Rendezvous After Thirty Years
After finishing all the household chores, I went to my son’s room to check if he is gone to bed. But to my shock, he had messed up the entire room I had cleaned a few minutes back. The drawers were open, and the contents were lying on the floor.
“Ajay, What the hell are you doing? What are you rummaging through the drawers? I cleaned your room a few minutes back.” I yelled while putting things back in their place.
When I was about to close one of the drawers, I found a photo album. I put off the lights and asked Ajay to sleep. Closing his room door behind me, I came to the hall with the album.
As I flipped the pages of the album, my eyes turned moist, swiftly transporting me back to those delightful days away from all the current stress. The album had images of our school building, stunning landscapes, dozens of friends doing mischief, and our lovely teachers. For a moment, I felt I was right there among them.
Everything about my past echoes in my ears and makes me feel light-hearted. I wipe my moist eyes with my sleeve and smirk.
A cool breeze blows, and the eagle evil eye wind chime hanging in my hall dances to the beat of the wind, creating a lovely melody that awakens me from my reverie.
I often called these teeny-tiny bells my babies whose presence enhanced harmony and energy. But today, it was not the case. I was feeling low.
I carefully closed the photo album, placed it on my dressing table and went to bed.
The following morning, I finished all my chores and headed to work after dropping my son off at school.
I was already late. The lift wasn’t working. I took the stairs and sprinted down. It was raining heavily. My regular auto rickshaw fellow had not come.
I heaved a sigh. Oh God, these never-ending hurdles, I thought, and moved out of the society dodging the puddles, looking for another rickshaw.
Finally, after 10 minutes, a rickshaw fellow agreed to take me to my destination. He had hardly covered a few kilometres before stopping again. The roads were clogged, and the vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace.
I shut my eyes to catch up with some sleep. Albeit I was worn out, I suddenly felt rejuvenated as memories of my school days flooded back. I rolled my eyes and scanned the area again. Several people disembarked from buses and rickshaws and began to walk. The on-duty traffic cop was making every effort to clear the roads of traffic.
I was badly stuck and aware that I won’t be able to reach the office before noon.
“Hey Karan, I am stuck in traffic and will be late. Has the client arrived? If yes, could you please begin the meeting? I will join you.” I messaged my colleague.
“Take your time, Ria. The meeting has been rescheduled for next week.” Karan Responded.
“Ok. That’s good news.” I messaged him back.
The filthy water splashed from a passing car and stained and dampened my lovely floral cream saree.
“Hey, you, can’t you drive carefully?” I yelled while wiping the mud off of my saree.
“I am so sorry, mam. I didn’t notice the pothole.” A lady apologized, rolling down the glass of her car window.
“My saree, is ruined, and I have no time to go home. " I remarked and looked up.
“Hey, hello! Are you Seema Kumar, the social butterfly from St. Sebastian School?” I checked in astonishment.
“Yes, that’s right. But do we know each other? Sorry, I didn’t recognize you.” Seema said.
“OMG! Soo good to see you, Seema. I am Ria Das.” I said with excitement in my voice.
“Hey Ria, good to see you too. Would you mind leaving the rickshaw and joining me? I will drop you wherever you want to go.” Seema offered.
“Sure,” I said and got into her car.
“I was craving something good to happen in the last couple of weeks but was accompanied only by stress. Trust me meeting you is the best thing that has happened in a long time.” I uttered with mixed emotions.
“Aww. That’s so sweet of you. Accha, do you remember Dhruv, that tall and cat eyes boy? Your first love and crush?” Seema asked and winked.
“Yeah, Of course. How can I forget those beautiful days? Where is he now? Do you have his number? Are you in touch?” I poured questions without taking a breath.
“Yes. He stays in Australia with his family. He is a chef. I will add you to our WhatsApp group.” Seema answered.
“Ok. That’s great.” I responded.
“Tell me about your family Ria,” Seema said.
“My family consists of me and my 6-year-old son. I lost my husband last year in a car mishap. The emotional and financial burden is on me, and I don’t know how will I deal with everything.” I said, trying to hide my tears.
"Oh, Ria, I'm sorry to hear that. Stay calm. You can count on me for anything.” Seema stated.
“Why don’t you join my business? We can work in partnership,” Seema said.
“Thank you so much, Seema, for the offer. Please don’t get me wrong. Let us not mix business and friendship. I have a financial burden right now, but it may improve in the years to come. But if there is a rift in our relationship for any reason, I will not be able to handle it.” I replied tactfully and politely.
“By the way, who all are there in your family?” I queried.
"I still am single and live with my parents. I didn’t want to marry. I own a boutique and occasionally take time off from my job. I also travel frequently. In short, I genuinely love being with myself and enjoy life thoroughly.” Seema answered.
"I'm glad to hear that. We'll catch up soon, I promised and stepped out of the car, filled with contentment in my heart.
I thanked the almighty for the joy before getting to work. I felt fresh and energetic throughout the day.
I messaged Dhruv when I got home, and we had a lengthy conversation. He mentioned his upcoming trip to India as we were conversing. I couldn't wait to see him and my other buddies.
OMG! I am going to meet everyone almost after thirty years. I thought, and a smile crept on my face.
Seema and I met and spoke to each other quite often.
Dhruv had planned to visit India in April on his birthday. He wished to give his parents a surprise.
We, too, had planned a surprise birthday party for him. But unfortunately, two days after he arrived, his dad passed away due to a severe lung infection.
We had to postpone all our plans.
A few days later, we made another plan. Dhruv was to go back to Australia by the end of the month. We had two days in hand. We decided to meet at the school premises.
Dhruv tried to push the meeting for some other time. But none of us were in the mood to listen. One of our friends said, “Nothing doing. You better meet us before you leave, or else we will come to your house.”
We exchanged messages on the group and confirmed the time of our meeting. I couldn’t sleep a wink that night as I was super excited to meet everyone.
Golden rays of sunlight pierced through my window panel and lit the room. I pulled the curtains open and looked outside.
The birds on a nearby tree were chirping. People were out walking and jogging. I took a deep breath, tied my hair into a bun and got to work. I finished my duties, dropped my son off at school, and then hurried to dress up. Seema was going to pick me up from my house at 10.30 a.m.
As I was getting ready, messages started pouring in. I picked up my phone, and what I read left me in shock. I couldn’t move an inch. Tears flowed like an open dam. The message was from Seema. It said, “Dhruv is no more.”
I called her to check if what I read was right and what happened overnight. Sobbing, she confirmed the news in the affirmative and said that she came to know about it from Dhruv's wife. Dhruv suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away in the wee hours of the morning.
As far as I know, Dhruv was always very keen on fitness since his school days, and this news broke me into fragments.
I barely went on outings or socialized with anyone after losing my husband. When I reconnected with my schoolmates, I found happiness again. They came as a beacon of light back into my life. We were a small group of Ten and now only nine.
We were all thrilled to reunite and recreate those priceless times after a gap of thirty years but ended up going to a funeral instead.
Dhruv was dead and resting on Mother Earth's lap. None of us were able to contain our tears or believe what we were seeing.
Life is so unpredictable. He came to his own land just to be buried. He had suggested we meet on Zoom this time, but we insisted on meeting in person. I wish we had agreed to his suggestion. It's been three years now, but I still can't believe he is no more.
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