William
had been my best friend since college. He was one of the very few who
effortlessly made his way through my bastion of life. I had always thought of
him to be awry with those unconventional methods of problem solving so much so
that I had started despising his acumen. Although there was no doubt that
William and I were on the same intellectual level, I always used to end up undermining
myself.
One day when I was struggling hard with this apocryphal fact William worsened the situation by coming up with a preposterous idea of discovering a star by going to the North Pole. I had always been the textbook follower. Such absurdity had no room for respect. He was belaboring to the extent of me losing my equanimity. Enraged I had a bet with him saying that “I will follow the rules and you do your nonsense but I will reach for those stars earlier than you do”. William abated the storm by going no further. He was used to me losing my temper.
Well this incident was wiped off my memory just like those after party nights. Time passed and we got so busy with our own lives that we were hardly in contact with each other. The distance between London and Massachusetts worsened our relation. However, we both were flourishing in our work and were joyously living the dream. Astrophysics was life; I remember telling him almost every day. With me siting in my office trying to make multiple copies of a document saving it in different hard drives for backup I came across “my college days” folder. Sometimes going through your old folders is a rediscovering process of your long lost and forgotten old self.
The first pic that caught my attention was William and me holding our graduate degrees. In that same moment my cellphone buzzed. To my surprise it was Williams’s residence. My already existing smile broadened. Titillated, I received his call. “Hey buddy! How are you?” I said with alacrity. “ugh John? This is Williams’s mother” I heard a melancholy in her voice. My heart sank. “Williams met with an accident. He wants to talk to you” she said with a constant quiver in her voice. “hey jonnie…” I heard a faint voice which seemed to resemble Williams. “docs say I don’t have much time so I thought of telling you something” he said. My heart was beating so fast I guess I went numb. “Hey willy. Long time mate” I said with a tear rolling off my eyes with his picture right in front of me. And then he said “I told you I will win brother. I am reaching for the stars now.”
One day when I was struggling hard with this apocryphal fact William worsened the situation by coming up with a preposterous idea of discovering a star by going to the North Pole. I had always been the textbook follower. Such absurdity had no room for respect. He was belaboring to the extent of me losing my equanimity. Enraged I had a bet with him saying that “I will follow the rules and you do your nonsense but I will reach for those stars earlier than you do”. William abated the storm by going no further. He was used to me losing my temper.
Well this incident was wiped off my memory just like those after party nights. Time passed and we got so busy with our own lives that we were hardly in contact with each other. The distance between London and Massachusetts worsened our relation. However, we both were flourishing in our work and were joyously living the dream. Astrophysics was life; I remember telling him almost every day. With me siting in my office trying to make multiple copies of a document saving it in different hard drives for backup I came across “my college days” folder. Sometimes going through your old folders is a rediscovering process of your long lost and forgotten old self.
The first pic that caught my attention was William and me holding our graduate degrees. In that same moment my cellphone buzzed. To my surprise it was Williams’s residence. My already existing smile broadened. Titillated, I received his call. “Hey buddy! How are you?” I said with alacrity. “ugh John? This is Williams’s mother” I heard a melancholy in her voice. My heart sank. “Williams met with an accident. He wants to talk to you” she said with a constant quiver in her voice. “hey jonnie…” I heard a faint voice which seemed to resemble Williams. “docs say I don’t have much time so I thought of telling you something” he said. My heart was beating so fast I guess I went numb. “Hey willy. Long time mate” I said with a tear rolling off my eyes with his picture right in front of me. And then he said “I told you I will win brother. I am reaching for the stars now.”
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