Habit To Forget Too Fast

Anup Sharma was sitting at the bank of Swarn Rekha river in Lashkar, Gwalior. He wasn’t alone, but his best friend was with him and she was ‘The loneliness’. They created a wonderful thing and that was ‘The Silence’. The Sun was about to return home and moon was to take the charge till the very next morning the Sun resumes. Nobody was around except two three shepherd’s semi – naked kids playing and trying hard to fly ripped kite in open river area.

 

The river was elegantly flowing with the great enthusiasm as if it was going to meet its dear one.  Anup was picking and throwing small peddles in Swarn Rekha, and yes, the river Swarn Rekha wasn’t unhappy at all. She was lost and flowing steadily and had nothing to do as many peddles Anup dumped in. The Sun had turned complete orange and the light breeze was welcoming the chilly winter in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

 

He was new to the area. No friend, No family. Living in the strange environment miles away from his home town Greater Noida, NCR.  He shifted from Noida to Gwalior to explore the opportunity came on his way. Before that, he just had a recent break up with his girlfriend after five years relationship, had clashes in office and resulted into his job loss. He was broken yet moved on. He joined as project manager in one of the multinational companies engaged in tyres manufacturing in Lashkar. Anup was already a sort of introvert and top of that his dull break up had taken a toll over him.

 

Well, while admiring the beauty of Swarn Rekha river and sun set, he was thinking about so many things at the same time. He was thinking as to why a person runs behind materialism in life? Why a person chases behind the permanent thing in his temporary life? Can anyone show the permanent thing? Only CHANGE is permanent, nothing else. A person keeps a lot of expectation from his life or from others, a lot of demands from his life and from others, a lot of complaints from his life and from others. When there is nothing permanent, then why a person keeps so much expectations, why he demands and why he has complaints all the time from his life and others?

 

Simultaneously, he was thinking about how the technology is up on the head of every single person, how the ethical values have been diminishing among today’s youth over a period, he was thinking over the commercialisation of the entire education system and medical science and what not. Somehow, he was talking to a river. He didn’t even realise that every alternate day he was visiting the Swarn Rekha, he used to sit at the same place and talk to river whatever came in his mind.  The river had become her companion. While talking to her, deep inside his heart he felt a sort of peace. The river never responded, but did listen him for sure.

 

Days passed by, and as Anup turned busy and familiar with the area, people, his visits to Swarn Rekha reduced proportionately. He had slowly and gradually been coming out of his break up phobia as well.

 

One fine day he was walking on the road parallelly passing by Swarn Rekha. He was refreshed, calm and happy. He was enjoying Friday evening and was in the typical weekend mood. He was listening latest tracks in his mobile phone. On that path, he was walking after long time. Suddenly, somebody called him from behind, it was a female voice. He stopped and looked behind to find nobody. Was there a ghost? For a while, a terror travelled down his spines.  The heart throbbed to his mouth. The road was a complete silent as nobody was around on either side. He took the headphone out and gulped down the clog in his throat.

 

It was just an illusion. He regained his composure and was about to plug in headphones in his ears, just then he heard the same voice again. The female voice kept repeating his name. He had heard many stories of ghost but never happened to see one. He thought the day was to see one. Time and again, as the voice kept repeating his name, he walked in the direction of the voice. He derailed from the main road and walked to rough road leading to dark trees and unbalanced land. He was looking here and there and very conscious of anything sort of bad happened in the forest. Ten minutes later, he cracked a very good mile and reached to the place which was familiar to him. He reached there and smile ran over his lips. The place rejoiced him. He reached to the bank of Swarn Rekha river where he spent substantial time initially when he was new at that place. The mystery was that the female voice of nobody but Swarn Rekha River herself. A lady in her late fifties wearing white saree appeared in front of him from the water, The Swarn Rekha River. The river was calling him. He stood there at the edge of bank of Swarn Rekha a quite overwhelmed! Wow! Suddenly, he realised that he was getting late as he should reach at some place where his colleagues were waiting for him.

 

He wanted to know why Swarn Rekha called him?

 

He asked "Hello Mother River. You got me scared terribly. I am brave, else would have got a mild heart attack. By the way, why have you called me?"

 

Swarn Rekha smiled at him in reply though flowing steadily.

 

"Mother River, I am getting late", he said and added "You don’t have to go anywhere while I get to reach Lashkar and then to Gwalior, and you very well know it is reasonable enough far from here…"

 

Again, she did where she was best at – smile -  an innocent smile.

 

The river looked at him.

 

Anup rested his hands on his waist and pulled up and down his eyebrow seeking justification to tease him.

 

No reply.

 

Anup turned and started walking back to his way. On his seventh step, the river called him back. For a strange reason, he stopped and went back to it and said little bit agitated "Are you making fun out of me?"

 

The River remained silent. All birds had already walked back and settled down in their respective nests. Sky was almost black. River’s water was flowing the same way it was flowing when he visited last time.

 

"Mother River, are you going to speak anything?", Anup asked

 

"Yeah.." the river replied

 

"What?" he said and added "I am giving you three minutes. Tell me what you want to say. Your time starts now"

 

"Go…", river replied

 

"Whaaattt?", Anup almost shouted

 

"You go..and save the rest of your minutes", The River said little disappointed

 

"Huh…mother river", Anup said and walked back to his way

 

After killing fraction of a mile, Anup realized that there was something wrong with Mother River. She wanted to speak something material which he missed to listen. He cursed himself for being such a rude to the river. He gave her only three minutes, huh?  He quickened his steps and reached to mother river back. The river was observing him, he guessed.

 

He asked, "Mother River, I have plenty of time and you may speak as much as you wish"

 

"Good my son", The River said, "Happy to see you"

 

"Me too", Anup said and nodded.

 

Mother River spoke, "You know kid, when you were alone, you used to come. You used to speak to me, you dumped pebbles in my water, you admired me, my beauty and the nature around me, right? You used to sit here for reasonable time and opened whatever came in your mind. I was happy as somebody spent quality time with me. You shared many of things with me, you shared and reminded many of your favourite moments with me. You shared your terrible past and the momentum of coming out of that trauma. I too was happy as I find you sitting on my bank, admiring my water and observing about my beauty"

 

Anup fell silent.

 

"But, as you became familiar with this place, as you mixed up with people out here, as you have started enjoying this place, you forgot me, isn’t it? This is the habit of human being To Forget Too Fast.  When you were alone, you didn’t like here, you used to visit me but once you got friends, you got settled well, you forgot me. My kid, I am not human being and you have done this to me, but I am afraid do you do the same thing with human being too? I am afraid my kid I am very much afraid"

 

Anup turned mute. When somebody speak right, we should not object unnecessarily.

 

"My kid, I have taken your more than three minutes. Now, you go else you will be getting late",  she ended and disappeared

 

Anup stood there for next couple of minutes in the same dumb mode

 

Human being forgets everything too fast, no doubt. Whatever you do, you will fall short somewhere or other.

 

Anup’s mobile rang at the top of its voice. It was not a call but an alarm.  God! It was 8.30 in the morning. He scratched his head as Mother Swarn Rekha River had come in his dream and gave him a preach. He got up and decided to visit Swarna Rekha River after office hour before he got any reminder from her. That day he called his mother too twice and decided to go meet her as well at Greater Noida, NCR.

***The End*** 

Thank You for reading….Jai Hind

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