EVENING WALKS

These days I usually do not go out of the hostel in the evenings for walks like the others, one reason may be that there is no one to go out with. There was a time I used to spend at least 2 hours outside…i.e. during the earlier phase of my hostel life (later 1st sem days). However, things have changed now. For instance the size of our friend circle has shrunk from a 10 to a modest 2.

Things change, people change, our perceptions change. Change is inevitable. Those were the good ole days, when our entire group of 10 would get ready to take a stroll in the campus. It was funny actually, we had to try not to walk side by side or it gave the impression of a long horizontal line moving forward with time. Needless to say, it was reason enough for the permanent members of the strolling committee (seniors and boys of our batch) to have a good laugh. Soon, we decided to apply our theoretical knowledge under the guidance of Divide and Rule and the group of 10 was replaced by smaller groups of 4-5 which, with time got further divided into groups of 2!

Then there came that phase of sudden realization, when the groups of 2 tried to merge with other groups of 2, but their attempts at concatenating the little groups to form the extinct group of 10, were marred by the differences that had grown to a point from which the graph never falls down but continues to rise upwards despite all efforts. During this particular phase, everybody pretends to be friends with everybody, but every one has their own reason for not liking the other person. Such feelings are sidelined when the sudden wave of unexpected conditions such as birthday treats and farewells, floods the fertile regions of the brain and heart capable of producing feelings and one has to start from scratch… trying to recollect all the reasons one had so painstakingly collected not to like the other person. Since the process takes some time to complete, everybody tries to be good to everybody else for a change (for a short while). This phase, too, is overcome with time and everything goes back to normal (the rising upward graph).

Every once in a while, the little groups meet for serious discussions as to why the group got divided and why the old familiar horizontal line that once moved forward with time in the evenings has now become a rare sight. But they end up discussing who wore what, who did what, who went out with who, who was seen with who, who got ditched and by whom, who has grown fatter, thinner, uglier etc, who has the best dress, who bought the whatever at the least price … until the actual reason for the meeting is lost and everybody returns to their little groups, feeling intellectual and updated.

At some point of time, it seems that although the group of 10 is now a rare sight and the horizontal line has been replaced by a series of ‘dash’ and despite the differences that can never be dissolved, everybody will be there for everybody in the group that was once a complete 10, whenever the need would arise. The graph may continue to rise upwards and the group may go on being divided further and the differences may increase but some tiny little spot of memory inside still blinks to remind that everybody is a friend of everybody in that once group of 10 and everybody will be there for everybody in the best and the worst of times. People may have changed with time and groups may have shrunk but deep within the friendship remains that not the worst of floods can wipe away.