An Ode to a Childhood Friend

Blaissy and Angelo were students of Carmel Convent School Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. Their families were from the same state and so they knew each other pretty well. Naturally both of them were great friends. But on the whole it was a beautiful relationship that the two six year olds shared.

Once during a Catechism (Bible studies) oral exam both Angelo and Blaissy were called together. The initial questions were to regarding a few common prayers. Angelo recited them quite easily since he came from an orthodox Christian family and Blaissy was also not far behind. The final question of the exam was "Who made you ?" "GOD" replied Angelo which was incidentally the right answer. Blaissy who came from a family with 2 elder sisters replied "My sisters”. Angelo couldn't suppress his laughter he made a big joke of it and would bring it up occassionally to make fun of her. Whenever Angelo used to introduce Blaissy to someone he used to add this incident and Blaissy used to turn red with anger. She never had anything like that to get back to him. Poor thing!

It so happened that once during the Sunday evening service there were no altar boys (the children who assist the priest in the service). During the offeratory  two people have to go around the church with bags collecting the offering (money) usually done by the so called altar boys. Blaissy took the lead and took one bag and went around, Angelo not wanting to be left behind followed suit with another bag. Even though Blaissy had done this earlier everything was new to him. It was payback time for her, after the collections she went and gave the bag to Angelo who didn't know what to do at that very moment .Actually it was supposed to be given to the priest. He stood there perplexed wondering what to do and kind of was embarrassed. Finally his Dad nodded to him and asked him to go the priest. Angelo went back weeping in the hands of his Dad and Blaissy had the last laugh . At last she had something to talk back to Angelo when he pulls her legs next time.

One day Blaissy saw Angelo and his father playing Badminton.  She did not know to play the game and really wanted to learn it when she approached her sisters they shooed her away. Finally she decided to ask Angelo who was on cloud nine when he heard her request. Angelo knew very little of Badminton but it was enough for him to boss her around. During one of those days Angelo and Blaissy went  to attend some program for kids in the nearby auditorium on their own. After it was over to her misfortune Blaissy discovered that she had lost her slippers. She began to cry and went to Angelo who had no clue as to what to do. He gave her his slippers and went back barefoot, Blaissy was very happy. Countless instances like these cemented their friendship and they were thick friends in the course of time.

It so happened that Angelo's father passed away suddenly, he was devastated . Fate was cruel to him at this tender age .But the journey of life has to continue, he came back to his native place and started his life anew. He had a tough time to adjust to his new life because everything was very different from the life he was used to living. Angelo got busy with his life and he grew up, he is now living in his own house with his Mother and brother. After some years Angelo discovered an old letter from his father to his mother. In it there was something written about Blaissy initially he couldn't make out who that was.  Suddenly memories started to rush back to him the whole picture of the past flashed right in front of him and he wanted to meet her immediately. But there was nothing much he could do now because there were a couple of thousand miles separating them now and moreover he had no idea as to where she is now.

Angelo doesn't know if she will recognize him after so many years. She might have forgotten him long back and might be in the same state of mind he had been all along until now. She must be busy with her life as well. Maybe one day they will meet after all!  

 This story is for Blaissy my long lost childhood friend. I have not seen her or contacted her for the past six years. But wherever she is I dedicate this story to her.

Comment

This article is loosely based out of real incidents in my life and was written when I was around 13 years old.  I feel nostalgic when I read this and it should remind everyone who is reading this of their childhood days the point that I would like to impress upon here is that we were not always like what we are now.  All of us had a childhood that was carefree and beautiful we might have never realized it then. Take a moment close your eyes and think of a beautiful moment of your childhood, believe me guys you are going to feel good at least for a brief moment of time.

 I would also like to add today when I read this my thoughts wander to the friends who came into my life at different points of time and left after leaving a deep imprint in me . We all moved on and got busy with our lives and hardly interact with each other these days. Yes and we make new friends along the way which is sort of a good thing. This is to all my long lost friends.

Introduction to my Blog Old is Gold

The other day I was just cleaning up my apartment and trying to clear out my old stuff when I chanced upon a blue folder. Inside were neatly handwritten full scap papers which comprised of the stories and poems that I had written during my adolescent years. I left whatever I was doing and started reading it one by one. Thanks to the dust it had accumulated over the years I was sneezing like there was no tomorrow. It reminded me of a forgotten phase of my life, my growing up years. It took me back in time when I was trying to take my new found hobby seriously. I tried to replicate thoughts would have been when I was writing each one of them but unfortunately I failed to do so more often than not. There might have been far too many experiences in my life that my memory seems to be clouded now. I had reservations about making these public because some were kind of embarrassing when I think about it now. But I thought what the hell ? There was a time when I used to carry all these pieces of my writing in my purse and used to show it to my friends and family. I asked myself what is the whole point of me writing all this and keeping it locked somewhere I can't remember. I tried to think through the eyes of a wiry bespectacled boy who had written it then but had no way for others to read his works. I used to yearn for recognition for my writing skills back then. I guess writing skill wasn't considered as glamorous those days or even for that matter now .Say it doesn't give you that much attention like singing, dancing or playing the piano which kind of was sad for me at that time .Today there is Facebook, there is BlogSpot and what not and so I decided to go ahead with it .

The main themes of my writings at that time were love, loss, friendship etc. I am pleasantly surprised when I go through my earlier creations because I am was a way different person now.  Even my writing is in a way evolved very much and way different from what I used to write earlier. In order to appreciate my old writings you need to view it through the prism of a young boy who is exposed to a limited amount of literature at that time. More importantly the place where I grew up also the society around me needs to be factored in. I mean you can never compare my hometown Thiruvananthapuram with say the flamboyance of Mumbai where I am currently living and the sophistication of Delhi where I had lived earlier. The situations and the kind of people that a boy interacts growing up in these cities are way different from the cities that I had mentioned earlier. In course of time even the basic fabric of an individual gets altered owing to the changing environment they are thrust upon in the later periods of their lives.