The Last Goodbye

As a child, I moved towns a lot because of my mom's government job, which had frequent transfers. The fondest memories I have are in a village called Bheem; after close to 10 years, I was revisiting the village to meet my friend Pintu.

Now, Indian villages have poor infrastructure and public transport. The only bus to the village got delayed due to a sudden heavy rain damaging the road. To be honest, it was a pretty rare occurrence considering it was summer and the weather was clear until a couple of hours before, let alone the fact that we live in a desert area and never see this much rain. Well, I guess climate change is real.

By the time the bus reached, it was 7:25, and I was panicking as the whole village, and its public transportation shuts down by sunset. According to village traditions, it's the time of Kabeli Vela, which is considered inauspicious, although I never believed in such stuff. I was trying to call my friend, but the rain must have destroyed the signal tower as the call couldn't get through.

As I was panicking, a car stopped, and the person inside waved at me. I moved closer to see his face, which I couldn't because of the darkness. I looked down inside, and I was met with a pleasant surprise, it was Doctor Uncle! He was the reason why my childhood days were so much fun. He smiled and offered to drop me at my destination, which I gladly accepted and jumped into the car.

As the car started, so did my reminiscing. He had a big farm on the outskirts of the village where lots of fruit trees were planted, including Mangoes and Jungle Jalebis. Jungle Jalebi is one of my favorite fruits, which I dearly missed because it's only cultivated in villages. For those of you who don't know, it's basically a combination of two of the yummiest things... Sugar and Cottage Cheese. I missed its tangy-sweet taste and wondered how it was still out of public sight.

He used to take Pintu and me to his farm on weekends in his car. We used to throw stones at the trees, harvest the falling fruits, and then gather inside the small barn with our big smiles to eat. While eating, Doctor Uncle, our captivating storyteller, used to tell us stories. He, also being a government servant, had seen his fair share of places and had a bucket-load of stories with him. We used to gather around him with a lot of excitement as he unloaded and shared them with us.

While remembering all this, I was filled with a sudden sense of longing, and I asked him if it would be possible to take a detour to visit the farm first. He said, "I was hoping you would ask this... I have something that would surprise you". As we neared the secluded farm, it pained my heart to see it wasn't maintained at all, with all the trees and weeds interspersed haphazardly all over the place. I realized with sadness that the Doctor Uncle was growing old and would not possess enough energy to maintain everything like he used to do. As we stopped by the barn and walked inside, he presented me with a plate full of Jungle Jalebis, my favorite! The Jungle Jalebi, perfectly ripe, exploded with its rich taste and sweetness in my mouth as I remembered another memory.

On my last day at the village 10 years ago, as a farewell gift, Pintu and I sneaked into the farm and climbed the Jungle Jalebi tree that used to give the best and the longest Jungle Jalebis and plucked some of them. We plucked them raw so that by the time Doctor Uncle discovered them, they would be perfect for eating; we put them on a plate inside the barn. Come to think of it, wasn't it the same plate that we left that day, the one we are now eating in? He had preserved the plate till now; I was overwhelmed with emotions and hugged Doctor Uncle. He asked me why and I said that I just realized that this is the same plate we left as a surprise for you years ago. In his reply he said, "Yes, it was special to me, so I kept it with me all this while...". This brought a huge smile on my face and I hugged him tight as I told him that I missed him a lot. That further brought a huge smile on his face and he said, "I missed you too, kiddo!"

After laughing and chatting for quite some time like the olden days, we decided to head back. As we were nearing the house, the Doctor Uncle teared up and said, "I am leaving the village tonight, and I am so happy we could meet before I left." I also couldn't hold back mine and thanked him for the fantastic childhood with all those beautiful stories and memories that he gave me. As we arrived in front of Pintu’s house, he looked at his watch with the hands pointing exactly at 12 after which he said, "The Kabeli Vela is over and I was glad I was with you throughout these hours, keeping you safe." Even though I didn't believe in these superstitions, this flattered me. He said, "Now that the hours are over I should take my leave and you should hurry over to your friend's." With a heavy heart, we gave each other a final hug and said our goodbyes...

After that, as I knocked on my friend's door, I received a phone call and guess who it was… my dear Pintu. I laughed and could hear his hurried footsteps, an anxious Pintu opened the door and asked me where I was and why wasn't he able to connect with me before. He was scared because he couldn't reach my phone. He also came and waited at the bus station, but couldn't find me.

I consoled him and told him everything was fine. I told him I was safe with Doctor Uncle who came and dropped me.

At this point, Pintu got angry and told me not to joke and said it wasn't funny. So I repeated my words and told him, "I'm not joking."

Pintu froze at my words, and he asked if I remember the last day when we left a surprise for Doctor Uncle on that plate. I said, "of course, I do." He said, "Doctor Uncle never got to see the surprise; he died a couple of days after you left, and he was buried in the same barn along with the plate and fruits exactly 10 years ago on this same night, which is why the farm now looks unkempt like a graveyard."