Skip to main content

LIFE AND LIES #67 | The Shortest Story

Dedicated to a friend of mine who is no longer in this world.

*********************************

A friend had died.
Still, the world 
Hadn't come to a stop.
Perhaps, it should have.
Because I gave my presentation
Smiling from ear to ear.

And later at night,
I drank to my fill
To honour him.
Because life is too fricking short,
But at times,
Feels too bloody long.

If you google
'Shortest Short Story'
You'll get the following result:
"For sale: Baby shoes, never worn."
Popularly attributed to Ernest Hemingway.

Ernest, I'm sorry 
But I ended up writing 
Something similar myself.
"Hang in there, my friend. He did."
I'm not proud of what I wrote. 
It is what it is.


"Who is this about," my friend asked after reading my poem.

"He was my batchmate in school," I replied. "He committed suicide yesterday by hanging."

"Why? What happened?"

"Nobody knows. He had cut himself off from everyone."

"Was he involved with someone? Any childhood trauma?"

"I don't know. I never met him after school. I asked around. He joined a good college right after school. He didn't even have to take a gap year, like most of us. And thereafter, got a nice placement from the college, too. Nobody knows what went wrong."

"A wise man once said," my friend replied calmly, "The best often die by their own hand just to get away, and those left behind can never quite understand why anybody would ever want to get away from them."

I was familiar with the quote as well as the wise man. I continued, "It's just that, I remember him as the funniest guy in our batch. No matter how much we made fun of him, he never got offended. In fact, he sometimes amused us at his own expense. How could anyone of us know what went underneath all that. And now that he's gone, I can't help but think of you. I couldn't help him. Maybe, I could help you."

"There's still time for me," my friend smiled. "Don't you worry."

"You might mock me, but I'm going to say it anyway. You can give me a call anytime you want. I won't complain. Whenever you feel low, I'll be there. To talk or whatever. Doesn't matter if you cry wolf a thousand times, I'll get to you anyway."

"Thanks, but despite all the intrusive thoughts, I still have my parents to care for. And while they are alive, the only scenario I can imagine for suicide is either joblessness or debilitating disease."

"Fine, but my offer still stands. Also..." I hesitated for a moment before saying, "There will be times when I'll be at my lowest. You need to be there for me too then."

"Sure, not a problem," my friend chuckled. "Give me a call. I'll be there along with alcohol."

We laughed. 

And I remembered few other lines of the same wise man: We are here to drink beer. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.

***
Rest in peace, Rohit, wherever you are!


Labels:

Comments

  1. Kashish rizwi12:38 AM, November 12, 2024

    Whenever I read your vlogs I don't know why I feel connected.. 💓💕

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LIFE AND LIES #77 | The English Teacher

When we are young, the world is full of possibilities. We can do anything, and become anything. We antagonise anyone who even hints at thinking otherwise about us. It's probably why most of us have a story to tell where the villain was a school teacher. Even I do. I don’t remember exactly how I ended up in the Headmaster’s cabin that day. All I remember is that back then I blamed my House Master for it. It wasn’t just me who had bunked the STD XII Pre-Board exams. There were many. But he made a scapegoat out of me. And the moment, I set foot inside the cabin, I received a big slap from the Headmaster. My ears rang. But that wasn’t the worst thing that happened that day. The Headmaster instructed him to call my father. Tell him to come or his son would be rusticated. I wasn’t a notorious student. I was good in my studies and had no disciplinary complaints against me. Had this incident not occurred, I would have completed my schooling in a few months with a clean record. My fat...
6 comments
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #98 | Talk To Me

*** The woods are gloomy, dark and scary. You were supposed to keep me company. Even when the roads diverged, You promised me we wouldn't split. Talk to me, man! The mountains spit fire. The rivers run acrid. I walk the barren valley All by myself. Talk to me, man! You and I had concluded long back That life is a joke and Death is the punchline. Then why am I not laughing? Talk to me, man! While I grow old and frail, You'll remain forever young. I say that out of envy Or maybe to content myself. Talk to me, man! I hope you have the answers now To all the questions that befuddle mankind: God, soul, afterlife, rebirth, heaven and hell. You can go on a rant about them if you want, But just once come and talk to me, man! ***
2 comments
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #100 | The Blurred Lines

Nitin was utterly shocked when he woke up on Saturday morning with a hangover and without any recollection of what had transpired the previous night. He had been drunk before. He had lost all of his senses before. But everything always came back to him the next morning. However, that day, it didn't; complete blackout. There must have been something bizarre in that drink. Over the course of the week, though, he started remembering flashes of it and began looking for an opportunity to talk to Sandhya, sober and alone. The weather had taken a sharp turn today. A sweltering sunny day gave way to a cloudy evening with thrashing winds. As everyone raced to the office window to watch the scene unfolding outside, Nitin saw Sandhya signalling to him by pressing two fingers to her lips. He couldn’t help but smile. She knew he loved to smoke in this weather. After all, she was his smoking partner in the office. Together, they went downstairs, but as soon as they stepped out of the building, t...
1 comment
Read more