Sometimes, somethings in life are supposed to happen, or much better destined to happen. I lost two priceless things from my life- my friend and the book i got from my friend, in a very short span of time. The first one i lost because of the circumstances of life, but the second one because of my cousin.
I met my friend when i was a teenager. We never actually spoke a lot, but we knew we were friends (somehow that was the basic instinct). We had plenty of time to meet and chat, but we never actually did, because my friend was really shy in nature or maybe because he was scared of me..joke. Days passed, but we hardly socialized with each other. We used to say hi and bye for sure, but that was it. Few months later, we made some progress. It was winter and kids in the society used to play badminton. So one fine day, he also cam to play and that's when we got chatting. We shared a great camaraderie and it was fun. Days passed in a haze and he cleared his higher secondary and decided to do Engineering. He got admission in a very good college and he even called me home to show me the prospectus and everything related to his course. The glow and happiness on his face was enough for anyone to know how ecstatic he was and then he left the place to pursue his dreams. I had seen him working really hard to achieve his dreams, and it was totally worth. After sometime, it was my time to do the same, and I landed in Mumbai with heart full of dreams and aspirations. We were settled in different cities, and somehow we lost touch and were back to square one - not talking to each other.
Was it destiny or what, I don't know but i think we were supposed to meet. We met on Facebook (thanks to Mark Zucherberg for the innovation) and got chatting. And then he said he was also in Mumbai. I was happy as i found a known face in this crowd. It was like old times. We met and made fun of each other that how we used to behave and shy out from each other. We made the town alive by our mischief. Time just flew. I was happy to find my friend again. But as they say - happiness doesn't stay for longer period of time. The same happened with us. We had some sort of disagreement and the situation went out of our hands. When he was leaving Mumbai, i went to meet him. He gifted me a book - "Breathless in Mumbai", and wrote a message on the first page of the book. It read - "to the person, who loves Mumbai as much as I do". He kept waving at me from the airport entrance and that was the last I saw of him.
Back at home, in my spare time, I started reading the book. It was a collection of short stories which the author had experienced. I only got to read till 3-4 chapters. Then my cousin's wedding came up and I had to keep the book aside. My other cousin took the book from me to read, as I kept on praising about the book, and she took it to her office. There her friend borrowed it from her and somehow she lost it. And that was the last I saw the book.
I never got to finish the book. The stories were left unread. I felt as if the book was mocking me. I guess the book also decided to leave me halfway. Just like the book, my friend never came back. Now he's happily married and I'm damn happy for him. But the one thing which pinches me is that I came to know about him via mediums. I know life doesn't stop for anyone, it moves on. But i guess some stories are not meant to reach a climax- no matter good or bad. Some stories are better left unfinished.....
