Kookuburra

[JUSTIFY]
I wanted to finish my work at the earliest to attend a reception of my high school friend. It’s been a decade or more I have seen him & other classmates. My heart bounced in joy. My memory rewinds & goes zig zag.Victories that we won, defeats we overcame, friendships that blossomed, borrowed bicycle ride, waiting for our best friend birthday to get extra chocolates, notebook papers becoming boats, chalk pieces becoming our shoe polish, preserved new pencil boxes, how excited we became if we heard our class teacher is on leave, mimicking teachers, teachers day, praying for rain to continue just for a holiday, forgetful badges, all the best signs during exams, banging our head to tell reasons to our friends while in leave - when we stepped into womanhood & how shyness crept in, becoming love messenger between friends, school heart throbs, slam books, when we celebrated all religious festival alike, silly fights, extended beauty counters during cultural, awaiting sports day, knowing MJ’s lyrics more than our poems, affinity towards our section, tearful farewell,chrisma, chris child, lovely mothers who took our friendship in the right sense everything ran through my mind when I boarded bus.

Friends turned out more than I expected.Oh you! Oh you! We can hear this voice all through. Hunk men with french beards, plump girls with kids, baby sitting husbands. Teasing & joy were ours for that evening. We played fun games too. Mr J my bench mate arrived. We had a silly fight of why we weren’t in touch then we continued with the other friends with our fun games in the open lawn. Some friendship remains the same no matter whether we are in touch or not. But both of our eyes were missing Mr.R. R is another friend of ours. Our gang doesn’t end without R. I sighed whether R has come, J understood & said no.R arrived in santro car much later. We could sense his American accent. We joined the group where R was conversing. He kept asking how each one of us came. When we both told we took the public transport. R had a sly smile& said what? Common Ya you guys don’t even own a vehicle at least two wheeler? Gosh! Everybody progressed, we stood standstill.J looked into my eyes. Even I wasn’t sure whether it was our same R.We wanted to make one more attempt & broke the conversation again when R asked J from which part of US? J hasn’t crossed boarders yet. So seen <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1lace>America</st1lace></st1:country-region> only in maps ah? R grinned.

I could sense J is terribly upset .I patted J & said lets move. He forgot pa! It’s been a decade he forgot us I added. He dint even had a cycle when we had. Now see how he is talking J said. He dint even ask us what we are now or any other formal things.

When did these kind of people change? When they got heavy pay cheques? When they landed in foreign land? When they thought they are superior rest others are inferiors? I had many unanswered questions. Did he forget when we cried with him when he fractured his left knee? Did he forget we cheered when he won the race? Did he forget we walked because he dint had a cycle? Did he forget we at times had lunch from the same lunch boxes? Dint he realized we valued his friendship band more than anything. Dint he realize we lost most of our fond things when we shifted houses but preserved our school photo. Dint he realize we are standing in the bank of friendship waiting for him? Can any Ranbaxy R& D could suggest a medicine & explain which neuron is making me feel so bad? Can we suggest the UN to add money as also one of the drug?

Our mothers are so conscious about handling money when we were young. But after grown up are they suggesting only about investment & wise savings? Did they forget to tell money can also intoxicate life, tear friendships apart, distance even siblings? Didnt they tell we inherit values to our kid’s too not just wealth. Dint they tell the things he has got a place not only in his house but also in his mind! Dint they tell there are many things that money can’t buy & our genuine friendship is one of them. Dint they tell money can over rule if you allow? It can demolish your basic character, change your very attitude? The very essence of being human can be eroded? It has the power to forget your past & what good deeds you received from others, lips which prayed for you, hands that helped you!

R never even bothered to say good bye & left. J came to me & said see we are as intelligent as he is. We too can earn what he has earned. Then? I added. Furious J added then not santro some other car. Then I added. Then we should go to <st1:country-region><st1lace>America</st1lace></st1:country-region> for vacation not for working.Then? I added. Then what? Do you doubt we can’t do all this? J pondered. No but we should understand something before we proceed. See our life has become like a crossword puzzle the more you try to solve the more complicated it becomes but the answer is within every one of us.

Now tell me why dint we reply when he mocked at us? I dint want to J replied. J chinned up at the sky as he dint wanted the tears to flow through. I even controlled & did as instructed by my eyelids which told not to waste a tear for R.We dint want to answer him because we valued his friendship more than we valued ourselves! True J added but we dint retaliate neither want to conquer him what else you want me to do? Leave him. When we don’t have a heart to retaliate now can we do it after we earned more, got a better car? J grasped my hand. There are many R’s who we might come across in future too, who deliberately ignored or hurted us, more painful to know when they forgot us. We are yet to explore the pains to be bearded, the strength to stand up. Did you forget our headmistress always used to tell “When you die there should be at least two people to cry for you & it shouldn’t be blood relations.” We already earned each other what R missed. Let recognize or find the other one. Life is all about living not about competing. When we aren’t worried or bothered about transporting in bus, having two scoops of ice cream, seen <st1:country-region><st1lace>America</st1lace></st1:country-region> only in maps why R should be? There are many ways to feel contended I concluded. I never knew you have grown so much J wiped his tears & said. Grown? Length wise or breadth wise? I added. J had a hearty laugh & said get back to the game you cheater & gave a chit that he held while playing fun games. The chit read” Let’s be merry & sing Kookaburra which you sang with your bench mate in your primary classes” We both recited:

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be

Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail
Gets a boo-boo in his tail
Cry, Kookaburra! Cry, kookaburra!
Oh how life can be?
[/JUSTIFY]

 

Dear Kamalji,

I can feel the warmth from your reply.Thank you for that.Im clueless why people change like this.Yes its true we have similar experiences with such people & it hurts badly. But I need to move on ,heal my wound & as you say cheer up myself,shrug my shoulders & move on.

 

Yes though this is not the first time Im facing this but R's incident is unexpected for me.I have grown up.I can feel how it hurts when you say about your close friend.Thank you for sharing your views.