I have written testimonials for people who mattered little and even people who didn’t matter at all… but someone who has been a companion throughout stands unsung…
Dear Friend,
It’s been around 2 yrs since I first met you. I don’t exactly remember the date on which I met you but it doesn’t really matter. I was among the herd which used to flock you, but also the only one who didn’t stop coming to you till today. How could I, you have never ceased to amuse me. I have a special liking for things that don’t change, what will be “you” if one changes with every situation and you fit this perfectly.
People called me rigid, unsophisticated, archaic and several other things. But you never bothered about my faults. Never asked me to change, never tried to compare, never complained but just let me be. The mornings I spent with you are the most cherished memories from this place. Each day I would wait to steal time from the mundane activities to just sit next to you. Those wonderful conversations where you patiently listened to my insignificant problems, my foolish ideas and told me stories from a different time. The conversations right from Mohsin Hamid to Satyajit Ray, from the question of categorizing people to acting on ones wishes…. Oh! How much we talked…
Our relationship had its highs and lows too. There was winter when I couldn’t come to you because of the biting cold, only I knew how hollow my days felt. There was a time when several new faces flocked you again, let me confess I was jealous to see you with someone else but obviously the affair didn’t last long, no one else loved you as much as I did. There was also a time when I chose other mortals over you, but each time one part of me always longed for you. And how could I forget how you threw things at me and enjoyed watching me get startled.
People said I was a bored soul, I would be enlightened with you, initially they thought I was crazy, little did they know how interesting you made my colorless life. You have been the one thing which I wanted to experience all through my life, I was lucky I found you at the right time, after 20 yrs, in a place where I thought I was an outcaste. If not for you probably I would have still felt the same after 2 yrs. Like people talk about alienation and restlessness, the only place I didn’t get restless was with you.
It is very easy to say I will miss you, life will not be the same and hundreds of people are saying this right now. But deep down everyone knows people are replaceable, there were friends in school, in college at home but we moved on haven’t we, then it gets reduced to an occasional phone call but I’m sure I will never get back the magic you created. I will still keep my search on for someone to replace you.
I hear some people say I will never come back, and some say I will definitely come…..wondering what I would do… but if I ever decide to come back, you would definitely be one of the most important reasons.
Hope you will also miss me as much I will…
Thank you, my dearest tree next to the library.
