• Behind bars… well almost!

The phone rings…
I am too cozy inside my rug to get up and attend the call. I stretch out for my life saver of the hour – my pillow. Pulling it up over my head, I manage to subdue the noise…
Zzzzzzz…….

Beep Beep… Beep Beep…
Now it’s the turn of the notorious alarm clock. Even the pillow over my head fails to drown the shrilling blare. I have to give up.
Pulling myself out of the rug, I somehow manage to shut the darn thing off, but by then the phone starts ringing again.

“Good morning sir… this is your wake up call for 9 AM. We have been trying to wake you up since an hour now. Have a great day!”
Gosh! It is already quarter past 10… Sam and Jose would kill me.
No they won’t kill me, they aren’t that bad. But I am sure they are in the middle of their breakfast at this moment and by the time I reach, the breakfast service would have ended!! Now that is even worse than getting killed by Sam and Jose!

I quickly enter the toilet… Sitting there I start contemplating about ways in which I could at the least grab an omelet from the restaurant. Brushing my teeth and shaving are two tasks which I could do without at this critical situation. That leaves me with just one task – getting dressed!

* * *

This is where I will eclipse my toilet exploits for a while and throw some light on some more important information. If you are wondering, where I am at this moment, I am in a hotel at a country in Middle East with my team for business.
“Business” – That is what we “sales folks” term anything and everything that we do at work. We travel for “business” trips, attend “business” meetings. Even our visas are known as “business” visas and sometimes if we get lucky, we even travel “business” class. So now that I have explained the importance of this word in our lives, I will continue with my story. After a long and hectic conference in the country, today was Friday – the weekend of the Middle East. From tomorrow we begin our series of “business” meetings.
It is very rare for us to get some time for ourselves during our business trip, so Sam and Jose had left no stone unturned to make this day as eventful as possible. That explains the 10:30 AM deadline, when we are to set out of the hotel for the biggest shopping center in the city.

The agenda? Shopping, movies and eating out.
Eating out… phew!! If ever I am travelling to a foreign country with Sam, it is always turns out to be a herculean task to get food at the right time. Sam’s fervor for Indian food always results in us roaming endlessly in unchartered territories. However, the end result always makes it up for the effort put in, as I too am not too fond of cold sandwiches and near-raw meat that are usually served at most places abroad.

* * *

Now back to my toilet saga…
I look down… the shorts that I am wearing seem good enough for the outing that we have planned for today. Looking further down I conclude that the sandals aren’t bad either. All I need to do now is wash, flush and rush – which I finish off in no time. On my way out I quickly grab my green t-shirt, and try to slither it over my head – and this is when my left foot gets caught in the carpet and I come crashing down – BANG!!
“Little do I realize at this time that this is the supernatural power in action, which is trying to give me a not-so subtle hint about something being absolutely not right.”
I rise unperturbed and rush to the restaurant.

* * *

It is already 10:25 AM when I reach the restaurant. The welcome board yells out at me, “Breakfast: 6:30 AM to 10:30 AM”. I mock at the board and rush to the omelet counter.
As I am about to place my order, a voice booms out from over my shoulder, “four egg whites, with salt onion and pepper… and yes, cooked well from both sides”. Hey that’s exactly what I want. I turn back to see Jose smiling at me. “Sir, this order is already set for you at the table…” saying this he points towards Sam, who is waving at me from the corner table.

“Good morning Aadi”, says Sam as I pull up my chair at the table. I could see that Jose had already finished his continental breakfast and was just left with some coffee. Sam cleans his plate by taking the last bite of his French toast.
“You can do a huge favor on us by just managing with this omelet today bro…” Sam tells me. Although he puts it as a request to me but I know Sam means business. “The least you could have done is shaved before coming down for breakfast…” Sam’s mocking continues.

* * *

Till the time I think of giving back a good answer to Sam, let me give you his brief introduction. Sam, the sales head of our group, is the boss of Jose and me. Sales is his life and in every part of his life.
His goal? - To make every member of his team the best sales person in this world.
Since the last one year, ever since he has hired me, Sam has been on his toes to make me presentable as a valuable member of the ‘Sales fraternity’; however some nuts like me are difficult to crack. Although in my defense I can say that I have modified myself a lot – from being the torn-jeans-n-slippers lad from the city, I have now become a so-called high-flying executive who wears suits for most of his day-time activities and shirts with cufflinks for his sun-down engagements. I have even sacrificed my long tresses for this job and my ambition to get a tattoo on my right arm seems like a distant dream now.
However, underneath this strict and no-nonsense shell of Sam lies a caring elder brother who makes sure that even the roughest weathers pass through him before touching his team.

* * *


“Come on Sam… it is the weekend today,” I say. “And moreover, I had shaved last night only…” I add.
“Then you better do something about your hyper-active hormones Aadi, that cause your facial hair to grow back so fast,” Sam strikes back.
I am stubborn, but I am not stupid. I know when to shut up during an argument – especially when there seems to be no chance of the decision going in my favor. I silently set out to finish my breakfast – if you can call that a breakfast.

* * *

“I have called the taxi and it is waiting for us outside the hotel,” Jose declares with a glance at his watch. That is typical Jose… always so particular and so perfect. Now that I have mentioned about this guy and since I have some time till we walk up to the taxi, let me take this opportunity to introduce my counterpart, Jose.
Jose is the perfect example of the good boy that we used to have as class-monitors in our schools.
He always wakes up in time in the morning, finishes all his tasks on time, shaves impeccably every day! And his clothes… his clothes are always formal… yes ALWAYS. Even on a weekend, Jose dresses up in a crisp ironed shirt and a pleated trouser. I sometimes wonder if this guy ever gets into his pajamas, or does he sleep in his business suit?

* * *

As we step out in the smoldering heat of the Middle East summers, Jose spots our taxi and runs towards it. This is when Sam slips something into my pocket and walks off. I dig into my pocket to extract a handful of dry fruits and nuts. I shout out to Sam, “Thanks for that…”
He winks at me and says, “I know that omelet won’t be able to sustain you for more than an hour dude… keep munching till I treat you guys to a grand Indian lunch today!” Popping an almond into my mouth, I follow him to the taxi.

“To the City Center,” Jose directs the driver. Each of us gets busy immediately in directing the AC vent towards our faces. Phew! This heat could roast a duck live on the streets…
“Where are you from?” the driver tries to strike a conversation.
“India,” Jose replies.
“Me from Pakistan,” the driver answers an unasked question.
In no time the conversation between the driver and Jose moves on from countries to Indian movies and Indian film stars. Sam chooses to be the silent spectator, while I wonder about the fact that how could the people from Pakistan who we meet abroad be so friendly with us and vice versa. If only our political leaders could take a few tips from us…
Pondering over this thought, I set out on my mission to hog down the dry-fruits given to me by Sam, before anybody else gets into the mood of munching on a few themselves. In no time we reach our destination and incidentally I too finish my extended breakfast.

* * *

As soon as we enter the mall, we look for directions towards the Carrefour. That’s our global favorite supermarket and on it we rely for our small ration of soft drinks and snacks for our stay during the business trips.
After entering Carrefour, Jose asks me to pick up some cold drink for him and strays away to the books section. Sam and I pick up a cart and begin our shopping expedition. An interesting thing to be pointed out at this moment is that both Sam and I are born shopaholics, and when it comes to this activity we can even put the female of our species to shame. After picking up the regular wafers, biscuits, juices, cold drinks and some chewing gum, we move towards the toys section.
“Why don’t you spend time at a section of your choice, while I pick up some toys for my daughter,” says Sam he adds.
I like the idea as I have pretty much no interest in the toys section.
“Okay then… Catch up with me at the electronics section,” saying this I move on.

* * *

I start looking for directions to the electronics section. That is when I notice a guy staring at my t-shirt with awe. By his attire I can make out that he is a resident of this country. I smile at him and move on…
As I pass by the clothes section, I walk past a mirror. Taking a few steps back I look at myself on the mirror and check if there is something on my t-shirt to attract attention. No… there isn’t.
My gaze travels to the background in the mirror… Oh my God! I see the same guy approaching me from a distance. I start contemplating what might the guy’s intentions be!
“Oh ok… now I understand things a bit clearly,” I explain to myself.
“After ages I have been working out in the gym during this long stay at the hotel. This short stint at the gym might have chiseled out my muscular body from my college body-building days…” I assume. “Moreover, this body-hugging t-shirt fails to be as modest as I am about my well puffed biceps…”
And I have read a lot about homosexuality being openly accepted in countries outside India. With this instance, things start falling into place. However, since my preferences are totally different from this guy’s, this situation calls for an SOS. I take bigger steps towards the electronics section now. On the way I pick up the cold drinks for Jose.
I am sure that the guy must have given up by now. Dropping the cold-drink cans in a cart, I push it towards the sign displaying “Computer Peripherals”.
There is a Sony external hard disk which I have been eyeing since a long while… let me find out if I can afford it with my savings this time.
Little did I know that I had heaved my sigh of relief a little too soon.
“Excuse me Mister!!” a voice booms from behind my back. I turn around and to my horror see the same guy approaching me. This fellow seems to be really desperate to get me.
I ignore his callout and rush towards the toy section. There I see Sam and Jose from a distance and rush to them in no time. Phew… now I am not alone.
“Hey Mister… I think you not hear me! I asking you to stop for so long!” the guy steps in right between me and my colleagues.

* * *

I tell myself, “it is all right Aadi… this man wouldn’t molest you in a public place.” I try all means to pacify myself. I can talk it out and explain to this guy that although I respect his thoughts and inclinations but I wouldn’t be interested in him.

“What’s wrong?” Sam comes out from behind this man. Jose is with him.
“Is he your friend?” the guy asks Sam pointing his finger at me.
“Yes, he is… why do you ask?” Sam retorts.
“Mister… your friend needs to take off his t-shirt RIGHT NOW… else I call the police!” the guy replies.
My jaw drops. I was 100% correct about this guy’s intentions. By now I start believing more in my super powers to judge people – just by looking at a person I can grasp what he is thinking about in no time. However, what bugs me at this situation is how can this guy threaten me so openly?!?
“And may I ask why?” Sam enquires.
“Because in our country alcohol is UNACCEPTABLE… and your friend is wearing a Heineken t-shirt,” he snaps back.

* * *


“What!” Sam, Jose and I gasp in unison.
“Buddy… my friend here is just wearing a Heineken t-shirt… he’s not drinking in public,” Jose tries to play the role of my advocate. Sam nods in agreement.
“I say take off t-shirt or I call police…” the guy adamantly stands by his words.
Finding my friends beside me, I too gather some courage.
“Yes Mister, I am not taking off this t-shirt… do whatever you want to do!” I find my lost voice.
“Oh is it? You are in deep trouble mister… deep trouble!” saying this he walks off.
I feel that I have scared away the idiot. My confidence melts down in no time when Jose whispers to me, “Aadi, I hope we haven’t taken a wrong step by messing around like this in an unknown territory!”
I try to shrug of my fear by saying, “No way Jose… what on earth can that guy do to us?” As soon as I complete my statement, I see the guy returning with two sturdy police men by his sides.
That is enough for my bravery… I look around, spot the nearest sign to the toilet, and flee from the ‘scene of crime’ in a jiffy. I did not see behind me but am sure that close on my heels are Sam and Jose.

* * *
Crashing into the toilet I heave a sigh of relief. Having taken such a twisted and turned path, I am sure that the two overweight policemen and the guy could never have chased me.

I look at my t-shirt in the mirror. Sam and Jose too stare from behind me.
“Take off the darn t-shirt”, Sam says. “You can be in your vest,” he adds.
“If only I would have worn a vest today!” I think out aloud.
“What!” Sam and Jose cry in chorus now. We all are getting better in this skill of exclaiming in accord.
Sam stares at me in fury. I am sure that if the local law doesn’t prosecute me for WEARING the Heineken t-shirt, Sam would certainly hang me for NOT WEARING a vest. In the sales-grooming lessons of Sam, “ALWAYS wear a vest!” was lesson number two – which came a close second after “Shave EVERYDAY!”

In sheer anxiety, I quickly take off my t-shirt. As I shed the piece of cloth from my body, a wee bit of smile curves up in Jose’s face.
“Eureka!” he screams.
I look at Jose in bewilderment. Sam reciprocates my feelings.
“Aadi… I have got an idea!” Jose shouts out in joy. “Just wear your t-shirt like it is now – inside out!” Jose explains.
I look down at my t-shirt. It has turned inside out while I was taking it off – and now it is nothing but a plain gray t-shirt. Without second thoughts I wear my inside out t-shirt and we catch the first taxi back to our hotel.

* * *

The journey back to the hotel is pretty uneventful with none of us uttering a single word throughout the entire drive. I presume that like me the other two are also just praying to their respective gods for saving our asses today.

We enter the hotel and after a brief adieu, head out to our respective rooms. I fish out my room key and swipe it to open the door to my room. All I need right now is a cool shower to loosen me up.

As I step into my room, I spot a white envelop lying at the entrance. I open it to find an invitation card:

--------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Sir,

As an esteemed club-member of our hotel, we would like to extend to you an invitation to the evening’s special event:

COCKTAIL PARTY!!!

Time: 8:00 PM to 12:00 AM
Venue: Falcon Heights (Rooftop Resto-bar)

Please note: Dress code is Formal for Ladies and Gents.
We look forward to see you there

(signed)
Sales Manager
Event sponsor: Heineken
--------------------------------------------------------------

So much for the ban in liquor in this country…

• Times change...

• Life is Good

"One double-cheese chicken burger and one cappuccino..." handing over a five hundred rupee note, I placed my order across the counter.
"Would you like to have a medium or a large coffee sir?" the girl at the counter asked.
"Small..." I snorted.
"...with cream or without cream sir?" she went on.
I took a deep breath and replied, "No cream!"
"Some extra cheese in your burger sir?" the girl inquired as she keyed something into her machine.
That was all that I could take."Look here young lady... I have ordered what I want. And if I don't get my food without any further interrogation from your side, I am afraid I'll have to cancel my order and maybe complain to the manager!!" I screamed at the girl.

She looked up from her machine and made eye contact with me for the first time. Her face depicted a site of extreme shock. Apparently, she didn’t see this coming.
“Ye-Ye-Yes sir… in a moment sir,” saying this returned me the receipt and change in no time.
“Please be seated, we’ll serve you. Have a good day sir,” she said smiling forcibly at me.

“Today I am getting to interact with all the irritating people that dwell in this planet,” I thought as I walked towards an empty table, carrying my helmet. I placed the helmet on the table and seated myself.
I let go off a deep sigh as the episode of today morning flashed before my eyes.

“We have no doubt about your capability Aaditya… it’s just that the policies of our company are such that only limited people in the department can be given an A-grade raise,” Prashanth, my Project Manager babbled without looking up from his laptop screen.
“But Subramani worked with me in the same project, just on a different module,” I tried to debate. “Then what was it about him that made him get an A and not me?” I put forth my point.
“See Aaditya… there are various factors that determine the grade of a software engineer in our project,” Prashanth explained. “Here, take a look at your performance chart…” saying this he turned the screen of his laptop towards me.
“The scheduled deviation shown by you during this project clearly depicts a dip in your efficiency during the last stage,” Prashanth blabbered as he drew a virtual circle with his index finger over a bizarre diagram on the screen.
As he went on and on, explaining the various diagrams he had prepared to flaunt during this meeting, I realized the fact that it was totally useless arguing with this adamant fellow. Managers are masters in sweet talking you to eat even shit.
I kept mum for the rest of the meeting. After about an hour, I left the room feeling like a total loser.

Slowly I ambled towards my cubicle… with all my dreams shattered. I sat at my desk and closed all the web pages that I had opened to check out the latest car models available in the market. With the current raise that I got, my own car still seemed to be a distant dream. Now I realized the significance of sitting late in office just to show off to the boss. I sure had been a fool.

“Your double-cheese chicken burger and cappuccino sir,” the waiter brought me back into the present.
“Thanks,” I muttered as I started stirring the sugar in my coffee. As I was just about to take the first sip of the beverage, a slam on my back shook me up.
“Aadi… you bugger! Where the hell have you been all these years?” I turned around to see Sumit, my friend from college. Sumit had changed a lot since I last met him at one of our alumni meets. It had been almost two years since then. He used to be a fat fellow with a mop of hair falling on his forehead. But now, his long tresses and the sparkling earring perched on one of his ear-lobes made him resemble a style icon.
“Dude… long time no see!” I expressed my surprise with an open mouth. To tell the truth, I wasn’t exactly happy to meet Sumit. He wasn’t liked by many ever since our college days. The typical rich, spoilt brat that he used to be... he would never ever be tired of bragging about himself all day long. His father owned some big petrol pumps in and around the city and his birthday gifts used to comprise of bikes, cars and all cool things every college student could possibly dream of.
“So… where have you been dude?” I asked shaking his hand.
“I am doing my masters from the Michigan State University in the US of A,” he informed me with a grin. “It’s my last semester… dropped by to visit India once before settling down for good in the states,” added Sumit.
Some people have all the luck, I thought. This guy used to pass his exams by buying question papers every year. His dad used to be friends with the local magistrate; hence even if the professors or the principal ever smelled something fishy, he managed to get away with it easily. It hurt to know that such a person could get settled in the USA so easily while I am toiling just to get my visa processing initiated since ages.
“Do you mind if I join you?” asked Sumit as he pulled over a chair. I had barely finished my coffee and was in no mood to listen to Sumit, brag about his American adventures, at this moment.
“I’m very sorry pal… but I’ve really got to leave for a meeting right now,” I said as I picked up my helmet and the chicken burger.
“Do you want me to drop you someplace in my dad’s new Mercedes Benz?” Sumit said flaunting the shining keys of the vehicle.
Huh! As if he really wanted to drop me. Anybody could decipher that this was just his method of showing off his dad’s money.
“Thanks dude, but I guess my bike won’t fit into your dad’s Merc…” I walked off with this taunting statement.

As I stepped out of the café, without more ado I unwrapped the packing of the burger. The yummy smell of the mustard sauce filled the air. At least something good was happening with me today... this burger will make me forget all the miseries I am going through. I headed towards the parking-lot as I took a bite into my evening snack.
I was about to savor the next bit of the burger, when one kid zapped across me in such speed, that I almost lost my balance. I barely managed to regain my initial posture, when another kid shoved past me and this time I slipped and tumbled.
Splat! My burger landed just two inches away from my nose, on the ground. Gosh! Was I having a bad day or what? I collected myself and brushed my trouser. Picking up the helmet I took one glance at my chicken burger worth eighty five rupees, lying waste on the ground.
That was the most I could take in a single day. I felt fumes coming out of my ears.I looked around to locate the miscreants who had caused this untimely demise of my evening snack.

There they were… sitting behind the bush, guffawing away. I rushed towards them. As I approached the kids, I realized that they were rag pickers… hardly 7-8 years old. I was about to yell at the two when I noticed the reason behind their gleeful excitement. One of the kids had found a small piece of bread with some jam on it. They had neatly laid down that single bread piece between them, on the ground, and were totally engrossed in enjoying the treat.
I took one look at my burger lying at a distant and another at the piece of bread that the kids had. Even though I had so much in my life, I haven’t been half as happy ever as these two kids were at this moment.
I suddenly lost all desires to bellow at the kids… I guess a smile appeared on my lips for the first time today. The car that I wanted to buy didn’t seem all that necessary any more. The raise that I got today appeared quite sufficient. And who wanted to go to the USA now.
With these thoughts hovering in my mind, I strolled up to my rickety bike and drove off with a very new outlook towards life.
My life sure is good.

• Finally we Meet…

I lifted my coffee mug and took one sip. Yuck! It was ice-cold. One look at the wall clock made me decide that it was too late to heat up the coffee again.

It was late night... the clock showed half past one, and here I was sitting with my laptop, giving some finishing touches to my presentation that I was supposed to deliver tomorrow morning... oops, correction: today morning.

My project manager sure knew how to extract work out of each of us to the fullest.

“Our team will set an example for the company...” my project manager announced one fine day during a team-lunch. “We'll do off with late sittings. Don't worry, with my excellent time management skills, that would be a child's play,” he added.

Since then, from the very next day my team got habituated to leaving office comparatively earlier, however we used to get enough home-work to keep us up all night. That bastard had duped us.

After toiling for fifteen more minutes, I decided to call it a day. Shutting down the laptop, I headed to hit my bed. I had barely closed my eyes when my mobile phone started ringing. Shit! Hope it’s not from office.

I felt my way to the phone and opened my right eye to discover the name, Jade flashing on the display.

“Hey Addy, where are you?” enquired Jaydeep, or Jade as we called him.

“Home buddy… where else?” I murmured.

“Can you come over to Apollo Hospital right now?” I suddenly sensed the anxiety in Jade’s voice.

“What happened Jade? Tell me…” I exclaimed. I wasn’t feeling sleepy anymore and had already started fishing out my clothes from the wardrobe.

“It’s Rishi… he’s met with an accident. A truck hit his bike while he was on his way to the office!” Jade said it all in one breath.

I was stunned. Rishi used to work in a call center. Although a cab used to come to pick him up, but this crazy fellow preferred a speedy bike ride to the boring cab.

“My long legs don’t fit in the small company vehicle… I feel cramped pal,” the six-foot Rishi would explain whenever any of us tried to sermon him on that matter.

Jade was silent for a while over the phone now. I too didn’t utter a word.

“Hello… Hello Addy! You still there?” Jade spoke from the other end.

“Yeah dude… is he serious?” I enquired.

“Can’t say. The doctors are examining him. I’ll get to know only in an hour.” Jade replied. “Please come immediately mate… I am finding it difficult to manage things on my own here. Try to get Anurag along with you,” he added before hanging up.

I quickly slipped out of my pajamas, put on my jeans, picked up the helmet and my bike keys and rushed out to start my bike. Just before driving off I dialed Anurag’s number.

Anurag answered my call right away. “Hey Addy! What’s up dude… so late?” From his voice I could figure out that Anurag wasn’t sleeping. It was almost a year that we had finished our college and this poor fellow was still on a job hunt. Since he didn’t have to get up in the morning for any engagements, he had become an owl by now.

Rishi had offered to help him get a job in his call center so many times, but Anurag had some ego. “I didn’t do engineering to join a call center dude,” would be his prompt reply every time.

“Quick dude! Get dressed up. I’m coming to pick you up in ten minutes,” I said.

“At this hour!! Anything serious?” Anurag queried.

“Bad news… Rishi’s had an accident. We’ve to rush to Apollo at once!” saying this I hung up and guided my bike towards Anurag’s house.

In less than ten minutes I was outside his flat. Anurag was sitting on the steps, smoking a cigarette. Seeing me he threw away the cigarette and came running.

“Don’t tell me that the ass was biking to office again,” Anurag asked about Rishi as he hopped on my bike. “Hmm…” I muttered as I drove off.

“Gosh! When will he start acting like a grown up?” he yelled just as I swerved my bike to dodge a dog’s carcass lying on the road.

“Easy baby, easy… I don’t want us both to land up in the hospital bed next to Rishi’s bed,” Anurag said putting a hand on my shoulder. “You want me to drive?” he offered.

“I am all right dear…” I assured him as I sped past a truck.

“So, who’s there at the hospital with him?” Anurag inquired.

“Jade had called me up… he’s there,” I said as I squinted to look for potholes in the dark road. Turning at the end of the road, we reached the building with ‘Apollo Hospital’ written across it.

Anurag collected the parking ticket while I parked my bike.

“Which way to the emergency ward?” I asked the boy at the parking lot. We ran towards the emergency ward as soon as the lad pointed his finger towards the same.

“Mr. Rishi Verma!” Anurag declared at the reception.

The nurse flipped through a couple of pages in her register and looked up.

“OT-7C, first floor. Please take the staircase,” she said.

Anurag ran… I followed closely behind his heels.

“Hey, hey! By OT she meant the Operation Theatre, right?” Anurag confirmed.

Before I could answer, we bumped into Harry.

“This way guys…” saying this he guided us towards OT-7C. There, seated outside the Operation Theatre was Jade, with his face buried in his hands.

I sat beside Jade and putting my arm around him asked, “Is he all right?”

Jade didn’t speak… he just shook his head.

Harry took over, “Doctors are performing a surgery on him right now. They say that the right side of his body has been hurt badly.”

“Let us hope for the best!” Harry added.

I looked towards him. Harry… or Harit, as his parents had named him, used to be the kid of our group. Ever enthusiastic… and game for the weirdest of adventures. He had changed a lot now. Something seemed very different in him… maybe that was because he had grown his tresses.

Actually, I was meeting Harry after almost six months today. In fact, not only Harry but also I hadn’t been in touch with the rest of the gang that often. And to think that during the four years of college, the five of us used to be inseparable.

We literally used to do everything together.

Now my job seldom allows me to freak out with my gang ever.

Jade is busy with his MBA preparations. Harry is looking after his dad’s business.

And Anurag… he is still looking for a job. Rather, a job of his stature.

“As soon as I got the news of Rishi’s accident, I called up Harry and dashed here,” Jade recalled.

“But, how on earth did…” before I could complete my sentence, the door of the operation theatre opened and two masked people came out. Of course they had to be the surgeons.

We rose to our feet… one of the surgeons came towards us and disclosed his intellectual face as he removed the mask.

I took a deep breath and didn’t let go of it until I saw a smile on the doctor’s face.

“Your friend is out of danger,” the doctor addressed us.

“Phew!!” chorused Jade and Anurag.

“But we need to keep him under observation for an hour, so he’s been moved to the ICU right now,” the doctor concluded.

“Thank you doctor,” Jade said, heaving a sigh of relief. The rest of us echoed Jade’s words as the doctor walked off.

We celebrated with a high five followed by a group hug.

The doctor returned. “Any of you with blood group A-positive?” he enquired.

Anurag stepped forward, followed by Jade.

“It would be great if one of you could donate a unit to compensate for the blood we used on your friend… there’s no compulsion though,” the doctor added.

Anurag said, “No issues... I am game for it.”

“Great! I would request the rest of you to wait at the reception and you please come with me,” saying this he walked off with Anurag.

“So, how did you come to know of Rishi’s accident?” I asked Jade as we strolled towards the reception.

“Incidentally Rishi had put my mobile phone number as the emergency contact in his company I-Card,” Jade explained.

Rishi used to stay alone in the city in a rented one room flat. That room used to be the after-college and weekend hangout for us during our college days. Even after getting a job quite far off from the city, Rishi never ever considered shifting to a place nearer to his office. Guess he had some emotional attachments with that flat… well, so did we.

Harry picked up the Sports-World from the magazine rack before we settled down at the sofa. He had forever been a sports freak.

He was a member of our college football team and used to miss out on a lot of lectures because of his practice sessions.

“This year Japan has very good chances of upsetting some big teams in the football world cup… what say?” Harry put forth his point.

“Nah… these five-foot Asian players stand no chance against the giants of Europe and South America”, I debated.

Jade wasn’t interested in our conversation. I noticed that he was too much engrossed in gazing at the pretty nurse over the reception counter.

I nudged Harry and pointed towards Jade with my eyes.

“Pretty babe, huh?” Harry mockingly addressed Jade.

“Hmm?” Jade made one of his most innocent faces as he turned towards us.

“What babe?” Jade added with a wink. That was typical Jaydeep. During college days too he used to sneakily stare at all the chicks and nobody used to notice. Guess it was his naive expression that never gave him away.

“Remember the time when I had almost got Jade to give up this habit of his totally?” Harry recalled.

I remembered quite well.

It was one fine Delhi winter morning. The five of us were sitting at the amphitheatre steps soaking up the warm sun, just as a very pretty girl passed by us. Jade as usual took a sneak preview of the lady without our knowledge.

Ten days later it was Valentine’s Day. However, for us unattached guys; this day didn’t hold much value. So, that day we decided to mourn our single-status by attending a lecture… a feat that we very rarely performed.

Harry was however missing from the classroom that day too. He and his football practice, whew!

Suddenly the monotonous tone of Professor Sharma was disrupted by a melodious voice, “Excuse me sir… may I speak to Jaydeep Roy for a moment please?” It was the same pretty lass who had walked past us some days back, at the amphitheatre.

Jade was astonished. Professor Sharma gestured him to go out of the classroom and meet the girl. Jade walked off mystified.

I sensed something fishy… so I pulled Rishi and Anurag with me and followed Jade.

The girl started speaking to Jade and the three of us listened with strained ears from a distance. “Is this you who has written this?” she said waving a sheet of paper at Jade.

Jade took a look at the sheet. “Love letter!! Gosh no…” Jade leaped back.

“My brother saw you staring at me some days back, and he’s sure you are the person behind this letter,” she exclaimed. “He’s waiting for you round that corner… go meet him,” she added as she pointed towards the lab.

Jade was traumatized. With meek steps he started walking towards the corner. He looked at me once and I assured him that we are behind him.

Our college was notorious for bullying lads; hence all of us were a little nervous. Slowly we crept behind Jade.

“Muahahahaha!!” the stupid ass Harry jumped out from behind the wall.

“Scared you Jade… did I?” Harry enquired.

We all were amazed. The pretty lady who was the partner in crime of Harry also burst into peels of laughter. “Let me introduce you to my cousin. Guys… meet Sonia,” Harry said pointing towards the girl.

Recalling the episode, Harry and I burst into peels of laughter. Suddenly we realized that we were in a hospital and had to suppress our glee for the moment.

“I will surely take revenge from you someday for that episode Harry,” Jade sneered.

“Grow up Jade,” Harry giggled.

“Why? What did this kid do now?” I heard Anurag’s voice behind me. He was holding a piece of cotton in his arm. “These bastards took a lot of blood out of me… I'll have to workout extra tomorrow. Well the doc said that we can meet Rishi in fifteen minutes.” he added as he aimed and threw the cotton bud directly into the waste basket.

I was the only person who took notice of this hole-in-one accomplishment of his. As he looked at me I signed an applause using my eyes.

“So, did you give a thought to what I said the other day?” Jade was talking to Anurag.

“What?” Harry and I chorused, unable to withstand our curiosity.

“Nothing guys… this Jade was suggesting me to prepare for the MBA exams along with him,” said Anurag. “Bad idea”, he added.

“I don’t think so…” I intervened.

“Well, I don’t want to become just another manager in just another big-shot company, wearing a tie and attending meetings throughout the day,” Anurag argued.

“Believe me dude, that way you’ll be much better than what I am now… just slaving for my project manager, toiling day and night doing some miserable work.” I tried to explain to Anurag.

“Whatever… but I can’t study anymore,” Anurag concluded.

“Forget it!” Jade spoke up. “It’s of no use trying to explain things to this idiot… he’ll do whatever he wishes to do.”

Jade was right. Anurag was a typical Leo. He was filled with ego till the brim and his stubbornness seldom allowed him to let us have our way with him.

“I wish we all had never grown out of our college days…” Jade suddenly sounded very nostalgic.

“Yeah dude, those sure were the best days of my life… no tension, no worries, just plain fun,” I nodded with a smile.

“That’s why I sometimes feel lucky that I haven’t found a job yet… at least I have some time for myself,” Anurag said. “Look at you all, busy with your jobs and MBA preparations. We guys never meet nowadays,” he complained.

“True pal… very true. And for this we have nobody else to blame but ourselves,” Harry concluded.

The telephone at the reception rang.

“Yes doctor… sure doctor,” saying these four words the nurse disconnected the phone.

We looked towards her with expectant eyes.

“You can go and meet your friend now… Ward 33, Bed 5,” she said.

We all rushed to see Rishi. Just outside Ward 33, the guard reminded us to keep our voices down. We almost tiptoed towards bed number 5 to avert waking up any sleeping patient.

There he was… Rishi was leaning up against a pillow with his right hand plastered. A tube from the hanging glucose bottle had found it’s way to his right arm. He would have appeared to be in a miserable state if it wouldn’t have been for the smile that dwelled on his lips.

“Hey, hey… all you rascals are here! Sorry to spoil your sleep at this hour pals,” Rishi said with a wink. He was struggling while speaking, but he seemed fine enough.

“Just shut up you ass…” Anurag bellowed. “Who do you think you are, Batman? Driving his Bat-Mobile in this dark night…” Anurag went on.

“Chill dude… and please don’t insult my Yamaha by calling it names such as Bat-Mobile and all…” that was typical Rishi. Not failing to crack jokes even at such an hour.

I saw Anurag too sporting a faint smile.

“All the best dude… hope you can put your YA, MA and HA together into one piece after this accident,” Harry commented slyly.

The look on Rishi’s face changed, thinking about his broken bike.

“Come on guys… just for courtesy sake I have been holding on for so long,” Rishi announced suddenly.

We all looked at him questionably.

Seeing the confused look on our faces, Rishi explained, “With so much glucose water flowing inside, a man desperately needs to pee guys!”

“You haven’t changed at all…” was all that I could mutter as Jade fished out the necessary container from under the bed and helped Rishi with his relieving activity.

I felt really tired now. We all had positioned ourselves comfortably around Rishi’s bed. With the gang getting together after such a long time, nobody could contain their excitement and we chattered on unstoppably. It won’t be long before the warden will shoo us off, so each of us wanted to make the most of this time we’d got together..

I looked at us. Times surely have changed.

The five of us who were always together… now it took something as big as a near fatal accident of one to reunite us.

This day surely goes into my diary as ‘The Great Reunion’. Finally we all did sneak out some time from our respective ‘busy’ schedules.

Finally we did meet…

• Gone Are The Days...

Gone are the days...
When, I rode a cycle to my school.
In case I had a puncture,
I’d walk without losing my cool.
Today things are much easier for me,
I have a big car… all mine.
But, sitting in the AC too
A little traffic jam makes me whine!!

Gone are the days...
When, I waited eagerly for festivals to come.
Granny used to give us a rupee each
To eat out and have fun.
Today I celebrate all festivals
Sending emails to friends & family
Spend thousands to eat out lavishly now
But I miss that samosa worth one rupee

Gone are the days...
When I flew my kite... up, up so high
Just seeing it soar above the birds
I could feel that I could fly
Today I fly so often,
Official trips rule my days.
Soaring above the birds isn't fun anymore
Heck! Such are life's ways!

Gone are the days...
When summer holidays was D-event of the year
Playing football in the scorching heat
Dehydration & sunburn... What's that dear?
Now during summers, I take special care
Not to step out much in the sun
And sometimes, if I do go out,
A sunscreen lotion protects me from sunburn

I know those days will never return
Can only recall them and feel good
Those sure were the golden days
But life will move on as it should
If ever in my present life,
My past invites me over to her place
I will kick off my burdens and take the plunge
My golden childhood I will embrace

• Merry Christmas my Love

“Don’t you think we should meet some time?”
“Of course dear… why not!”
I knew she was lying… like she had in the past,
But to me, just hearing this ‘Sweet lie’ meant a lot!!

“I don’t have much work at office today…
…At around four, maybe I can meet you”
I pinched myself… couldn’t believe my ears!!
She sounded too good to be true.

Rushing through my work, I got set for ‘d-Date’
Got delayed a bit midway… the mirror was the cause.
She was waiting at the stop… saw me… she smiled!
Was she looking pretty? Damn! She was!!!

“Are you by any chance drunk today?”
I winked, “How on earth did you agree to this date?”
“Date my foot! Don’t get any wrong ideas mister…”
“Lets move… we’re already late!!”

Me and my bike, followed directions given by her…
She took me to her favorite bistro!
“They make good sandwiches here, should I get one for you?”
How on earth could I ever say no…

For the rest of the evening, she chattered on…
About her work, about her friends… and what not!!
For the first time in my life, ‘food’ was in front of me…
And about it, I totally forgot!!

Time flew by and she got up to leave…
“It wasn’t that bad, spending time with you”
“Maybe we can meet more… if you have the time”
With these parting words, she bid me adieu!!

The Christmas bells that were adorning the place…
Suddenly came to life and started to chime!!
If falling in love in the very first date is illegal,
Please forgive me… I just committed the crime!!

• Why I Love You…

The way life seems so wonderful, since the day I met you.
The way you make me feel, like no one else can ever do.

The way you pinch me so hard, when I look at another gal.
The way you are so care-free, more than a girl friend you are my pal.

The way you show off a new bracelet, everyday in your wrist.
The way you check my mobile, for the names in the calling list.

The way you make me so angry, when you talk nicely to other guys.
The way I forget all my woes, just by looking into your eyes.

The way you talk and talk non-stop, when you are sitting with me.
The way you say ‘Oh Dear’ and pull my cheek in glee.

The way you express your anger by pouting your nose.
The way you give one hug to me, and all my tension goes.

The way you are so conscious about your lovely double chin.
Yet when I order any food you add, “I’d like some cheese put in!”

The way you can wear your old chappal, with any kind of dress.
The way after getting down from my bike, your hair’s in a state of mess.

The way you tell every evening, “Don’t wait for me today dear”
But actually you want me to wait; from your tone it is very clear.

The way you try to change the topic, when during the movie we kiss.
And whenever I see a movie with you, how all the scenes I miss.

The way you feel so sleepy, yet you SMS me till late night.
The way you feel so short with me, but still you love my height.

The way you came into my life, like the lovely morning dew.
All this and many more of your antics, made me fall in love with you.