My Best Friend

The huge Victorian gate offered little resistance as we moved past it into a world of history. The path that followed was dirty and rugged with gigantic tropical evergreen with thick undergrowth. The early sunrays tried desperately to touch the ground through the overgrown flora. The mist hasn't settled down yet adding to the gloom. The birds chirped leisurely waiting for the day to warm up before they start their hunt for their staff of life. With the trail ended the woods to unveil a wide plain. The grassy plain, consisting mainly of weeds, was decorated with innumerable grey stones. And they all seemed to have contained life. They all seemed to share something covertly with us.

"Adi, can we stay on like this forever? This world is so nice. I don't want this to end." I smiled and said, "If this isn't going to end then I don't deserve anything more. But I don't know dear. I don't know." We moved on until we came to a particular stone. I bent down and wiped the dew off the granite plate. The golden words on it flashed memories across my mind. I felt like transformed into the past.

Those wonderful beaches, those verdure pastures, those little sand castles and above all those white buildings standing tall like the protectors of nature was what that old school was all about. Little Blue Senior Secondary School was truly an institution that transformed individuals into people who had the right blend of an Einstein brain, a Jordan attitude and the Gandhian Principles.

"Adi, come over here. You have a call from the principal. Your father has come and I have a petty feeling its about the tube we broke last week," shouted Ravi panting for breath from running all the way to the school's athletic track.

I glanced at my new Italian digital watch my dad presented me on my last triumph on the academic front. 11 minutes and 7 seconds. Needed to get it into the 11-minute mark if I was to consider running for the school championships next month. I looked over the shoulder. Yes. He was there. I could see our car parked in the school's parking slots. I hurried to the principal's chambers.

"May I come in Sir?"

"Come in Aditya, take your seat." said the old man who hardly looked like an intellectual but when did the learned ever? I saw my dad and smiled at him. I didn't get the usual hug. Just a smile. Something must be serious. The principal inquired about my studies. I said, "Don't worry Sir. I can do it this year too." He then said, "Aditya, you can go home after submitting the leave letter to the warden." I was shocked. This never happened at the Little Blues. That too not with Mr. Dilip sitting on that chair. "Thank you Sir."

The cool sea breeze overpowered the September sun with ease. The roads never seemed in bad shape with the funds pouring into the municipality. "Dad, is something wrong?"

"Adi, Aarthi met with an accident this morning. A truck had hit her when she was going to school. She had lost a lot of blood. But don't worry. She's admitted at the Apollo and the doctors assured us that she will pull through it."

I didn't even look at him. I gazed at the seemingly endless road wondering why fate experiments only on people with red hearts while the ones with the black ones seem to be all over the place. Soon the rich avocado countryside gave way to the cinereous urban imbroglio. Fifteen minutes of adept maneuvering brought us to the Apollo Hospitals.

We moved along the air conditioned corridors filled with white coated doctors with the stethoscopes round their necks, nurses with notepads and the peons pushing the stretchers all looking like lifeless robots unaware of the tender relations that they were playing with. The wards that we passed contained little children, new mothers and the old feeble being all enjoying the technological advances of humans. I wondered if it was just to go against God's wishes and postpone death. Soon we entered the ICU chambers. The nurse who was leading us opened the second chamber on the left. The room was very gloomy cut out from the outside world devoid of any life but for the people present there. As my eyes got accustomed to the light I first saw my mother. She had tears in her eyes. She wasn't crying but all that would take to let those tears out was a hug. Then my eyes moved to the centre stage. Aarthi's mother was sitting at the bed looking with hope at the nurse bending over the bed. The nurse finished her job and moved away. This couldn't be Aarthi. A thick bandage with a large red stain was there where once her beautiful hair graced her face. Those eyes which expressed every feeling with explicit clarity and helped her tell me things where words couldn't were now closed. A needle silently transferred blood into her veins not realizing the pain it was causing. I walked over to her side. I kept staring at her.

I remembered the day I met her first. Mr. Rajesh and my father were childhood friends. When my dad received the call that Rajesh Uncle was transferred to our place, he was overjoyed. Dad and I went to the station to receive them. The train was scheduled to arrive at seven in the morning. It arrived on time disobeying the habits of the Indian Railways but that could be excused, as it was the best train connecting out places. Mr. Rajesh got down first accompanied by his wife. Aarthi got down behind them. She looked pretty. But of course one can excuse a fifteen year old for such thoughts. As it was the first time I was seeing her I was a little shy and didn't know how to start the conversation. Our parents totally forgot us, lost in their own childhood days. "Hi Adi, how are you?" The voice was sweet too. "I am fine Aarthi. I hope the journey was peaceful."

"Yeah, it was. But you look so different. I mean I assumed you would be shabbily dressed with unkempt hair and thick spectacles with a Tata Mc Graw Hill from what my father told about you. You are an IIT aspirant, aren't you? I got you a gift but I doubt if you would like it now." She opened her handbook and took out a small book. The handbook of Mathematics. We both laughed over it. We sat in the car and drove to their new house. That was how it all started.

From that little conversation our relationship never felt a bump and in a year we were best friends. Best friends - how sweet it sounds. But it isn't as simple as it appears to be. As Sarah Ellis, the English missionary and writer once said, "To act the part of a true friend requires more conscientious feeling than to fill with credit and complacency any other station or capacity in social life." I thought I suited to the role of a true friend to perfection. I was so confident until that black day when everything fell apart.

Aarthi came to my house and asked me to accompany her to buy a gift for another friend. I was in a bad mood and asked her to go away. She scolded me and accused me of not helping her. I felt enraged and shouted, "Aarthi, is he such an important person that you can't even select a gift for him alone?"

"You have gone mad, Adi. He is just a friend."

"That's what I am saying. When he is just a friend why do you need to spend so much time and money on him? It’s not just him. I am talking about every one of your idiotic friends. You give equal time to everyone of them and in the end do not spend anytime with me."

"But Adi, I took you for granted. I didn't know you felt bad or else I would have spent more time with you."

"Stop it Aarthi. I know you. You will never change. To you, I am just one of your million friends."

"No Adi, that's not true. You are my best friend. And..."

"Stop it Aarthi. You don't even deserve to talk about best friends because you hardly know what that means. Go away before I lose my senses and don't ever show your face again." She turned into a living statue for sometime. Then her eyes began to twinkle and a drop fell along her cheek. She wiped it off and walked out of my house. I didn't see her since. Many a time I wondered if I made a mistake. Many a time I missed her. But then, she never knew the meaning of best friends. She thought herself to be a goddess. She attended everyone's problems. She cared for everyone but for me. Since that day, I was in a quandary wondering if the mistake was mine.

And that day, in that gloomy room I saw the light. I was wrong. Terribly wrong. I should never have done it. "Excuse me, can you move aside?" The nurse gave an injection and left. After sometime she slowly opened her eyes. The eyes looked cadaverous. They stayed motionless for sometime. Then she turned towards her mother and she managed a smile. How I missed it. Then she turned towards me. This time I had to struggle to produce a smile. She whispered, "Hi Adi, thanks for coming. Sit down."

I took her hand in mine. It felt so fragile. So cold. "Adi, I am sorry. I am responsible for what happened. I should have apologized long ago. These two years had been like hell." I didn't know what to say. I wanted to speak and tell her it was my fault but guilt made my throat heavy. I managed to shake my head in disagreement. She only smiled and said, "No Adi. I know it’s my fault." Her mother motioned her to sleep.

"Adi can you do me a favour? Please go to our house and get me her towels. We forgot them."

"Sure Aunty, I guess Uncle has the keys." Her room was very tidy and artistic. I opened her closet expecting the towels to be there. The sight I saw pulled my nerves apart and my heart ached. Cards and gifts everywhere. And every one of them had my name on it. And each of the was signed, "Aarthi, your best friend" There were cards for the two birthdays she missed, for festivals, for my successes, for my recoveries and some just to say how much she missed me. I cursed myself. I deserve to be lying on that bed. I had to survive this. I closed the cupboard. I found the towels and went back.

She was having food. Her mother had a smile on her face. "Come Adi, the doctors said she is going to survive. The danger has passed." I looked at Aarthi. She gave me one of her old winks. Tears didn't stop. Smiles forgot the limits. She took her medicines and her mother said, "Adi, I have to talk to the nurse regarding staying overnight. I shall be back in a minute. Please take care of her."

"Alright Aunty."

"I am sorry Adi. I should have been more careful. I am very sorry."

"Aarthi, don't worry. Everything will be fine. The doctors said you’d survive. It’s just going to take sometime." She smiled and said, "You won't understand Adi. Can you please come at eight tomorrow? And don't be late. I need to tell you something very essential."

"I shall surely be there Aarthi, but can't you tell it now?"

"No Adi. There's a time for everything." Her mother came in then and I went.

I reached home. Mother was watching television. Or was she staring at the screen? I went and sat beside her. "How is she?"

"Doctors said she’d survive mother. I don't feel like eating today. I shall sleep." I went into my room. I changed into my night suit and feel on the bed. Old memories played havoc in my mind. Invisible people were pointing fingers at me accusing me and blaming me. Tears started flowing. I didn't care to stop them. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned. "What is this Adi? Don't worry. She will be alright,” said my father. I hugged him and asked him to wake me up at seven thirty the next morning. I didn't know when I slept.

"Wake up Adi. Its nearly eight."

"Please dad, five more minutes."

"Adi, you need to go to the hospital." I remembered where I was. I woke up in a flash. I looked at my watch. Seven fifty. "Dad, why didn't you wake me up before?" Before my father could answer I was in my bathroom. I got ready in ten minutes. Then I ran to my bike. Speed limit seemed like a little thorn in my path. I didn't care for it. Buses, cars and trucks seemed to be moving like tortoises. Were they going slow or was I going that fast? I looked at the speedometer. 90kmph. I didn't care. Luckily the traffic was light. I reached the hospital. I looked at my watch. Eight fifteen. I didn't even pay the parking fare. I ran in. I passed the lobby. The doctors and the nurses looked as lifeless as ever. I went for the lift. I waited for a minute. It didn't come down. I took the stairs. I climbed the three stories and ran all the way to her room. I opened the door and went in. Her mother was sitting at her side. She had one hand of Aarthi's in hers. She didn't even look at me. She was looking at Aarthi. I looked at her. She was still sleeping. Lucky. I thought she would be angry. I went and sat on the other side. I looked at my watch. Eight Twenty. The saline bottles were no longer there. I put my arm on her arm. "Aunty, when is she going to wake up?" She didn't look at me. I repeated the question. She looked at me and a tear rolled down her left cheek. No. This could not happen. I knew I shouldn't panic. I looked at Aarthi. But she looked so nice. She looked as if she's sleeping. She didn't look like... like... No. I caught her face in my hands and shouted, "Aarthi! Aarthi! Wake up. Wake up." Her father came and held me from behind. I turned. He was crying too. He hugged me and cried like a little child. I wasn't even crying. I looked back at her. She was lying as motionless as the day before. The only difference was that the monitors were no longer switched on. Bottles no longer hanged from the stands. I went near her and sat on the floor. People came and went. Her mother was motionless too. She was staring at her daughter lost in her own thoughts. I didn't know how time passed. In the evening, they said the body was to be moved. My Aarthi was being talked as a body by these medical fanatics. I stood up. I bent over her and kissed her cheek. Then I put my lips over the bandage, which was covering her ear and whispered, "Yes Aarthi, I never understood. I have hurt you for two long years. And now I deserve this. You were my best friend, you are my best friend and you shall remain my best friend." A tear fell out of my eye onto hers. I moved away. I took one last look at her and turned away. My father put a hand around me and I let my head rest on his shoulder. We walked away.

*****

Hmm... the sun is blazing its heat now. The golden letters on the granite plate of the gravestone read, "Ms. M Aarthi. Died in a truck accident. Born: 22nd March 1981. Died: 4th September 1998. May your soul rest in peace." I put the little rose on the plate. I turned to go. I glanced at the grave beside hers. The plate was full of dew too. I moved over and wiped it. A smile danced on my lips. Perhaps that's the best thing that I have ever done. All the guilt was gone now and I am very happy. "Hello Adi, shall we go?"

"Coming dear." I moved from the two graves. I held her hand in mine and we moved on and on and on.

The plate on the second grave read, "Mr. B Aditya. Gave his life for his best friend. Born: 22nd March 1981. Died: 4th September 1998. May you both stay together forever."