It is only a matter of days for me to wake up to March 3, two days before I become 26. Why is the date more important to me than the one 'officially' declared as my date-of-birth. Let this posting be a brief comment thereon. 9.00 a.m., 2005
A still, but pensive morn. Under the protective shade of mahogany on the campus of T K M C A S, I was sitting engrossed in some reflections. A cool breeze patted on my cheek and the twittering of a lapwing lent lyrics to my melodramatic musings. It was in this spiritual setting that Asha made an unexpected intrusion.
Asha was my soul mate until she belonged to someone else. Love has remained unexpressed in my life throughout. Far be it from me to understand that love unexpressed is like the money unspent. Both will cause some opportunities to slip through our fingers.
"Why are you sitting here for such a long time, Shameer. Don't you know that the lecture has begun."
Asha's words, spoken in a louder tone, brought me back from my reveries. I got up and accompanied her to the classroom on the second floor. On the way, she threw several questions to me. About the project I was going to do, the book I was reading and the movie I had just watched. We walked taking non-stop till we reached our dreary destination.
10.00 a.m.
It was a practical session of a media class. Prof. Unnikrishna Panicker ('UK' as he is popularly called) was explaining the differences between the print and Internet versions of a newspaper. In a crisp language sprinkled with humour, he was going through the topographical details of a web page and its difference from the 'grand old lady'( connotation for broadsheet)
In the process, he googled into the site of The Times of India. While explaining in detail the peculiarities of the site, his eyes got struck on the horoscope box ('horrorscope' as it was humorously called).
To cheer us up, he wanted us to tell him the names of our stars. All of a sudden, some curious names reverberated in the hall. All but me knew the names of their stars. So, I was really confused, when all others were waiting for my reply. Divining that I had little sense of what the star business was all about, UK asked me when I was born.
"3 3 1982*", I replied.
"Oh, what a surprise", he exclaimed.
Then breaking his words in the middle, he lapsed into reflections. Then he began reading what The Times of India had to predict on my future.
* Actually my date of birth being in the third month of the year, I confused the 3rd month with the day. Little did I think that I need to correct my mistake.
2.00 p.m.
Back to the classroom after lunch. I was surprised to see the seats vacant. A few minutes later, my classmates entered the room, holding a bright, if not a bit mischievous, smiles on their lips.
"Why are you all smiling?", I asked.
They shrugged their shoulders, indicating that smile is not at all a supernatural phenomenon.
But in an M.A class, where things are always tense and strained because of the hot debates and anxieties centered around the deadline of an assignment, smile is a rarity.
But I did not smell a rat there.
3.00 p.m
A few minutes after a jargon-studded lecture on subaltern aesthetics, somebody prodded me on my back. I turned back. It was Sabitha.
"Shameer, there is a surprise for you in the next classroom."
"Surprise? what surprise"
" what will you feel if someone you love is waiting for you there?"
Instantly I looked for Asha. Oh, my God she is just behind me. Then who is waiting for me there?
3.25 p.m
A classroom. Closed on all sides like an abandoned house. There is someone whom I love and who loves me.
I broke the door open, took some steps ahead.
...................
There was a surprise which later turned out to become an event-breaking mark in my life.
There was a cake upon a table, surrounded by some radiant candlesticks.
On the blackboard, it was written in Asha's hand( I am familiar with her character) :
many returns of the day
But that day has never returned.
That was the only birthday celebration in my eventless life since 1982.
A birthday celebrated by mistake.
But some mistakes are far better than what is downright accurate.
