The Reunion

Story of Friends – The Reunion
Photo credit: nazka2002 from morguefile.com

He didn’t notice at first. It isn’t that he normally keeps his phone on a silent mode, but presentation days are challenging. A call here and a message there, does steal away the spot-on concentration that a presentation calls for. However the persistent blue-light from the silent zone did manage to break his concentration. An unknown number! He would have not bothered to chain in the call, had it not been for the persistent frequency of missed dials from the same number.
But as soon as he pressed the button and before he could hello in, the voice at the other end almost tore into his ear drums.
“Stupid, moron, have your fingers gone paralysed or have you deposited them in your bank locker?”
The voice at the other end was gruff, irritating and definitely not a welcome one at the moment.
“By any chance are you a gorgon that I happen to know?”
“Piggggggg! How on earth can you call a woman THAT?”, the voice demanded.
He felt kind of amused…..at least he was able to corner her!
Must be a wrong number! He smiled to himself. No woman who knew Akash Mukherjee would speak like that. They were normally soft and flirty with him, adding that extra dollop of huskiness to their voice. And this woman certainly did not know what he was worth.
He was about to disconnect the call when the voice howled again.
“ Akku Mukku, how can you do this? How dare you forget me !”
He missed his beat for a minute!
“Gayatri Vajpayee, don’t tell me I am hearing your voice!”
There was no confirmation from the other end , instead there was a volley of abuses.
“ You dirt! Scummiest of all creatures! I am calling you all the way from Germany and you are making me sound like a monster!”
“Really! I really need to pinch myself out of this dream!”
“A bad dream, uh?”, she broke into peals of laughter.
“Aaah, atlast! Now I know you, sugar pie!”
“ Hey, I am warning you Akku, don’t you dare diabetize me! I am not one of those bumble bees hovering around Akash Mukherjee!”
“ Aah, Of course not! But what makes you call me Gayu? And how did you get my number? Twelve years is a long time!”
“ Getting the number of a top brass business brat is not tough but convincing him for a reunion may not be so easy I guess! Easy or not?”
“Reunion?”, he gasped.
“Do I take it as yes?”
“ Do I take it that you would be coming to Kolkata soon ?”
“Yes, all the way from Germany! And just to have a reunion! Last Monday was my thirtieth birthday and I realized that I badly need to recharge my batteries for a decade or two more. And, to do that I need you all!”
“ Exactly when, where and how? I am game for it!”
“Am I hearing a ‘yes’ here?”
“ Anything for you Gayu!”
“ Warning you Akash Mukherjee, I am not that slim and smashing Gayu that you know! You might be disappointed!”, she chuckled naughtily.
“ I can manage that Gayatri Vajpayee!”, he roared in laughter!
“ We shall see!”, she laughed in return. “Okay Akku, I shall hang up now. Send you a message soon!”
The call got disconnected before he could formally say his goodbye but it left a trace of smile on his lips. He knew the presentation would now not go wrong anyhow.

** ** ** ** ** **
“Some more…just a half inch more”, she commanded from her precarious position atop Vishnu- on his shoulders actually.
Vishnu stretched his toes vertically, trying to maintain her balance at the same time.
“Ugh! Chuck the plan Gayu! We can always buy the green mangoes from the seller outside the school gate!”, Akash urged her.
The return answer was a full-throated grunt and a pair of crossed eye-brows. The signs meant danger for Akash and the rest of the gang.
Lifting up slim Gayatri wasn’t a tough deal; keeping pace with her wild, weird ideas was. Stealing mangoes from the neighborhood, celebrating ‘birthday’ of the local, stray dog, buying an ice-cream for the school security guard – her plans ranged from weird to insane. But there was no way one could say ‘No’. Atleast her gang never did. THE GANG – that’s what they called themselves.
“ Call yourselves hurricane or a bunch of notorious gangsters!”, the Sanskrit teacher would scream atop her lungs, unable to keep track of their plans.
“Aah, here we are”, she sounded the victory bell atlast; her hands clasping on to a bunch of green, not-fit-to-be-eaten mangoes.
“Ouch…can you please get down now? They are my shoulders, broad enough, but not a stage!“, Visnhu groaned , unable to bear her little dance on his shoulders .
The bell rang just then, announcing the end of the lunch-break. Six untouched lunch-boxes lay moaning on the concrete bench under the mango-tree. Dry twigs, half dried mango flowers and grape sized baby mangoes showered on them incessantly- burying their sorrows underneath.

*** *** *** *** *** ***
“ You won’t forget me na? Please baby, I won’t be able to live without you!”, Shazia sobbed inconsolably, wiping her nose in between with his T-shirt sleeves.
Moin stared at his wife helplessly. This was the seventh time she was raising the question and by now all words that were synonymous with comfort were tried, tested and rejected. Nothing could alter the status or volume of her tears. The wall of his patience was almost ready to give way but somehow he couldn’t, especially looking at the small hump that adorned her tummy. He just couldn’t bring it to be rude with the mother of his to-be child. He moved in and pulled her closer.
“How can you even think this way Shazu? It is just a reunion –just a party …..and I would be away for only, ONLY two days….They are just my friends and you are my wife. Do you get that ? No one, no one can ever take your position sweetheart! And all the girls are married and well-settled. Only Akash and Vishnu are left and I am sure that nothings gonna brew between us!”, he tried to lighten the situation.
“But still…..”, she re-opened the fresh shower of tears, unconvinced.
Uhhh! How he regretted the decision to let Savvy come to his house in the evening. Among all the six he had somehow managed to keep in touch with Shravani and it was only restricted to ‘just keep in touch’ – a Facebook comment, a small joke share on Whatsapp, a courtesy New Year wish and that’s it! It was only the reunion plan of Gayu that made her call on Moin to discuss about a possible travel tie-up with him.
Moin had not even foreseen a possible catastrophe when Shazia had politely served tea and cookies to Shravani. Nor could Shravani herself guess the hurricane she was bringing along. Munching on cookies she had put in a proposal to carry a gift for Gayu.
“Yaar, she is spending so much on making the arrangements – from booking the resort to all the food and beverages. Should we not carry a token gift kind of…may be some flowers atleast?”
Moin could not control his laughter, “Flowers? For Gayu ? From when did you become so formal Savvy? And with Gayu’s kind of choice you may well find her preferred flower to be Pumpkin flower! You can never trust the choice of a girl whose favourite vegetable is raw Papaya!”
They had ended laughing the entire evening, remembering Gayu’s antics in school. If only he had glanced at the dark clouds that were assembling inside the ceiling of his own home!
Now, looking at Shazia he was in two minds about attending the reunion. He didn’t wan’t to hurt her feelings but the urge to meet the gang after so many years was too strong for him to be able to resist.

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
“Shhh….”, Savvy put her fingers on his lips. Dragging him to the dark end of the store room she pushed him next to an abandoned cupboard.
It took a few seconds for Moin to recover from the sudden adventure.
“Why here?”, he was puzzled.
“Shhhh….”, she hushed him yet again while opening the top button of his shirt.
Startled, Moin changed from pink to red and back to pink in those few seconds.
“Hey! What is the plan Savvy?”, he fumbled.
“Don’t get ideas dude. Just finding the perfect place to hide the mag. Cine Blitz has The Amir Khan as the centre page pull-out poster this time. And Gayu wants the poster. How can I afford to give my Aamir to her?”, she spoke in hushed tones while shoving the magazine inside his shirt and buttoning it once more.
“But what if Gayu finds out ? She would definitely pin me to the ground, punch off my senses, tear by buttons one by one and then pull out your Aamir! Then you Aamir will land straight into the hands of the Princey”, he sounded scared.
Just then a pair of footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Savvy pushed him further into the small gap between the cupboard and wall, huddling herself in as well.
“ Don’t play the hide-n-seek stuff with me Savvy girl! You know how savage I can get ! Aamir is mine and I don’t give him to any one”, Gayu’s voice banged on the walls of the corridor.
Savvy held her breath and moved in further. It was just then that the hint of citrus touched her senses. She realized that she was very close to Moin – too close for comfort perhaps.
“You apply deo?”, she tried to divert her attention.
“Hmmm”. He too had his eyes fixed on hers. A warm flicker appeared somewhere – a momentary glow; a hint of passion perhaps. But before he could let his finger clasp hers a strong pair of hands pulled them out from the corner.
“Aha! Playing hidey with me! No use guys..Time for a surrender!”.
There was really no way one could hide from Gayu for very long!

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Vishnu Prakash slapped some after-shave on his rugged cheeks and gave one cursory glance at the mirror. Not too bad! He did look different when he was out of his usual attire. He picked up the glass and finished the contents in a quick swig. Not that he drank always but today he felt happy.
He smiled to himself as he picked up his kit bag. A night’s journey and he would be with his school buddies. Twelve years was a long time but in all these twelve years he had never been to Kolkata again.
His senior had actually looked at him curiously when he had applied for the leave. People knew him as a tough cop – even the hardened criminals never dared to look into his eyes. That he would go for a school reunion was somehow next to impossible.
As he picked up his keys, his fingers reached out for the brown, nearly-tattered packet kept in one corner of his table. He ran his fingers over the packet assuring himself of its precious content.
He felt foolish because he knew it was of no use anymore but he placed it carefully in his pocket nevertheless.

*** *** *** *** **** *** *** *** *** *** ***
The farewell song was just about to get over when he got the news. The juniors were still singing the last few lines of “So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye” and tear ducts were working overtime. The girls unabashedly wiped their eyes with hankies while the boys tried to hide theirs with the ties they are asked to wear that day. High school farewells were always a tough struggle with emotions.
Vishnu tried hard not to cry. A robust, burly boy like him just couldn’t afford to cry. He looked here, there and everywhere just to avoid his tears. And thankfully, or not perhaps, he noticed his father’s anxious face right near the school gate. Instinct told him that something was not right. He rushed down to meet him.
“Vishnu, your grandfather is no more. We have to rush down to Hyderabad right now. The flight is in another three hours and we have to move now.”
He stared at his father for a few seconds, unable to believe what he was hearing. His world seemed to crash at that very moment. For two years he had waited with bated breath for this very day. He knew he would never be able to propose to her while in school – that would have really upset the equation between the gang members. For two years they had both spoken a thousand words through their eyes, their smiles and their unspoken belief. For two years he had saved money to buy that silver ring with a fake turquoise colored stone for that special moment. And now everything was ready to collapse right in front of his eyes.
“Hurry up, boy! I have already had spoken to your teacher. Just run and say goodbye to your friends.”, his father coaxed him.
He ran down to the place of the ceremony, clueless of what he could do. The final phase of the programme was still on and there was no way he could speak to the others.
“Any problem?”, Akash whispered to him as he picked up his bag from the chair.
Vishnu knew he had no other option. He barely had five minutes to decide and act.

*** *** *** *** **** *** *** *** *** *** ***
The night was long, dark and deep. The stars peeped through the see-through ceiling of the Golden Lounge . It was an entire hall for just five people!
“Gayu, are you crazy? We are looking like little ants left in a tin drum!”, Akash had joked.
“ Ah, that is because the place was booked for six people! That stupid Rupsha ditched us…..and look what a glaring gap she has left!”, Gayu had dismissed the talk with her infectious laughter!
The colors and mood of the reunion changed dramatically with passing time. It began with loud greetings, tears and uncontrolled laughter; it then turned to boisterous recollection of old memories.
“Do you remember the Sanksrit teacher with only five students in her class?”
“I am not ashamed to admit today that I was the one who stuck chewed gums to your hair.”.
“ Gawd! Remember the PT Sir? The one with black hair and grey moustache?”
“ Guys, can you guess what our famous ice-cream shop has transformed into ? A beauty parlour!”
The chatter went on non-stop…..
And now, after several rounds of food and beverages the excitement had given way to silence. Dresses, arthritis, in-laws, professional liabilities – they had almost covered every topic under the sun. Even a game of Truth or Dare had thrown in many surprises. But it was now all quiet, with each busy with their mobiles or staring at the stars.
But they each still had so much to share.

*** *** *** *** **** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Moin felt happy as he put his mobile back into his pocket. He felt thankful that Shazia was finally asleep. The unanswered call actually gave him a kind of relief. Sometimes her possessiveness was too tiring for him. Though he would never admit openly but somewhere deep down he did feel caged at times.
“Has she slept?”
Moin hadn’t noticed when Savvy had come and stood next to him, beside the pool.
“Yup. Big relief.”
“Good to hear that Moin. Hard to get such men these days.”
He smiled sheepishly. “It comes with a cost though….At times it is overburdening”.
She gave no answer.
“You should have told me….atleast once.”, he seemed keen to carry on the conversation.
“About what?”
“What you said back there…during the Truth or Dare game….that you had….”
“A crush on you? Yeah, I had thought of telling you back then….but I wasn’t sure of how you felt about me.”
“You should have asked me once Savvy…may then I would have found the guts to admit…..”
“Admit what Moin?”
“That I too….”
Savvy placed her finger on his lips. “ Let us leave it at that Moin….Some truth are best left untouched. May be that would preserve the beauty of the relationship that we shared”.
Moin cherished the touch and the moment. Savvy looked into his eyes.
This could be the only answer she could think of. There was no other way to hide her battered soul or the blue marks on her back that were gifts from her abusive husband.

*** *** *** *** **** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Vishnu sat in one corner with his drink –alone. During the entire get-together he hardly spoken or laughed. His purpose of coming was lost anyway.
“Can I join?”
Vishnu looked up and gave a blank look.
“We need to talk”, Akash spoke in a soft voice.
“ I have nothing to talk about”.
“But I need to apologise Vishnu. It was just a momentary lapse of good sense…..I don’t know how….I just became an idiot. All my school days I had hero worshipped you but maybe there was an under- current of envy…..Otherwise why would I lie to you? When you had to rush back with your father and chose me to handover the letter and ring to Rupsha I felt elated at first….then..then God knows which Lucifer went into my head…I….I just hid the ring and the letter…I saw the anticipation in her eyes….she spoke with us but her eyes were searching for you….The hurt in her eyes spoke volumes…She never kept in touch with anyone after that.”

Vishnu smiled sarcastically. “Your momentary lapse did not end at that….while I waited eagerly for an answer from her end….you rushed down all the way to the airport to hand me the letter and the ring saying that she had rejected my proposal.”.
“ You…you..shouldn’t have believed me yaar….You could have called her and confirmed…”, Akash fumbled in self-defence.
“ To confirm the rejection? That ring and the letter changed my life forever…..It decided the entire course of my life. May be I was foolish but I had no purpose to return to Kolkata anymore….I stayed back with my grandmother….It was only much later that I felt that perhaps not everything was true.But it was too late by then.”.

Vishnu had finished his drink. He got up and walked away. Then suddenly he retraced his steps back to Akash and gave him a bear hug.
“It is okay Akku. Leave the guilt behind. We have all moved on…Life does not wait for moments”.
Akash didn’t know how to react. He felt clueless and happy at the same time.

*** *** *** *** **** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Gayu clanked the plate with the spoon. It made a lousy noise.
“Attention Guys! The night is nearly over and in an hour we have to wind up. Thanks for the lovely reunion….But our reunion is not over without Rupsha….Infact I couldn’t even speak to her. I had somehow managed the landline number and spoke to her mother. Maashima said that Rupu stays with them but had difficulty in attending the reunion…..They don’t stay far away…just an hour’s drive from here. So what say guys? Shall we?”
“But Gayu….”, Savvy intervened.
Gayu stopped her midway, “Please guys…it’s my request…..I didn’t want to share the news with you all but my kidneys are having a tough time coping up with me and my lifestyle….so they need a clean-up now and then….my first dialysis begins next month and I am not sure when I shall be able to make it again so….And now, no sorry condolences please…..I am not dead yet, and won’t be for another century”.
No one could say no, atleast not to Gayu!

*** *** *** *** **** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Maashima looked at them with tear-soaked eyes. Her lips quivered in unspoken gratitude.
“ It has taken six years for her to reconcile with the truth. Infact I had asked her to go for the reunion; she was hesitant . But somehow she was sure that you all would come looking for her…..”
With shaky fingers she opened the door to her room.
“Rupu….they have come”.
Rupsha turned to look at them. Her acid burnt face was in ruins – her lips in a messy curve, her eyes barely a slit. But her hair was all the same – those little black curls cascading down her shoulders. The early morning sun seeping through the curtains played with her hair and added a certain charm.
“ Oh my good Lord….bazoooka….bambish …boo…Now I see you!”, she squeaked in delight. The acid attack by a few demons had destroyed her looks but couldn’t touch the beauty of her soul.
“ Rupu girl, I am ready to murder you! How could you miss a reunion? THE REUNION? I give you three minutes to get ready and we shall all go out. ”, Gayu commanded.
Two silly drops of water just hushed passed Savvy’s eyes.
No one cared to look but standing behind everyone, leaning against the wall,l Vishnu looked the happiest. He put his hands inside his pocket and held on to the contents fondly. Thank God he had remembered to carry the ring along. Convincing her won’t be easy but he knew he wouldn’t give up.
“We shall see’, he whispered to himself. The morning sun smiled in return!

__END__