My Best Friend - Atul

I could barely count above ten and A,B,C,D.... was a Rocket Science for me. Then also, I knew that he is my best friend. He was and is my first social link which I established on my own. His name is ‘Atul’, not only he was my best friend but also somebody from whom I drew lot of inspiration. He always got first prize in drawing (his family trait), very good hand writing, fit for any sport, a sprinter, laughs like Shahrukh Khan even looks like him :) and an impeccably dressed person. Not from my mother but he taught me how to tie shoe laces, sounds funny though.

We were simply connected to each other. I remember eating all his lunch - out of two paranthas, he used to bring, one was always mine. Our classmates used to conspire, sometimes, to set us apart and were successful at times; I used to cry like a lost baby whenever he did lunch with others, ignoring me. But then Atul always came back. He was bad at expressing his feelings, he remains so today also. Hasn’t changed a bit in all these years.

My eye sight started becoming weak, 8th Standard onwards. I used to have problem taking down notes from the black board. So his notebook used to be my blackboard. Till 10^th Standard, I had taken my notes from his notebooks, though I started wearing spectacles but I was terribly slow at writing. At times he used to be very naughty by not letting me see his notes, he simply enjoyed this act of his. My class work was never up to date and I was too lazy to complete my home work. My school diaries were all painted RED with ‘Class work and Home work not done’ – courtesy Mr. Atul Kumar. On being asked by teachers “How many of you have not completed your homework, raise your hand”, I used to hide myself to get saved from a punishment or embarrassment, but my dear friend used to push my hand up in the air, getting me noticed. I was always upset with this act of his, but he never stopped. It annoyed me then but today it has enabled me to face my mistakes and learn from them because my good friend never supported or covered my mistakes.

Our houses were nearby; we were part and parcel of each other’s life. My mother recalls giving him medicine for stomach ache during annual day celebration- we were in 5^th standard at that time. His father, aunties, brother are all very close to me. I was a regular visitor to his home till they shifted from Munirika to Bahadurgarh.

Hustle and Bustle of life has pulled us apart, distance increased between us. Still, we remain connected.

I wept in solitude knowing that aunty, his mother, expired in an accident. I got to know it when I called to wish him happy Diwali two years back. I could not believe this and still I am not ready to accept this reality. I feel that she is very much around us. Instructions she gave us, food she fed us and off-course her smile all remain very fresh in my mind.

Last time I met Atul was to invite him for my wedding. True to my belief, without disappointing me, he did not turn up. Today, we rarely meet, never chat and are very allergic to calling each other on phone. Still, we are best of buddies.

You can never rate your friends because all are special, some are inspiration and some help us to liberate. Atul is everything for me. We were never friends in need but we will remain friends forever indeed!!

I should have written this long back but actually his comment on my last blog inspired me to attempt this.

V-Day for me in short....

My first Saint Valentine’s Day, post marriage was dedicated to world peace and harmony, though we never intended for it to be so J. Being Sunday I really had no option but to celebrate and why not.

I will remember this V-Day for a very long time, and for many reasons like the first after marriage, no time limit to come to home, watching a movie, and then the Indo-Pak food festival at Dilli Haat. All in all it was a great day and the last two events added lots of love and flavor to it.

It was just like any other Sunday, much required for me though. After changing my job it was the first weekend without any prior engagements. In the late afternoon we went to watch My Name is Khan.... halfway through the movie I was thinking is it a movie to be watched on this day, the V-DAY! Message from the movie was conventional, re-packaged with crisis facing the contemporary world; focusing largely on the plight of minorities and prejudice against them. But such movies should be made and served to the society and there cannot be a day as perfect as 14th of Feb to watch it. Well, I noticed for 2 hrs and 40 minutes, my dear Wife had wet eyes. I did not interrupt it at all. On the contrary, I was trying to figure out locations at San Francisco ( I tell you...those who visit seldom visitors are so curious).

After the movie, we headed to Dilli Haat for Indo Pak food festival. No idea whether there were groups from Pakistan or not, but Kebab Lounge from Noida had done a great job. They were serving cuisines popular in both the countries at a very exciting price menu. For having our share of Biryani, Mutton korma and Shahi Tukda, we had to stand in a queue which was ready to burst into the INA Market across the road. Finally, our turn came and the food was tasty and filling . Long live Indo-Pak friendship, food from the countries is as spicy as relations. I settled my dinner with Ice-cream while my wife opted for south Indian coffee...we are poles apart. However, I think poles apart hold the world together.

So this was in short the day in its totality.... count-down begins for the next...