Reminiscence

A sudden cacophony created by the cruising vehicles in the “Beer Capital” of India suddenly woke me up. It was 8:00 A.M. I felt as if I am the only person in this Silicon Valley of India who sleeps daily. This city is always in an exuberant state. Bangalore, with this serene weather, has always something special to offer to you. For around 2 years, I have been working here at an IT park called ‘Manyata’ and staying in a small PG just opposite to the Tech Park, owned by a despicable owner by the name Suraj. And the worst thing was that he stayed in a room adjacent to mine. Every day the drunkard fellow created a ruckus with his family making it difficult for people to sleep. Due to this, I have thought of looking for a new PG many, many times but my sluggishness never allowed the plan to transform into reality.

I stayed on the ground floor of the so-called luxury PG, though I could not find a bit of luxury in it. Two college friends of mine lived on the first floor. One was Deep and the other one was Dev. Deep and I worked in the same company and the same project. He is a mobile phone addict and I bet that he could even kill you if you take off the mobile from his hand. On the other hand, Dev worked in a different company. He stayed far away from his office just for the sheer pleasure of driving everyday to office. He was our ‘Uber driver’(well, he drove much better than them though). Whenever we wanted to go somewhere even as small a distance as 2 km, we would request him to take us there. Yes, he was the first one from our batch to buy a car and that too a FORD. He was an epitome of flamboyance, who believed in the ideology of living life to the fullest believing ‘Kal ho na ho’.

It was towards the end of July and we were having our busiest days in the office. We also had to stretch on Sundays to finish off our deliverables. On one such day, Deep came rushing to my room after finishing his office. He told,” Bhai, I can’t take it anymore. I need a vacation”. It took just 15 minutes for Dev to pick a location that we could go for 2 to 3 days as a means of escape from this hectic life. It was as easy as said. The bags were packed within an hour. We three opened our laptops and dropped emails to our respective managers that we were unwell.

 

Our destination was set. Gokarna it is.

The first sight of the alluring beach and the vastness of the horizon just took our breath away. Everyone knows about Goa, but very fewer people know about Gokarna. It is a hidden gem among the tourist destinations.

We unpacked our bags at ‘Namaste Café’, which is the most well-known cafe at Gokarna. The view that you get from the cafe is beyond words. You have to experience it yourself. We sat there with coffee in our hands for around 3 hours. It was as if time had stopped. That evening we trekked from Om beach to Kudle Beach. Both the beaches had their own identity and aura. The nights at Gokarna were stunning. The foreigners made bonfires on the beach and were singing some western melodies. Some youngsters from our country also joined them with a guitar. The whole experience was magical. My friend Dev was busy capturing the moments with his DSLR.

Suddenly my mind was elevated to a different level of consciousness. I suddenly realized what the phrase "living in the moment" means. There was no hard deadlines, no meetings, no office talk, nothing. I felt at peace with myself. I closed my eyes sitting on the soft sand on the beach and listened to the soothing sound of the sea waves. A soft voice broke my peace. I felt someone was calling my name. No, not by my real name ‘Yash’, but by the name which I had forgotten long back. 

“Golu...Golu…” a female voice called. The voice was so similar to someone I knew around 10 years ago in my school. I looked back. I could not believe my eyes. It was Isha. I was frozen and could not even speak a word. Isha and I were very close friends in our school days. In fact the best of friends. However, as we got into college and then to our jobs, we lost touch. After graduating from IIT Bombay, she went for higher studies to the United States while I settled for an IT job in Bangalore after finishing my graduation from a local private engineering college. Eventually, time swept us away.

“How are you Golu?”, she asked. “ I am fine Isha. What about you,” I replied.

“Why don’t we go and sit somewhere and talk?” Isha insisted.

“Sure”, I replied.

Gokarna is a place where you will get the best food available on the beachside. So we went to one of the restaurants. There were lights all around. It looked as if I was in the middle of some festival. We ordered crispy chicken, paneer tikka and two bottles of beer. Both the dishes were delicious and the chilled beer was like a cherry on the top.

We spent some time apologizing to each other about how we have been after school. Both of us were recapitulating our fun days at school, what nuisance we caused to the teachers, how we cheated in the exams, how we played together in the fields and found enjoyment in irritating each other. We vividly remembered who used to bring what kind of tiffin which we stole from the boxes even before the recess hour arrived. We laughed together during fun hours and cried together in difficult times. How we used to get beaten up by our headmaster when we were late to class. We still remembered the pandal hopping that we did together during Durga puja and eating all different kinds of street foods and, how we used to go out of the class and dance in the rain during the monsoon. All those moments flashed before my eyes.

The friends that we made in school days are still the most special and priceless ones. Though I have met so many people in due course of time these guys from school days are irreplaceable. As we were discussing those events and stories, our eyes became wet and voice heavy. After so many days, we both got to cherish those incidents and shared all our fondest memories openly. One thing I realized that day was that in our childhood most of the days we were happy because we found joy in very small things which are missing nowadays. We are so hooked up in the rat race that we forget to cherish the small incidents that take place in our daily lives. Though we go out, party and have fun these days too, but we do miss our school days a lot.

 

A few minutes later, a man came towards our table. Isha pointed a chair towards him. “Please sit”.

“Ahh. Meet my husband Sameer.”

Sameer had a very amicable character. After finishing his MBA from Harvard Business School, he had launched his own start-up in the United States.

I got to know that Isha got married 3 years ago. Time flew so fast. But I didn’t feel any difference in her. I felt as if she was that same Isha whom I knew 10 years ago. I don’t know how she felt about me but I feel that I have changed a lot. I forgot to keep in touch with many of my friends who were once an integral part of my life.

We chatted for some time and then went outside. Deep and Dev were still clicking pictures of each other in the sands. I introduced them to Isha and her husband. Together we visited the Paradise beach, clicked some pictures together and then bid goodbye. It was one of the fondest memories of life.

 

Isha went back to the United States with her husband. But, this time we regularly maintained contact with each other. I pledged to myself that I would not repeat the same mistake again.

 

A few months later....

It was my birthday. I thought of taking Deep and Dev to the famous Community pub in Bangalore. We were just going out of the PG. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. As I opened the door I saw 10 of my closest school friends standing past the door and Isha holding a cake in her hands.

“Happy Birthday Golu…..”