Those wonderful 11 years...

[Written on December 10, 2006]

It's 4:30 am. Just another cold and dark December morning that is waking up slowly knowing that the Sun would not be coming out any time soon. I am up in these early hours wondering what is making me sit in front of the computer and scribble some crazy thoughts of mine. Is it just the day of jet lag after coming back from my current visit to the wonderful India or is it something beyond that? Jet lag, in my opinion is a physical thing and I know for sure that it is not strong enough to force a guy like me to act emotional. This scribbling of thoughts seems to me more like a flow of my emotions rather than anything otherwise and I know the reason: my dear old friend, my wonderful buddy of 11 years, Mohan and his family are moving far off the physical proximity I have been enjoying this long.

"Rajesh and Shree, We are relocating to North Carolina. We are flying out on 18th." The message on our home phone left by Mohan came as a pleasant shock. Just minutes in to coming back to our home, hearing this very first message put us in a "don't care mode"about the rest of the voice messages.

"Oh! man.. this day, the day I've been dreading has come", was my first response. I ask myself,"How many times have I met him, or rather talked to him in these last few years when he was geographically closer?"Very few, especially after we both had our own family of ours. So how different this move is going to be? We could still meet once in a while and could talk anytime.

No, it's not that simple. The very thought that, from now on I won't have the luxury of meeting him personally, whenever I needed to... is no more. This is something compared to being just in contact with a family person, to being upclose and personal. Being upclose and personal has a special meaning. That won't be there for me anymore.

From the day in November,1995 when I met him the first, till now, I have had the previlege of experiencing my life's momentous moments with him. In the three years we both were under the same roof, I wonder how many times we had any arguments, major disagreements or even wanted to kill each other: none. Roller blading days in the summer of 97 and 98..mm..active moments. I still joke to him that had we been single now, we would still be room mates.

June of 2001, when Mohan the then last standing single guy became a married man I remember writing a happynote about his wedding announcement titled, "Casa Amigos bids Adieu".

How could we forget the Thanksgiving vacation that year, when param, me and him had a horrible experience of a cold night in a canvas tent cabin at Yosemite. For the whole night, when our spouses were comfortably staying in a well furnished, heated log wood cabin, we three were shivering in that 4 degree cold weather worrying how long the night was going to be. Adding more adventure to the trip was the drive from Yosemite to Tahoe the very next evening when we hit a buck (deer), which was then followed by a drive through the snow storm. It was Mohan and Sujatha's first vacation trip after their marriage and I know for sure that it might stand as one of the most unforgettable, happy moments in their marriage.

May of 2002, when I told him about our purchase of the house we currently live in, the happiness he expressed was something simple words cannot describe it.

Over the years, I realize that he had become of hub of acquaintances. But for Ana (Raju), everybody else I have been friends with in the "Sagaa" ring have been introduced only through Mohan. Had it not through him, would I have known Param, or JP, or Jai, or Kanaks? (to mention a few). Want to get the contact of somebody who lives in the remoteness of Colarado? AskMohan. Want to know the whereabouts of the guy who had a cup of tea with Mohan on one fine rainy day in Singapore a longtime back? He would definitely know about him now. No Blackberries, or Blueberries have the memory capacity to keep the long list of his contacts. He for sure, did not treat them as simple list of alphabets, but was one of them who cherished looking beyond those alphabets to keep in touch with the souls of that list.

There is a sense of guilt inside me that in the last few years I did not keep in touch with him as frequently as to the extent I could have been... I should have been. Work and family, the sterotypical excuses are there but a 10 minute phone call over a weekend would not have killed me. Now I realize the hard way that I can't take this for granted. Eleven years seems to have passed like a blimp in the radar.

I am sure that his wonderful family, no matter how geographically distant they are, would always have their special place in our hearts. This wonderful hub of friendship is just moving to the east coast to form an another hub.

Buddy, all the best with your endeavors and thanks for those wonderful 11 years...