“I
don’t need a weepy goodbye”, he said, looking fixedly at me.
He took the last
drag of the cigarette, threw it with a flick of his fingers and continued,
“Goodbyes should be on a happy note…”; took a deep breath and added “ALWAYS”.
Even
before I could say a word he got excited as he rubbed both his palms together
and said, “Let’s make a plan!”
“What
plan”?, I asked him. I let my thoughts pass by, swallowing all that I had to
say about goodbyes, weepy or otherwise.
He
stood up, took out his phone from the right hand side of his denims and got
restless as he began unlocking the screen. He looked quite lost and mumbled
something as he opened the calendar on his phone.
I
said nothing. I almost snatched his phone and fed in my birth date, setting as
a reminder with the most annoying alarm tone.
He
scratched his head and said, “I don’t remember birthdays”, and we both smiled.
We sat in silence for a while on the rickety bamboo bench gazing on to the pine
trees. Soon it would be dusk. It’d get cold and a thick layer of fog would
surround us.
“But
I will remember yours”, he said and removed the reminder in no time.
I
looked at him, questioningly now as I raised both my eyebrows.
“It’s
on 7th Feb da” he said.
He
rather looked cute…. No he looked cuter.
It
was our last evening together. One on one. We still had thirty six hours at our
disposal but that would be spent travelling.
I
felt a heavy lump inside my throat.
Things
had just got better. We were in sync.
He
stood up, took out the camera from his black sling bag and walked towards the
main stage. My favourite artist Prateek Kuhad had just taken control on the center stage and the crowd began to gather and swell. My eyes followed his
footsteps as long as I could and after a while he got lost amidst the swarm of
people.
I
sat alone, still gazing on to the pine trees. I don’t know how many minutes I
sat there all by myself. As I turned my head to my right to take a good glimpse
of Prateek Kuhad, I saw him at a distance, taking pictures of me.
He
came walking towards me, put the camera inside the bag and handed it to me.
“Sit!,
I told him.
“Wait
a minute”, he said, as he pulled out something from his back. Well… it was a
bamboo hollow filled with Apong.
“Cheers!”,
he said, as he took a sip and handed the
Apong to me.
“Let’s
make a plan”, he said yet one more time.
So
we got back to where we had started.
I
smiled at him and asked the same question as I sipped the Apong, “What plan?”
“Let
me check the air fares from your place to mine”. He wasted no time and started
looking up the air fares.
“Man
it’s cheap if we book it right away!” he exclaimed as I kept sipping the Apong.
“So…
7th is a Sunday and your Saturdays are off days too. Take the early
morning flight on Saturday and I will receive you at the airport and we will
drive down straight to Auroville. Your birthday will be in Auroville with me. I
want to make it special!”
He took
my phone and set reminders this time!
It
sounded special and it felt nice.
“Four
months huh?”, I questioned him teasingly.
“It’s
only four months da! If we could have waited for five years, four months should
not be a big thing”.
“Yes!”
I exclaimed and gave him the tightest hug.
For
the rest of the evening we happily let ourselves get drowned in music, Apong
and the fog, holding hands all the while.
The
next thirty six hours passed too soon travelling and finally the moment came I
dreaded the most. The time to bid adieu. It wasn’t a weepy goodbye at all. For
we knew we’d be seeing each other soon… it was just a matter of four months.
The next
four months were no easy. I felt I was getting clingy and he seemed to go
inside his shell. We spoke on and off. But he said he was in his own zone and
preferred keeping quiet.
It took
a while to gather myself and get used to my life the way it was and the way it
is.
And finally
the day arrived.
My phone beeped with the reminder on time! I looked at the
screen and smiled at myself. We made plans and the plans remained plans! I don’t
know whether I was happy or not. But I smiled and recalled that last evening.
I prefer
quiet and noiseless birthdays.
I never expected him to call or wish me. In the
six years (yes it is now six years) I have known him he never has wished me
once!
And then
he called. Whoa! He called! Yes he did!
“Happy
birthday girl!”, he said. I know he was smiling. I could make out from his
voice.
“Thank
you!” I replied.
“See,
I told you I’d remember your birthday. And in the last six years that I have
known you this is the first time I am wishing you!”
We
both laughed at the same time and I said, “Yes! And I will remember this for
the rest of my life!”
We
spoke for a long time.
Much
later a night I sent him a message.
Me:“Thank
you”
Monk:“For
what?”
Me:“For
remembering my birthday”
Monk:“I
told you I would”
Me:“We
were supposed to be together on this day Monk”
Monk“Yes,
I know”
Me:“Maybe
some other time”
Monk:“Maybe
we are used to not seeing each other for five years!”
Me:“I
miss you”
Monk:“I
miss you sometimes”
Me:“I
miss you mostly”
Monk:“I
hate the distance”
