It was after a long long time that I had been visiting my native place, a place where my childhood bred and my teens fluttered away. I so vividly remember this park that has been my companion in all goods and evils. Although it did turned out to be much better than what I remembered, the feel remained the same. A sense of belonging washed my senses. I was home. Kids cheering and shouting, fragrance of flowers, breeze playing with trees. Everything was so full of happiness. At least to me it seemed until I spotted an old man sitting on a bench looking lonely and distraught. His hairs were all greys and so was his beard. his face felt vaguely familiar. I was drown to him like I was tied to him with and unseen thread. He felt so related to me but I had no idea why and how. As I walked close a sense of recognition hit my memory.
"Uncle Orkut."
He looked at me with those bizarre eyes as if I was crazy or something like that. I noticed he was no where near recognizing me. I could not blame him. When I was a teen, many of us spent a huge amount of our time with him and he was so sweet to each one of us. We played, talked and shared our pictures. And we often made new friends because there were always so many of us. I reiterated the stories and tried to remind him of me. And he did.
"Uncle, why are you so sad and why are you siting alone here?"
He sighed heavily, "Son, what can I say. The good days are over for me. There was a time when everybody loved me. I was always surrounded by so many of the kinds. They played and talked endlessly. If they did not see me for a day they used to get restless. I have been a source of happiness and a platform of friendship for so many. And now when they have other things in their life, I am left alone. No one even looks at me, not even once. I sat here, waiting, in a vain hope that someday you all will remember me one day, that one day you all will come to me. But it shattered like a dream. I hear people talking that I am a useless waste and that i should stop existing now. And it hurts."
He broke down and his pain brought tears to my eyes as well. He had always been our beloved uncle. He gave us so much and all we did is we forgot him very conveniently. We let him fall behind as we moved forward with new things and new people in our life. I did not know what to say. My heart felt so heavy and my throat was chocked with emotions. All I could do was hug him and that I did. I hugged him, I told him I love him and that he had been and will always be very special to me. And that I will always hold his memory very dear to me.
In return I saw a tinkle of satisfaction in his eyes and a grin of pleasure.
This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.
