The first picture I remember of him is of 8th class, he came wid his bicycle to pick me up frm the barren grounds besides my colony. I sit on his carrier as we took our way to a school where we were havin our NCC day celebrations, some school I never had seen before but he knew where it was, so we came 2 d idea of him givin me a lift and may be if he gets too tired I will give him a lift back home.
The next time I remember him was durin my summer vacations just before I got into my 9th std. , he appears suddenly on my gate and ask s if we shud go to d net café. Now, those times, internet was a new thing fr us, we din’ have our mail IDs, so we decide to go fr signin up fr our yahoo accounts n chat but we end up seeing our first pornography tht day.
Man, my marks began 2 dip, n increasingly I thgt I needed 2 change my frnds circle , I distanced myself frm Anurag Dev. I got tuitions in mathematics, tht’s wht I needed, u see. I fr 2 years lived in panic of getting less marks in my tenth boards, and lemme tell u very frankly, of those two years of 9th and 10th, I remember nothing but tuitions and studies.
Well, those were the last two years I had, 2 be in touch wid him, we eventually gave our boards,. In spite of all dose tuitions n panicking I got a very avg kind of marks but just enough 2 get maths ( n bio too), but Anurag, he got less marks.
The next thing I remember about him is he standing wid his father just outside of Sister Principal’s Office with tears in his eyes, probably he was pleadin fr n admission into d maths section so tht he won’t ve 2 leave d school but nope he din’ ve d marks. I saw him like tht, he saw me, I knew tht he was goin 2 leave. When he saw me, he smiled, I smiled back but……….I moved on, I din’ stop 2 say even hello. After all, he was a bad influence right !! ( n I was supposed 2 be n IIT aspirant).
We went on wid our lives, I saw him at d very same coachin I had joind for IIT preps ( I avoided him der too though fr…………………..he was a bad influence.). I knew he was in Oxford school ( n man was I not proud 2 be a St. Marian…..no, I was arrogant). We gave our 12th, I was glad to pass out of school, I gave IIT to know tht I wasted 2 yrs. Of my high school life fr something I may ve done but ultimately cud nt do. I gave some other engineering exams n eventually hooked up on a z category engg. College.
Meanwhile, as I was just goin 2 join my “ coveted” college, I got a call frm Anurag, he was sittin in dis second round of counsellin n wanted 2 knw if my coll was gud, now I needed someone I already knew, 2 be in my coll so I said yes of course, but don’ know y , ( probably , he had actually gone wayward in all dese years, girls, smoking, I don’ knw , but he preferred 2 live farther away frm his family….he took some coll in bhopal rather than Indore, where my coll was…), that was the last time I talkd to him, I din’ care at tht moment.
More than a year later, I was in my 4th sem of engineering, I got d news tht he is no more………..