CHAPTER 5: WE HAVE JUST...DRIFTED APART
Cabir’s gentle gaze softened further as he heard the desperation in Aarav’s voice. Aakash and Aanya looked over at their son with sad smiles on their faces.
As the three caught each other’s gazes, the smiles brightened. All of them had had a similar experience, so they could understand what the sixteen-year-old was going through.
Aakash ruffled his son’s hair while Aanya ladled some more noodles over to his plate. She smiled and said, “Keep on eating. No point in losing your appetite thinking such morose thoughts. There, look at your Uncle Cabir; he keeps stuffing his face!”
As the boy looked up, Cabir hurriedly swallowed the mouthful of noodles he had just taken causing him to cough loudly. Aakash patted his back, a smirk having already won its way onto his face.
Casting an accusatory glance at Aanya; then turned back to the kid.
“Look, boy. I’m a foodie. The noodles are tasty. You can’t blame me.”
Aarav broke into a fit of laughter hearing the answer. The gloomy look on his face dispersed a bit too.
Shooting another pissed look at Aanya, Cabir gave one last glance of longing at his noodles, then sighed and leaned back.
Taking a sip of Sprite from his glass, he spoke to Aarav.
“As I mentioned before, your parents and I both transferred from our school after Class 10th. What do you think? Are we still in touch with our friends we studied with till Class 10th?”
As Aarav began to say something, Cabir held up his hand, stopping him.
“Well, your dad actually attended another school also before he transferred to our school in Class 2nd but he was too young then, so that time doesn’t count. Though...wait...there was one guy from back then. You guys reunited in Class 11th, right, Aakash?”
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“Yeah. Samarth Shamshir. When I heard the name during roll call, I thought it might be him so went to ask and...voila! It was my childhood playmate. We are still in touch. He’s a professor of Microbiology at MIT.”
“MIT? The Manipal-”
“Massachusetts.” Aakash laughed aloud.
“Holy fuc-”
“Language! There’s a kid here!” Aanya snapped.
“He’s about to go to Class 11th. Lighten up, Mama Aanya!” Cabir began to chortle but immediately stopped seeing her threatening face. Raising his hands in surrender, Cabir turned back to Aarav and asked, “Now, tell me? What do you think? Are we in touch with our friends?”
Aarav scratched his head and then said, “Dad said Uncle Samarth was his oldest friend. Among your other friends, I know Uncle Harshil, Uncle Reyansh and Aunt Meher. Um...I know Aunt Janya too. She visited us only twice though.”
Then, just as Cabir opened his mouth, the boy snapped his fingers, “Oh, yeah! There’s Aunt Prisha too! She stays over whenever she visits Mumbai; just like you do, Uncle Cabir!”
“O-Oh, she does, huh?” Cabir stammered and then covered it up with a guffaw...which faded as he cast a venomous gaze at his two friends who were barely controlling their grins looking at him.
“Anyway, nobody else? You don’t know anyone other than them?”
“Uh huh.” The boy nodded. “I mean, these are the people I have met face-to-face. There are a few whom Mom and Dad mention or talk to but I’ve never seen them. Like Uncle Jeet and Uncle Jatin. Uncle Naveen too. Then there’s Aunt Farzeen and Aunt Kajal. There are a few more but I can’t remember their names at all.”
“Well, among the names you mentioned...Reyansh, Meher, Prisha, Naveen and Kajal became friends in Class 11th and 12th. The rest are all friends from our old school, that is, the one we attended till Class 10th. So, have we lost touch with our friends, eh, brat?”
“No.” Aarav smiled. “That means I too-”
“Nope.” Cabir cut him off. His smile disappeared and his expression became serious. “We had tons of friends, kid. And you know the names of only a handful. So, in essence, we have lost touch with our friends.”
He watched as Aarav’s face fell before continuing, “But does that mean we aren’t friends anymore? Does that mean that if we meet again we won’t drink together-”
“I don’t drink. Nor does Aanya.” Aakash cut in.
“You-” Cabir cast a baleful stare at him before amending his statement. “Does that mean that we don’t remember each other? Or that if we meet, we won’t reminisce old times? Or laugh together like the old times?”
Aarav thought for a while then shook his head.
Cabir gave a deep sigh.
“There you have it. We are still friends. But-” The man swirled the liquid in his glass, “We have just...drifted apart.”