The frozen leap remains etched for ages. It remains as a preserved memory that someone once existed . The Fossils remain burrowed within us .
I was rushing to office early in the morning and was also reading usual messages of staff request for leave or late reporting to the office. Beep ! An innocuous sounding text conveyed a “hi” in my messenger . I didn’t even half read it in early morning rush. Later in night there was another reminder which also went unread. The next noon I saw three messages , all being a simple “hi”. There was a small display pic of a lady that was barely visible on my phone screen . Suddenly there was an important phone call that went for almost an hour and I forgot the messages .However , the sender could make out that I had read the messages due to the notification on messenger .
That night I was woken up by a beep that asked “ do you remember Rohit ?” Rohit ?! Someone had mentioned his name after ages . He was my next door neighbour and child hood friend. Together we had ventured into our innocent years . Those were the days power backup for homes were unheard of . With every power failure late in the evening we had full liberty to come out of our homes and resume our games aborted abruptly in the day with the signal from home . He was in a different school and a year older but for the leisure time after school hours there was no better an hour than the time spent with him. Rohit ! Oh how does she know Rohit ?
Somewhere I had guessed it. I did not want to accept it was her. I had taken years to forget her before resuming life . Who have her this liberty to come into my life unannounced much as she had left without a hint ? She came and conquered at will . Then she left only to return . It had taken years to dry the drops on shore and take my sand to a desert. This small ripple from her was enough to spark a tsunami within.
I closed my eyes . It was four at night. Somewhere a siren of train was blowing full pitch. There would be frenzy on a railway platform . I tossed and turned on my uneasy bed. Probably a mosquito had found his way close to my ear. Then I felt thirsty. My night was spoilt.
15th september 1989. Rohit had turned fifteen. It was a party at his home. I knew some of his friends who lived in vicinity. But I had never seen her before. There she was , assisting aunty in arrangements . I could shyly muster a small gesture as she smiled . There was no further exchange of words ....only glances were exchanged. She was Rohit’s classmate so there was nothing that came to my mind which could be an excuse to talk to her. Thankfully I won a game and she congratulated me. Then I danced as well as I could and one small look of appreciation on her face filled my heart with absolute joy. That evening lit my life. I never sprayed the perfume again I had used that evening. I never wore the shirt again. These Fossils were the thud of a young heart and remained afresh forever. So did her smile remain immortal as that of a Mona Lisa.
I had a few sips of water and struggled to sleep. The next day was already scheduled to be busy with meetings lined up . I had always ensured a sound sleep but it was different tonight . Somehow the morning had mercy and turned up to my rescue. I remained uneasy awaiting a beep. I checked my phone several times to check . At afternoon she sent the deadliest one so far “ Don’t you remember me ?”. Her name was not my password but when had I forgotten her ? My buddy Rohit had remained a mechanism to send an occasional “ hi “ to begin with. When there was an ample indication of green signal I had gathered enough courage to send an odd friendship card. She was talented and drew well. Her writing itself was so artistic. She would simply write something on a piece of paper which to me were like feast to a pauper. Her hands always had a fragrance and whatever she touched would always smell the same. I tried everyday and her fragrance remained fresh and strong as ever.
The rest of the day was a struggle between emotion , mental fatigue at office and a thrill in the heart. Strangely as I tried to sniff her text messages and realised . There was some important discussion in the evening and I sounded unprepared to the clients . My colleagues looked at me and smiled.
I was horrible at drawing . My writing too was mostly incoherent and at times even filthy. Still that did not deter me from sending a sketch with caption “ the Mona Lisa of my life”. It was then that she understood clearly . Maybe Rohit too had a role here . She invited me to her home on her birthday next week. That week went down in my little history as the most celebrated one ever. I took out my favourite dress and got it ironed days in advance. Then I visited all the biggest of stores and got her a birthday gift. I also prepared a dance for her party. My heart was thudding and my palms were greasy as I opened the gate. There she was , dressed in pink and looked like a rose . Rohit had already reached . Then I touched her for the first and only time . I didn’t know if her fingers were numb or mine. But I sniffed my hands immediately and could not miss her fragrance. Even the water she got was nectar. The nectar that her smile had gathered from innocent buds of my heart.
Here I was going numb as questions were darted at me in the meeting. I somehow went for a break and washed my eyes till they were red. Then I wiped my tears and returned to face the slaughter. It was the same choking feeling as years ago. Her Dad was transferred soon after her birthday . The session too had ended so they had already packed bags when I got the news. Rohit could not convey it to me earlier I rushed to her home and found she had already left. That was the end of something that started only six months back.
I have since then never talked to Rohit. I knew not where she went . It was too much for a young lad to absorb. I was now reading her text and smiling “ Don’t you remember me?” . I just reverted “ hi . Do you still wear a pink dress ? Do you still weigh 32 kg ? Do you still draw artistically ? Do you still smile without a reason ? Are you still as charming ?” . Then I put up my family snap on messenger and blocked her forever . My wife called me up . “ Yes Mona, coming in 30 minutes “ , I said. Some fossils remain perpetually alive. Sometimes we carry oar to desert.
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