Found and Lost
I never thought I could grow old. Not that I feel any old, but the circumstantial evidence tends to point to the contrary. The other day I was passing by the majestic Mohindra College, I stopped to marvel at the regal building and got nostalgic about the time I spent there 35 years back. 35 years back? Oh my god. Suddenly I felt like some fossil. I rushed back home to have a good look at myself in the mirror, expecting to see some almost extinct dinosaur, but it sure was not that bad after all. The whole day I spent in the time machine, lost somewhere in the past and the present.
In the evening, we went to the local club, another stately building, for dinner. Couple of drinks added jet fuel to my time machine. There in the crowd, I could see one vaguely familiar face. More I saw of him, more sure I was, it has to be one of my class fellows from the college. Or was I just seeing ghosts? What better way than to reach out and find out before I lose him. With excitement and a heart thumping as furiously as I first approached a girl in my teens, I got hold him by his elbow, “Are you Tuli?” “Yes.” “Remember me?” “No.” First heartbreak. “We were together in college in 1980.” “That must be my brother” and he walked off. The heart sank as low as my knees.
Six months gone and I again saw the familiar face in a marriage reception. This time I was sure.“Remember me?” “Yes, we met at the club and I am not your class fellow, that must be my brother.” This time I beat a hasty retreat.
Another six months and I got a call from a cousin of mine, a veterinary doctor. “Brother, I met a class fellow of yours, Tuli, he was with you in college.” This time the excitement was real, only if I could get hold of my cousin there and then only and reach the elusive Tuli. “Where is he? Lets go and meet him today only.” “Oh brother, you are late by one day, he has migrated to Australia and flew off yesterday.”