Mr Dohre sat staring at the cup of tea in his hand.
“Something wrong with the tea? Not to your liking?” asked Mr Pawar
Mr Dohre and Mr Pawar had been friends for a good portion of their adult life. Now both of them were retired. Mr Pawar was mild and quite understanding while Mr Dohre was very opinionated in a critical way.
“The tea is fine,” said Mr Dohre looking around, “the paint on the wall is different”
“How long has it been since you have been to my house?” asked Mr Pawar
Mr Dohre tried to remember, it was two years ago when he came with his wife on a festival to give gifts. His wife pushed him around to do that much.
“People will forget you exist,” she would say, and then she passed away two years back and along with her went away the reason for Mr Dohre to make his presence felt in the society.
“You know I am not a people’s person, but I am here today,” said Mr Dohre
“I called you to come here day after day and thus finally you are here,” said Mr Pawar a bit irritated, “go out and see people moving in this world even if you don’t interact with them”
“I see people move in the world and in the best place, on television. They don’t bother you in any manner there,” said Mr Dohre
“My daughter said something similar about books when she was in college and that’s when I knew she needed counselling,” said Mr Pawar
“Those counsellors just try to act smart by telling the obvious things,” said Mr Dohre
“.. and it is the obvious things that we forget the most and I would lie if I said I haven’t been worried about you ending up like a recluse”
Mr Dohre looked at Mr Pawar to ascertain if this was an argument but he saw the same smiling and understanding expression on Mr Pawar’s face as he had always carried, maybe that’s why they got along so well. Mr Dohre was about to look at his watch and say something like he had some work pending at home and leave, but when his eyes fell on a box of chess set, by the looks of it, it probably belonged to Mr Pawar’s grandson.
“If you beat me to a game of chess maybe I will consider your advice,” said Mr Dohre
Mr Pawar smiled further, “Well then be ready to consider it because I don’t know how good you play but I am pretty good.”
“We’ll see,” smiled Mr Dohre letting some more of the life he had been ignoring enter his life, imagining somewhere his wife might be smiling at it as well.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 
One response to “Another Evening”
This is a beautiful and touching story, Anuran. The story Another Evening captures so tenderly the quiet loneliness of aging and the gentle push of friendship that keeps the human spirit alive. The very subtle humour, the dialogue are so natural, and finally Mr. Dohre opening a small window back to life through a game of chess, absolutely heartwarming and profound in its simplicity. You have such a beautiful knack for story writing.
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