This is an essay I wrote on 20 October 2003. Now that I’ve a space for my thoughts on the internet, I am publishing it here. Read it carefully.
People are eagerly waiting at the door of an operation theatre. After a long time the nurse comes out and says, “Congratulations, it is a boy!”
He is a very cute, chubby child, the apple of everyone’s eye. All members of the family love him. He is brought up with the greatest of care.
“Mom, I am going out with friends.” the boy shouts. He is now seven. He plays with his friends on the muddy grounds, soiling all his clothes. The mother is busy preparing his favorite dish. “I got hurt, I got wounded!!” the boy comes in crying. It’s a minor cut, but the mother’s heart sinks. She drops the cup of coffee in her hands and hastens for first-aid.
“I got A grade” the boy comes in triumphantly. His parents are proud of their son. He is the best student in his class. His friends envy him. He enjoys his position.
“I wonder what you feel about me, Jessica. I think I am in love with you” the boy speaks hesitantly to the girl he is mad about. The girl blushes in affirmation. Now his life completely transfigures. All the people in the school gossip about their affair. The boy shows anger from the top but feels great from inside.
He, his friends and his girlfriend- they are a group now. He goes out with them. There is no day when they don’t chat for five hours at least.
Looking into the heart of the boy, we see that though he enjoys himself with his friends but he has not realized their value. He feels as if his friends will accompany him throughout his life. His inattention to his surroundings is very natural too.
Human beings fail to recognize the value of what is easily accessible. But, the fact is that even if a petty thing like the nail of the left thumb is hurt, it can cause a lot of pain and suffering to a person. Nothing to speak of more valuable possessions like friends and family. After the valuable thing is gone, they groan about losing it. The boy was a human too.
He got selected in a prestigious college. Everyone around admired him. His friends congratulated him. His girlfriend was happy that she loved such an intelligent person. He left for college.
People told him that the relations with friends will eventually die out. He would tell them that it is a thing of past now. With the advancements in science and technology the physical distances don’t matter. They will remain silent on listening to his explanation.
He left happily from home. He promised all his friends and ‘her’ that he would contact them as soon as he reached there.
His new life began in his college. Knock-knock, “Get up for classes” he rubs his eyes sleepily, waking up to find his friends beating avidly at the door. He gets up lazily and goes to brush his teeth. “A very busy day today” he thinks in his mind as he prepares to sleep. The days pass at a fast pace. It has been a month since he joined the institute. His girlfriend is still waiting for his first e-mail.
Two days later he gets a off day. He contacts all his friends as well as ‘her’. They are overjoyed to talk to him. He returns to his room happily. He thinks about the people who told him that friends lose touch. He feels sad that he is away from home. He thinks of the roads, the people, and the buildings of his place.
“C’mon catch this. You have to do it” he shouts energetically to his friend. It is the last ball. A do or die condition. “Out!!” they all shout happily.
Suddenly he is in the chemistry class. “Science stream students don’t indulge in such things” the teacher stresses. “Get up” the boy whispers to his friend who is taking a nap sitting on the last bench.
“I am leaving if you don’t say anything” she warns him when they sit in a private corner of the customary meeting place. “Oh, you are such a spoil sport” he retorts.
“Arrange your clothes properly my son” his mother suggests. “I am going out” he says the usual, ignoring her words.
Knock-knock, “Get up for classes”, and a new day begins.
One night, in his dreams, the words of those people start ringing in his mind. He now knows that they were right. “You still talk with them”, the other part of his mind denies his former thoughts.
“Talk with them? Do I really talk with friends? I talk with icons on my messenger window and with e-mail addresses. What used to be a six-foot, lively, beloved, helpful, and indescribable friend is now nothing but a lifeless link to an equally insensitive Yahoo messenger account. Things are not the same. They have changed.”
“An icon? The icon is just a medium for your communication. The friendship is still as strong and warm as it was ever. When I go home, I will tell them how much I missed them. There is not a single moment when I don’t think about them. They are alive in my heart.”
“Wow, what an explanation! Where do you have the time to think about them? There is not one free moment in your life and you brag of thinking about them always!”
“Time? Do you need time to think that your life is so precious for you? No. Then why do insist on having time to think about people whom you value more than life?”
“Don’t talk philosophically….”
Knock-knock, “Get up for classes”.
“The train will leave at nine” he says happily to his parents just before leaving for home, giving them the every minute detail on his mobile. “Koooo” the train leaves.
“In four hours I will be there” he thinks gladly.
“Hey guys, I am back!” he speaks excitedly on the phone. They party together in their favorite restaurant. But wait, there is a strange change. Many of his friends tell him that they are busy and can’t come to see him. Some leave early giving the excuse of having to finish their assignments.
“Its not the same. I told you” his ‘mind’ starts fighting again.
“Every human being in this world has the right to live his own life. Did we not do assignments before? Did we not miss movies or matches in order to devote time for studies? Things are the same. You have changed. What was a trivial matter to you before is the most important topic for you today!”
“Indeed…”
Knock-knock, “Get up for classes”
Every teenager leaving home experiences a similar situation… the dilemma, the confusion, the fears and the doubts. Separation from your loved ones is always very painful… and everyone experiences it at some point of time or the other. I, for one, am not so sure as to whether or not friendships last sine die, whether the mere presence of physical distance is sufficient to dampen, if not extinguish, the supposedly eternal flame of love and friendship.
“All the World is a stage and all men and women are but actors”, so wrote Shakespeare. In view of this, the show must go on…”
