"Dont u dare touch it!!! " screamed Niteesh ... "u r such a stuck up spoil sport Nutty .. grow up!" -t'was me who gave that rude retort .. v wre all in the colony playground-cum-park and Niteesh was stopping us from touching a half dead butterfly lying on the cement bench .. he jus gave all of us - me, suraj, ria and ajju - a dirty glare and scooped the butterfly who by now was in her final stages of life and walked off with a huff ... v jus stared at his slowly disappearing back and started laughin .. and resumed our game ..
looking back today at that day, i couldnt help smiling at myself and also a li'l guilty, i admitted to myself sheepishly after all these years .. i used to cal him 'Nutty' .. :) and he hated that name .. we wre family frenz and also neighbours ... so, v practically grew up together ... v went to the same school - wre in the same class, infact - and to a college in the same city .. v used to fight a lot .. 'a lot' happens to be an understatement, in our case ... :) .. v wre more like family - Nutty (to me he'll alwayz be nutty :) .. ) and me .... and he was & is my best pal ... inspite of the fact that v alwazy fought ..
i looked around as i slowly moved into the almost broken down castle .. this was our haunt .. me, him and a whole load of others belonging to our gang .. v had so many memories - memories of numerous happy moments, fights, quarrels, misunderstandings, proposals, breakups , wat not ...... and to me and Nutty , t'was all the more memorable caz the day he left to the US and me to Germany (and then later on to Pune for work) each for our higher studies, v decided that v'll meet up on this particular day - today - in this same place ... t'was ten years back .. v never met in the intermediate period of our lives ..... i missed a big part of his life and he, mine .. but thro the years, v never once lost touch .. he still was my best fren and me, his .. he had his life and i had mine .. but v promised each other that v'll meet up - may be to relive the lost ten yrs , maybe .. or then , may be not ... v jus decided and so here i am ....... waiting for him and the others who also decided to show up ..
he hadn't made it yet .... t'was alwayz me who'll turn up atleast half an hour late to any kinda meetups or get togethers .. but today, i had come in an hour early caz i wanted to relive the old happy moments before the others come and commotion starts ..... nothing can equal reliving ur memories all alone .. lookin at each pillar , each brick brought back a memory that i cherish more than anything in my life .. there have been so many ppl in my life after that , but none like my best pal Nutty .....
also, another reason for this day to be special for me is that, this 'll be the last time i'll be coming here .. and i knew i ve to tel him this time , before itz too late ..
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'Fatso' - my best pal from the days when v wre toddlers to this day ..... she was a chubby kid with a cherubic face and cute dimples .. but then appearances can deceive like in her case caz shez the most naughty kid u can ever c .. such a prankster .. and our gang had a bunch of monkeys like her too .. :) .. and her college frenz or the frenz she made later on in life, all wre like her, a rowdy gang .. but inspite of all this, thro the years, shez been my best pal .. from whom i have never hid anything .. for whom, i 'll do anything .. from killing to dying .. :) ..
Fatso luvs pulling my legs .. and she njoys irritating me .. and me being the patient boy ever, she most of the times gets disappointed .. :P
and today, after a li'l more than ten years, 'm gonna meet my best pal ... she must be late as usual .. puntuality and Fatso never go hand in hand .. i was alwayz there to cover up for her .. poor Fatso musta suffered all these 10+ yrs with no one to cover up for her .. or may be she got herself a nice boy fren who does that for her nowadays .. she never mentioned one , but u can never cease to get surprised with Fatso .. She told me shez got s'thing to tel me .. so fat chance this mite be it .. :) ..
Nywayz, i must hurry up or she mite , for the first time in her life, beat me by reaching first ..
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"U r ten minutes late Nutty!" - i told with mock severity ... he looked at me up and down .. jus like that .. and blinked his eyes two three times , grinning all the while ....
"Fatso!! is that u????? my god, r my eyes deceiving me?? therez a gal in front of me but she says shez my Fatso .... wrez my tomboy Fatso?? "
I punched him hard on his shoulder and hugged my best fren for life .... "u ve grown up Fatso .. infact u look cute, if u dont mind my sayin so .. like a scarecrow!! :P "
that asked for some more slappings and punchings after which i looked him up .. he had changed too .. but then, ten years is not a short period of time na ... he had alwayz been a smart boy but all the more now .. he had creases on his forehead ... and he still looked skinny .. :)
"wat Nutty .. is ur wife bugging u a lot?? like me :P? u ve lines in ur forehead.. so howz Jeny??"
"oh that!! na .. my Jeny is a wonderful woman who doesn't trouble her hubby .. unlike u prankster .. so whoz life ve u put in jeopardy???"
"No one nutty .. jus mine .. as alwayz" - i winked at him ...
then a few of my old pals started walkin in and v sorta didnt get to talk again for a while ..
i looked over at him .. he was busy talkin to s'one .. i sat on a huge rock alone ...
i felt very nervous as i had to tel him today caz it had to be today or never .. and i owed him ..
"wassup monkey?? silence doesn't s'how suit u, does it?? so, watz nagging this li'l empty head of ur's??" ..
"Nutty ... I mite die soon u know .. "
"wat r u blabbering bot now??" ...
"itz Leukemia .. the doc gave me two months" ..
he jus stared at me like i wre already dead ... i felt sorry as i even told him .. but then, i felt that i owed him the truth and i didnt want some third person tellin my Nutty ..
"okie Fatso .. so lookin at u i thought u ve stopped playin pranks on ppl .. but u dont seem to ve eh?!! .. when r u gonna grow up moron?!" ..
"No nutty .. 'm serious .. "
"How?? wat happened? when??"
i looked at him .. he had tears in his eyes .. he cut a pathetic picture .. i felt very sorry for him ..
"APRIL FOOL" - i cried with much enthu ... "u thought i was speakin the truth Nutty??!! ha ha ha .. my dear april fool .. "
"u idiot .. dont u know when to stop?? u scared me for a few minutes .. u donkey" .. he ran after me and beat me royally .. :) .. then i went to his home for dinner as i was invited by his Jeny for dinner that day .. i met his newborn .. :) a really cute li'l gal child ..
I boarded the train ..mine was a window seat ... thank god caz i was in no mood for conversation .. not today .. i sat in my seat, leaned back and closed my eyes ...i had alwayz prided bot the fact that i never cried but today, tears flowed down freely .... my mind was travelling backwards .. why oh why .. life is so unfair .. or is it?? Probably .. i dont know anymore .. and i didnt care any more either ..
The train started moving .. I looked out at my best pal standing there .. he was waving .. I tried to smile at him but was not successful .. I jus looked at him until he was outta sight .. I leaned back in my seat and stared at the passing images .. I didnt ve the heart to tel him that he was not the april fool but t'was me .. and i didnt wanna think bot how much he'll be shattered after my two months r up .. the train picked up pace .. i got lost in my past .. "m sorry Nutty .. u'll alwayz be my best pal ..