At crossroads

Their friendship fortunately blossomed, and as luck would have it, all three of us made it to decent B-schools, I knew who was behind his success… Maybe opposites attract. She was the flamboyant type, a person pretty comfortable in spoken English and he, the REC (Regional Engineering College) hostel kind one, who looks for a chance to switch over to the desi lingo. He, a laid-back-type, pretty happy watching her participate in dance competitions/fashion shows and she being surrounded, or rather hounded by “why not me” wannabe guys. He must have really thanked his stars.

The first year of the MBA went past and it was soon time for us to leave for “summers”, he, unfortunately, to an alien city. The tag of a foreign bank has its own price, and people seldom follow their instincts. He too followed the well trodden path and giving him company was yours truly.

I went shopping with him, the occasion was to choose a present for his beloved. It took him hours, and me, my utmost patience to finish off with the ordeal. The present, after a great deliberation included a couple of well designed cards, a lovely Parker pen and a cassette containing the choicest of songs – Comfortably Numb, Hazard, Someday, Crazy and Sweet Child o’ Mine held my attention easily. Lucky girl, I said to myself.

He went to Mumbai for the weekend and came back. We had a party later that night at Pune. I asked him how she liked the presents. He kept mum. Later he revealed that the recipient of the presents was the good ol’ Arabian sea off Marine Lines and that the dream had come to an end. It was quite late and I had no words. We excused ourselves from the party, it was breezy outside.

The moon light was just enough for the two of us to see through the kaccha roads. A glance from him was more than a cue. We removed our always uncomfortable ties, and also our shirts. Bare chested, we got on the two cycles, usually lying unattended and unused, and rode back to our makeshift residence in the alien city, recalling softly, the carefree days at our alma mater and thinking how nice it would have been, if Nimani, Lambu, Fido, Bhatta, Sukha, Pondi, Reddya and others were in Pune too. It’s been a long time since one has heard of his soulmates. Life goes own. After all, it is each one to himself, and unfortunately there aren’t too many lights to guide us across the unfamiliar crossroads. He agrees…

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