A GHOST FROM THE PAST

spoke to buro after i know not how many years
it was nice
it was great
it was wonderful

ok, and intro
this a one of my closest friends, rajiv
he is really really old
but he's quite a dude
he is originally a "family friend" - which means our dads were mates in college
i probably should say we go back to when I was 2 and he was 10 and we went for a trip to daarj, all the families
and he kept asking my mom if he could try flushing me down the pot ...
but she said no ... she's so sweet
he also baby sat me for hours when the grownups were busy

but actually we really got to know each other when I was in college and had gone to dubai on one of my annual visits to my dad
and this guy was living there, looking for a job or something
he used to work in bombay and was in la for a while, but something happened ... i think they threw him out bcz he listened to too much floyd :D
anyway, I have just got home from the airport and am on the phone reassuring my friend in pune that I have reached in one piece,
when he walks into the room and says hi
im like cant u see im on the bloody phone? aloud, I just say "hi - ur rajiv, right?" and go back to the phone
he disguises his ages pretty well so I dont realise how old he is ...
later when Iv had a belated word with my dad and walked into the guest room guiltily aware that the one I so non chalantly hailed a few moments ago was 10 years or so older than me. I was still young-ish so that felt a bit awkward

But I sat donw on the bed and we started talking
and what happened next was pure magic
no other words can explain it!
we 'talked' almost straight through 3 days or so
with a few short breaks for naps!
i have nevre talked so much & so willingly & enjoyable with anyone again, ever
in fact not even with the great Buro
when it was time to go, we both had tears in our eyes
and neither of us had a clue as to why!
then we wrote letters - long missives full of floyd and einsteins puzzles and crazy philosophy
i suppose most of what we talked about or shared would have made little sense to anyone else

so it is with these few people
strangers, misfits, nuts, aliens like me
adit, chatto, buro, malabi, brat, joy ... we are a bit "khiska" and we usually gaurd and hide all the nuttiness jealously inside and and bear tightfitting masks of normality which we relax only when we are with "our brethren" :)