Random Call

I called her up and we spoke for more than half an hour. From our PhD anxieties to job trivia, from our quest of life being a roller coaster to being still single....few are the people with whom you connect effortlessly. We giggled, we exclaimed and the ecstasy of an unexpected call was getting transpired through the phone. With an assurance to meet each other soon, we bid goodbye! And I was left with a smile which lasted long enough to be felt.

I was skimming through some old files on my laptop when I stumbled upon the photographs of a trip. And there I got stuck. Passing from one frame to another, I could only see her ever endearing smile, her unfathomable affinity for unknown kids, and the warmth of a protectionist friend. One of the best reward of going to Bangalore has been the experience of knowing amazing people, she being one of them.  

I spotted her first time at the NLS canteen the day we came for our entrance test for PhD. She appeared to me desolate and lost in the pool of papers scrambled on the table, fretted by the test which was about to start in few minutes. Second time I spotted her with her mini laptop, when we cleared the test and were flurried by the presentation before the panel only to get the admission. Few days later we again met and this time we were fellow researchers. We stayed awake for long conversations, for debates and discussions, for sharing our woes and feats. Attending classes to watching sitcoms, I came to know about a different world that time. She was a person who could feel other's hunger, who could buy a chocolate for a kid of a labor with the last penny in her pocket, who can travel alone without a ticket,who would help selflessly, who could be insanely stubborn, who amuses by her quirky boyish manoeuvres all of a sudden,  yet would be unassuming. I admired her courage to be just herself all the time, with not a slightest of an iota of pretence, overwhelming energy that resonated her simplicity. Our friendship was beyond any expectation or any formal ritual.

We moved on with our jobs and life, with new friends and new woes, moving out of touch. Months passed and one fine day I came to know about the tragedy she went through. I could not believe it. I frantically tried to get her contact number. I did get that but could not muster the strength to call her... to support her, to give my condolences, to give a shoulder... The adversities in life put you on a threshold where the survival appear bleak. One is left with two choices- get knocked down or knock it down. I know, she will always choose the second. 

I returned to my inflicted routine. After sometime I got in touch with her, but not a regular one. So today when I was stuck at the pictures which took me down to the memory lane, I budged for a second only to take out her number from the contact list. That random call made me felt connected, for life is too short to speak your heart...and an unannounced random call to a friend will only leave you with a smile!!!

Photo credits: http://www.freepik.com/