Flying Away

by

Jayadev

All of our friends gathered in Rupen’s house that day for the cricket match. We always had the habit of watching the cricket matches together. We always made big plans for the match. We used to have something to eat and drink during those matches and enjoy a lot. We love and cherish those moments. We all used to get excited and shout together merrily when India was on the winning streak. And we would be upset if India was losing. Sometimes we used to bet among ourselves on the agreement that the winner has to sponsor a treat to everybody later.

That day, India won the match. Jay and I had won the bets and as per the agreement we all went to a nearby chat house. We called Feroz at his home and asked him to come there. For some reason, he could not join us for the cricket match that day.

We were six guys who remained together even after the graduation. We took some sort of oath that we had to continue our friendship forever. Everything went fine for two years after graduation. Then the first brick fell off when Ranjan decided to go to States. His company was sponsoring him on H1 Visa. Because his family’s financial position was not very good, getting a chance to go to States was a golden opportunity for him. Though we were very happy for that good opportunity, we all felt sad when he left to States.

By the time we went to the chat house, Feroz was already waiting for us there. We greeted him loudly and entered the shop. Everybody ordered what they wanted and we all sat around the table. We found Feroz in a little different mood. I asked him about it.

“I got my passport stamped today”, he replied slowly.

“Congrats!” we all shouted at once with joy.

“I don’t feel like leaving you guys, there are hardly two weeks left”, he snapped.

Feroz is little sentimental among all of us.

To cheer him a bit, Venkat said “Come on, you are going for a good career. Cheer Up”.

“Party Time guys, tonight we need to celebrate”, Jay proposed.

*** *** ***

I should admit that I was little upset for the next couple of days after I heard that Feroz would be leaving for the States. We maintained our friendship almost for the last seven years. As I mentioned, the first wicket fell when Ranjan left us. Next, it was Feroz. It is like having two kinds of feelings. One way you feel happy that your friend is leaving for a good career prospects. But the other way, we would be missing him. I am not sure really, when we would meet again.

Ranjan is in touch with us through emails and phone. We all coordinate through emails and decide to gather at one place to receive his call. We would talk for half an hour or so with him. But how much ever we talk, it is not like those olden days, where we used to spend lot of time together and enjoyed watching movies and cricket matches. We used to roam on our bikes till late nights and always used to enjoy each others company. There was not a single restaurant in the town we did not taste. And there was no topic on earth, which we did not discuss or argue about. Yeah! We sometimes used to fight too, but those fights never used to last for long. It was always fun to hang out with friends and especially when they are as close as we six were.

For the next couple of days Feroz was very busy. He was shopping for clothes, shoes, suitcases etc., and we accompanied him everywhere. He was leaving for New York.

Jay as usual started pushing him for a good party before he left for the States. The day before he was leaving, we all gathered for a party.

We started memorizing our good moments together. Feroz promised that he would not break the friendship with any of us and he would be sending emails continuously to us. We told him to write detailed emails about New York life. Though we were enjoying the food and music and all that, deep in our hearts everybody was feeling sad. Ranjan had sent an email congratulating Feroz for the visa and asked Feroz to call him for any help. Ranjan was staying in Chicago then.

Just when the party was in the end, Feroz started crying. We had a hard time consoling him. He literally caught all of us and cried like a baby. Seeing him sob like that, all of us also lost control and burst out our suppressed emotions. It was very hard not to forget that he was leaving all of us the next day and that was the last time he would spend sometime with us.

*** *** ***

We all went to Feroz’s home and helped him with his luggage. He was flying to Bombay and then he would take a flight to New York with a stop in between.

We were little early to the airport. We asked him to spend time with his family members as they would be missing him more than us. He was shuttling between the two groups, sometime with us and sometime with them.

We started talking about what Feroz would do in New York. Jay made fun of him by calling him “New York Boy”. Feroz kept promising us that he would be in touch.

As the time was closing in, he burst into tears after seeing his mother cry. Seeing them weep, many of his relatives also started crying. Even though, I tried to keep a calm posture, I had some tough time to fight back my tears.

He bid farewell to all of us and finally left towards Security Check counter..

With heavy hearts, we watched him while he got through the Security Check. He stood at the corner before the departure lobby for a minute and waved to us. We also started waving continuously till he stopped and was completely gone.

We stayed there looking at the empty hallway, for a minute and then left to our homes.

*** *** ***

After two days, he sent one detailed email with all his wonderful experiences about New York. It seems like he would be staying in New Jersey State which is close to New York, as staying in New York itself would cost him a fortune. We all felt happy once we heard that he got a good project and settled down well.

Now, I am finishing all the required courses to leave for the States. All of us are having dreams to go to America, except Jay. He wants to stay in Hyderabad itself and look after their family business. In fact, he has already started working with his father. Rupen has applied for a few local companies and waiting for interview calls. Venkat also is busy applying for US consulting companies.

We meet regularly now and then, and we wonder what Ranjan and Feroz would be doing. We receive emails from them regularly and sometimes we chat with them when we catch them online. They enquire about our budding plans for States and sometimes give their suggestions.

We dream about our bright future and we would like to run through the new stream. We are like young birds with new wings having a desire to fly far away.

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