of putting the person on the spot to choose.

Happiness is a mistress he thought. On the one hand, her happiness was all he wished for and on the other it meant she would no longer be with him. 

He looked deeply in her eyes, raised his glass and said “To everything that makes you happy, may it be everlasting”.

Thank you Salma Sultana for the entry.