Saturday 15 September 2007

Confessions Of a Passer-By

There was a certain urgency in his manners. He didn't walk neither did he run, he moved in a manner I have never seen anyone move before, but then i hadn't seen a man who knew he would die 4 days later. Alas, modern science, the sweet poison. According to some formula, Poisson's probably, the modern oracles had calculated the moment of his death down to the last minute, a few days in advance. Obviously there was no cure, there's always no cure when you want one so desperately. It's easy to solve formula's, difficult to find a cure. So, from that day onwards he had acquired a manner so different, so strange that left me exasperated due to my inability to understand it.

To wish to see an eternity in 4 days is what fools strive for. Urgency and the looming shadow of death over him had made him a fool. A fool so sad had never been seen before. A fool so sad i didn't wish to see again. Life is strange, me with unknown days to live wasted it around foolishly. What assurance i had that i wouldn't die before him. Who knew i would live to see this day? Stupid medicine men don't know when to keep their mouth shut, they had to boast about the technological advances they had acquired recently from some other nation.

Alas, i have strayed a lot from my narrative too early. He stopped suddenly outside a building, waited. i watched him from the other side of the road, he wished to be left alone at that moment. Few minutes passed, suddenly he moved towards the entrance of the building. Stopped this ordinary looking girl and said something to her. He looked in her eyes, her hazel wet eyes stared at the floor. He kept on the monologue and for a moment she looked up at him, her eyes begging him to stop. And as if in a dream she ran inside the building leaving him standing all alone at the door. He had tears in his eyes too, but that was a common sight for me nowadays. He was not the hero of a bollywood movie he cried a lot, actually his eyes were forever moist ever since the medical debacle. Stupid girl hadn't realized not everyone had a lifetime to think matters over and live happily ever after. he loved her and had said so. She didn't and had run away. Life's mean , it likes playing games with you. He was losing and boy, he was losing fast. He was a goner ever since medi-kids had announced his departure after the sudden bout of sickness few days ago. I was his room mate and had traveled with him just in case he fell sick again. He had been quite ordinary actually,not a wiz-kid, not a rich man's son and certainly no hot shot in any manner. That's what i had always appreciated in him, he was no genius and he knew that, above all he didn't strive to be something he wasn't. Fear of the Reaper had changed him, he tried to do things he had only dreamt of before. This change had made him a stranger to me. He was not despondent, but it was his helplessness that killed me. One night he had woken me up and asked "What wrong did I do? Did i ever hurt u? Did i strive to take someone Else's position from him? A man waiting in the gallows for his death sentence at least has a reason to die for, what do i have? Lived a life so long without a reason to live and now I die with none." I was shocked,he hadn't spoken to me in this manner about this topic. I didn't talk about it to prevent reminding him, but had forgotten he couldn't get the truth out of his head.

All his life he had done what ever he wanted. He had done nothing of great value to the world. He loved a few girls but hadn't mentioned about his feelings to them. He was good in mathematics but then he didn't work hard on it. He had done what he liked, this sudden weakness crushed him. Killing him every moment.Yesterday, he died.