Rendezvous
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“And the
winner is…… Mr. Ethan!!” – my heart skipped a beat as I went up to accept the ‘Best CEO of the
year’ award at the Phoenix in Oslo, Norway, accepting all the accolades in my
second best tuxedo. I was at my peak for a 26 year old I thought as a kid
collided with me and brought me back to my senses- I was here. I was here
alone, alone at the yearly expo at my hometown where my dad would always carry
me on his shoulders. Nothing had changed- That sweet stall was still there
where I devoured sweets with ‘her’-wonder how she is now I thought, after all
she was there through my thick and thin, but when I had a choice to leave for
Norway, there wasn’t a second opinion, I left her; too much success and now
failure had turned me into a bland, stone-hearted man who had forgotten to love
and care- I reminisced this until the
loudspeakers mounted on poles every few yards saturated the air with a
commercial advertisement-“Bank loans available at low rates of interest.”- Which
reminded me of the exact same thing I had come here to forget. My company was
in debt and I had flown back home from Norway in despair. Ahhh…. “The kid” I
groaned. He was still there. He was down and in pain while his mole just above
his upper lip stared at me in disgust and pain. He was staring at me with his bright
eyes that had tears waiting to roll down, but he was adamant they stayed there.
He was very strong for a boy of 5-6 years old I thought. He had plump cheeks
and a tumid nose, exposing a row of white teeth minus the two front ones. His
eyes- yes those eyes reminded me of someone, someone special, but this was no
time for that. I helped the kid get up, apologized and asked him his name. I
asked him if he was lost. He put up his hand in agreement. Those tears still
not given the permission to come out and those very similar eyes kept looking
at me with belief. He very gracefully took his hand and pointed towards his
mouth, moving his hand back and forth signaling he couldn’t speak. Still very
calm and mature. I knew I had a task at hand when the kid clutched my finger,
looked up and pointed towards the candy store. His calm demeanor had a soothing
effect and his eccentric gaze would tantalize me every time. Surrounded by plethora
of children, the shopkeeper had a hard time to render to the needs of
everybody. As I grew impatient, the kid stood there in pristine patience to
substantiate his calm demeanor, only for me to acknowledge how impatient and
rude I really had become. He smiled resplendently with the mole above his upper
lip now in full stretch, his finger still clutching onto mine. Just then a
young girl nearby dropped her candy and the kid without an iota of doubt passed
his candy to her, and smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but hug him and SMILE,
something which I hadn’t done for a long time; had I forgotten compassion or
was the kid just more mature, I don’t know. I then asked him if he wanted to
ride the giant wheel, which carried one sky high. He looked terrified yet dared
enough to oblige, he was willing to take risks and explore, something which I
had evaded lately. Even though the kid couldn’t speak, he was telling me a lot.
As the carriage moved towards the sky and as the kid cast his gaze over the
vast expanse, I had the time to reflect; what seemed to be a bad day was now
going on with astute perfection, I found my happiness in his. He had thought me
to be happy and ‘enjoy the play called life’- sometimes infinitesimal things,
words or thoughts bring back so many memories. It was ‘her’ favorite thing to
say whenever I had a bad day and I ranted it all to her under the soothing
banyan tree right behind our college. She was nothing short of an angel to me,
her immaculate beauty too surreal to be real. She was always there for me. Her
smile so bright and her voice so soothing. She was the panacea for all my
problems. Even though we never said it to each other, we knew. How I wish I
hadn’t been to Norway, but the time had passed and I had lost her, now
extremely regretful and penitent with myself. The kid clutched my hand when we
were about to go down, I smiled, back to the present now.
As I was
taking some ice-cream for the kid and pondering how to find his parents back;
“Ethan!!!” called out someone in a very familiar voice. I looked back only to
find the kid running towards ‘her’ and hugged her tight. Now I knew who I was
reminded of from the kid’s eyes. He had his mother’s eyes and they were the
most beautiful one’s I had ever seen, the mole above his upper lip now so very
familiar. I had missed her and the way she used to call my name- the latter
only partially satisfied, for now she was calling the little Ethan, who was
still in her arms. Little Ethan turned towards me to show her who he was with,
but I had moved, secluded into a little oblivion I dared not coming out of,
with tears not very obedient like the kid’s that rolled on. I watched her and I
watched little Ethan, she was happy and had given me a new meaning to my life, but
this time through Ethan- to Ethan, and that was all that mattered.
