Ode To A Murali

"My heart aches and a drowsy numbness pains..."

But twas not the cuckoo's call. It was my mobile that rang with the familiar sparrow song that I've assigned to indicate that the call is from one of my Favorite People. One of them was calling to inform me about another.
The first couple of days were the harshest. Tears came in spurts, almost stealthily at un-announced intervals. It was because of Murali. WAS?

Less than 72hours ago, I was talking to my precious friend about things which only we talked about. And barely 3days later, Murali evaporates into the past?! Cruel. Hell is this. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. Holocaust. Think of every possible calamity that can strike the human race, surviving which is the biggest challenge for civilisations. Now how does one survive Murali's death? It's a colossal loss. A terrible blow. One swift slap of Fate on one of the finest people I know. How does one do a quick 'cut & paste' of a petal that's fallen off rather abruptly from my treasured Magnolia?

Like a solid punch in the solar plexus, we reeled and fell back as anuerism attacked Murali leaving him with a brain haemmorrhage in split seconds. A flow of blood in the wrong place at the right time of his life. A paralysing moment that cannot be undone anymore. An emptiness that cannot be filled. Sharing our pain did not take it away. It only made us aware that without Murali, things would never be the same again.

Murali is/was (I will never be able to decide) my 1am friend. From telling me how to get my driving license to discussing diamond jewelery with my mom; from giving an O P Nayyar tune for me to hum the lyrics to mimicking the background score for a Hemant Kumar song; from arranging weekend get-togethers for his large family to being there when my parents were hospitalised one after another...Murali did oh! so much, kept doing so much, for so many of us that maybe, just maybe, he fell down, exhausted? Maybe for him Life was enough? But alas, we had not had enough of him.

When I saw him lying there, up in this ICU, with tubes jutting out of his every pore, I whispered his favorite song, 'Tere Mere Sapne' from Guide...thanking him for being there for me always. I foolishly thought my singing will bring him back to life; will make him open his weak eyes and that his usually grim face would break into a smile. He had collapsed the night before with a very brief awareness of pain. He was, as I saw him that morning - peaceful.

Murali laughed rarely and never laughed loud. He was a buddy - a complete team-mate. A reliable un-selfish human being who always wanted things to work out well for those he cared for. I'm glad Murali cared a lot about me. We have had a whole bunch of memories with the other petals of my Magnolia, that it is so very hard to let Murali go. Maybe we never will.

Your chair will always be kept for you Murali, with your RC (no ice & just water). We will order from Sangeeta your favorite Kichchadi & Poori...and in the reverie of the rare evening rain, you will hear the refrain of 'Tum Pukar Lo'... that will transcend the clouds and reach you...shining bright, wherever you are!

"Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music (Murali): - Do I wake or sleep?