Warmth

“Shall we go to meet Sumit?” asked Rajani.

“But, for what?” I asked her.

“Simply, I am missing him.”

 Rajani and Sumit both were my classmates at my Junior college. As Rajani and me went to the same senior college, we somehow remained in touch. Sumit went for a different course, hence a different college. Though we lived in the same town, we hardly met and lost touch. We completed our graduation and buried ourselves into our busy work commitments. Yes he was my friend on facebook and we liked each other’s pictures. But we had never met in the last eight years.

 For a very long time, I had not met any of my friends just for the sake of meeting. We mostly met at some social gatherings like marriages or birthday parties. Even Diwali was spent alone gorging on the mithai boxes which I got from my clients. I sent sms and 3D e-cards to all my friends. I called up my business associates and wished them a very happy Diwali. But I never thought of calling my friends just to share homemade sweets and chitchat. Neither did they. Advertisements and special features on the news channels ensured that I spent more. Diwali comes only once in year and you should spend a fortune for shopping, they proclaimed. I had simply forgotten that I could simply drop in my friend’s house to chit chat over a cup of tea. Formalities should not creep into friendships.

I thanked Rajani for reminding that I could meet friends, simply for the sake of meeting. Both of us went to Sumit’s place. Even he was surprised to receive us. The same night both of us went for a dinner on our bikes to a far away dhaba, as we did in our college days. We returned late. There was chill in the air, but warmth in our hearts.