The Flying Friends

The flying Friends
The Flying Friends
The Flying Friends by Jyotsana Sehgal
The flying Friends
The Flying Friends

‘There’s a call for you Mr. Saluja. And it’s from India.’ My secretary addressed me when I returned from a conference. The word India ignited a million sparks inside my body. I took the call to hear his voice once again. But to my utter despair. It was someone else. 

Hi, I am Varun Saluja and this is my story, not mine but our story. We i.e. Varun and Rohit the childhood buddies, the soulmates, and the best crime partners. You have met me Varun, the narrator of the story. Now it’s time to meet Rohit. But for that, you need to go back to a few more days rather years.

21 April 2006, I got admission to a new school. I was excited to meet new friends but as fate would have it, I wasn’t welcomed wholeheartedly in the new class. Maybe because I was the outsider, but that bothered me. but after 2-3 days he entered the class and upon his arrival, he immediately asked about me from his fellow classmates. He was a like a ray of sunshine in otherwise gloomy weather. He approached me and offered his hand to be friends.

It was like a wish coming true. I was happy that at least now I have someone to talk to. Slowly and gradually we got closer and our bond becomes the talk of the town. And we both were elated and so were our parents. As both of us helped each other in everything be it studies, sports, projects or anything.

We were different, I was introverted, shy, and reserved while he was boisterous and happy-go-lucky. But one thing which is common between us was our love for airplanes. Days or nights, whenever we see an airplane, we always say to be a pilot one day. We even draw virtual planes and flew them in our imaginations.

Time went by and we rose to higher classes. Pursuing our passion, we took science stream and after plus 2 started appearing for competitive exams. Rohit cleared his exam for the pilot training institute on the very first attempt and started his voyage to be a pilot. I had some different plans, I choose aeronautics and aimed for a place higher than the sky.

Both of us completed our college and got placed in different organizations. Despite our busy schedules, we made sure to be in contact through calls or chats. 

Coming back to the present day, I had expected this to be a routine call as always but the different voice from the other end shook me up. I hurriedly enquired where Rohit was? And the answer I got had literally chills running down my spine.

The person on the other side told that my best friend had met with an accident. He survived but has lost all his senses and is not reacting to anything. But once in a while, he calls out my name.

This made me feel numb on my knees and I booked immediate tickets to India to go and meet my friend. When I reached and saw him, tears started rolling out of my eyes and I hugged him tightly, but he didn’t react. I go and met uncle and aunty and assured them of his speedy recovery.

Every day I go and pay him a visit but there wasn’t any change in his condition. But one day, when I talk about an airplane, his eyes blinked and I got the way to get him recovered. The next day I brought the same old airplane toy which we had bought together as kids and started to fly here and there in his room like the way we used to do in our childhood.

And yes, the miracle happened, he moved his fingers and start to point toward that. This was the much-needed force to get him recovered. And yes, today after weeks of treatment he is all set to fly his airplane once again and this time it’s not the toy.

-Jyotsna Sehgal 

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