I won’t say this story is ‘based on a true story’
inasmuch as this one is a true story. As the name, by itself depicts the plot
of the story -it is about the saddest day of the protagonist in this story.
It was (a fine) Saturday evening, when the sun was about
to hide itself from the people (normally people call it as sun set) behind the
20-storied, 30-storied tall buildings of the city, I decided to take a break
from the hectic schedule of the week. I thought of several places to relax
where I could see and feel only myself. The obvious choice was the Besant Nagar
beach. Of course, it was not a place to see only myself, that too, on a
Saturday evening. But, it was my obvious choice because I could reach my home,
late in the night, in about 5-10 minutes from there. Yes, my home is just at a
viewable distance if u stand near the flood light located near the coffee shop.
I left my office at 5 and it took nearly 2 hours to reach
the parking area, thanks to the traffic. I parked my pulsar 150 dts-i safely,
checked the lock twice and moved towards the sea shore. As I walked along the
pavement, I looked for a lonely place where I could not see any pairs –
decently called as Lovers, any newly married couples, any families or any
college student gangs, in particular, as they are the ones who enjoy to a maximum
and make the viewers embarrass (sometimes happy) by their pixilated activities.
After a few minutes of search, I, finally, found the right place.
But, it was already occupied by a guy. He was sitting
alone staring at the sky. I went to that place and sat few metres away from the
guy. But, he never cared to have a glimpse of me, at least. I, too, started
staring the sky. All I could see was, there were few stars, as a matter of fact,
very few. The rest were hidden by the clouds. After few minutes, I got bored of
it and rolled my eyes around to have a look at the things around me. As I
turned left, i could find the guy, still staring at the sky. I wondered what
this guy was looking at.
I started again to stare at the sky, with bated breath,
hoping to find something attractive and appealing. But, I could find nothing
special to stare so long. I turned up towards him and found him still staring
at the same spot. I was intrigued and peeked into his face. Since, he was busy
in his duty (staring the sky) he didn’t see me squinting at him.
I saw a blanket of sadness covering his face. After a bit
of hesitation, I went near him and asked, “Can u tell me what are u staring at?
So that I’ll also look at it and enjoy”
He didn’t even care to respond to my question and was
busy in his duty. I found his mind is not in this earth. I did pat him on his
shoulder and said “Hello”
Finally, his mind came back to earth and asked “what?”
“Are u in this world?” I questioned him. He was shocked; I
could read that from his face reaction. Of course, everyone would have reacted
in the same way when one hears such words from a stranger.
I spoke with him for nearly 30 minutes or so. I came to
know about the reason for his sadness. Sadness symbolizes either a very big
loss or a mere loss, in general – a loss. His sadness is also because of a loss
– a big loss for him. Our conversation was broken by a call from his friend. He
left the place as soon as he got the call, bidding me a formal adieu. I stayed
there for another 30 minutes.
His loss continued to haunt me even after I reached my home,
not because it was a big one (according to him).Actually, in my narrow view, it
was a mere loss. But, something prevented me from forgetting about that matter.
All I could do was to open my laptop and start writing about the evening so
that my mind will be relieved, at least .And, that is what u are reading now.
As I asked the question, “Are u in this world?” He was shocked. I told him that
I was watching him for nearly 15 minutes and he was staring the empty sky
continuously. I asked him the reason for his dull face. He remained silent
staring at my eyes this time.
After asking him repeatedly, he started to elucidate his
story reluctantly. His name is Rahul. He has recently -5 months before - joined
in a leading software company. Yesterday was his graduation day. As usual, like
every other guys, he too had great fun out there. After a 10 month gap, he met
all his friends. All was well until he met the one who was his best friend. The
verb ‘was’ may sound inappropriate. But the reason behind his words was: they
never spoke a word for the past 8 months since they had a fight.
I wondered how could ‘best-friends’ exist without
speaking a word for 8 months. But, then I figured out why the verb ‘was’ used
by him. Also, I was curious to know the reason for the fight expecting some
interesting story behind it. But, once I heard the reason, I wanted to burst out
laughing. In order to maintain the sanity, I controlled myself.
The reason can be precisely said as misunderstanding and
none other than that. The word fight sounds too much, in fact, the words ‘too-much’
sound too much. But, that was not the reason for his sadness which I could
figure out from his face as he said that. So, i was not interested to know
about the so-called fight. I straight away asked the reason for his dull face.
He continued that his best friend never spoke to him
yesterday in the function. He was waiting near him for few minutes expecting
that he will talk to him. The sad thing was his friend; sorry his best friend
didn’t even care to look at him. As a result, he got vexed and moved away. I
asked him why he didn’t try talking to him. He couldn’t answer. I answered
myself for the question, EGO....
He too accepted it first but then tried to justify
himself. He said that while returning home, he called him – his best friend.
But, the response from him was unexpected in fact, intolerable to him. So,
there started the first reason for his dull face. The reason is acceptable, in
one way or other. Anyway, I asked him that is that the reason which made him to
sit like as if he had lost a valuable thing.
Out of the blue, his voice became loud. He said that it
was not the only reason. On hearing his loud voice, I was blown out of the
water. But, as soon as he said that, he asked sorry for such a loud reply. I
was not worried for that rather was curious to know his other reason. I asked
him to continue. He, after that unexpected reaction from his best friend, was
very much worried and regretted for calling him. But, I appreciated him for his
decision to call him. These small, small fights (sorry, misunderstandings)
between friends help them to bond stronger and perhaps even better – like a
chemical bond.
He then boarded the bus with his friends to his home
where they are staying. He badly wanted to free his mind from the
disappointment. The only place that struck him, to free his mind was a theatre.
After a 15 minutes travel he asked one of his friends to give him company for a
movie. He knew that none of his friends other than him would respond positively
as everyone was literally tired of the day.
As expected he nodded to accompany him. So, they both
decided to get down at the stop nearer to the theatre, which is two stops away
from his home. They both got balcony tickets and went to a hotel to have
dinner. After finishing the dinner, they went into the theatre. In the
intermission, Rahul’s friend got his Mobile. The second and ultimate reason for
his sadness started there.
Rahul didn’t care to get his mobile back. The second half
of the movie began and as the climax was nearing, Rahul suddenly thought of his
mobile and asked his friend for the same. But, sadly, it was not in his friend’s
pocket as expected. Both began to search in and around their seats. It was not found
there. There were roughly 30-40 people. They started to ask every single person
about the mobile. Sadly, everyone said that they had not seen it.
His friend was more nervous than Rahul himself. He
searched the entire balcony while Rahul was busy searching in the lobby near
the canteen where they were standing during the break. But, it was found
nowhere. As, he finished narrating the incident, I saw his face was very much
deplorable.
I asked for his mobile’s model. He said it was NOKIA
E-51. It was the one which i presented my wife on her recent birthday. It costs
nearly 11.5k bucks. It’s a bit costly, that too for him. Anyway, I tried to
encourage him by saying; “nowadays it’s a common practice for everyone to miss
their mobile.” He immediately said, “Yes, maybe missing one is common, but
missing three isn’t.”
I was really shocked to hear that. I asked him to come
again. He said that, he himself had lost two mobiles during his final year in
his college. On hearing that my immediate question was how could his parents
buy him a costly one as his third mobile? He said about the way how he
persuaded them for their approval. It was really funny when he said about that.
In fact, he himself grinned while saying it.
I asked him about his friend’s reaction after losing the
mobile and his parents too. He said, the reason for his dull face was because
of his parents’ reaction. He said that they didn’t scold him but instead, hung
the phone immediately. He said he was worrying not because his mobile is lost (as
it was not new to him) but for letting his parents down.
He said that his friend assured him that he will buy him
a new mobile but, he declined his offer. I really felt proud for the boy for
not accepting his friend’s offer. As I was about to ask him about his plan to
buy a new mobile, his mobile rang. He excused himself and attended the call.
After a couple of minutes, he said that the call was from his friend and he has
to leave immediately.
On seeing my face, he himself told that the mobile he had
in his hand by that time was his other friend’s old mobile and he is using it
temporarily. I gave him my visiting card and asked him to come to my home
tomorrow so that I‘ll help him in buying a new mobile (for that instance, I
forgot about my wife). He declined my offer too.
But, he said that yesterday was his saddest, in fact, the
saddest of his life. He lost his best friend (as he didn’t even care to call
him back to accept his apology) and his third mobile. I warned him that though,
as of now, yesterday may be his saddest but; there are still a lot more to come
and he should accept it positively rather than feeling for it all alone. He
said it was nice talking to me as his pain was a bit reduced. He assured me
that he will come to my home tomorrow if and only if, i assure him that i won’t
offer him anymore. I accepted that. He left the place after bidding a formal
adieu to me.
Though he left the place his face remained in my mind and
for the rest 30 minutes i was only thinking of him. And it made me to write
about the evening as i felt like sharing it with someone. I feel bad for not
getting either his contact number or his address. But I hope he’ll come
tomorrow and with that hope I‘m going to hit the sack.
