The apartment was silent. It was 5 in the morning, but a light was lit, not it wasn’t a night light. It was the light above the washbasin. Aditi closed the tap as she was done brushing her teeth. Dried her hands with the hand towel.
Aditi got up early every day for her morning run. It was something she needed to freshen up her mind before starting the day. She quietly closed the door of her apartment as she headed out, and past the elevator she went down the stairs at an even pace. Where the stairs ended Aditi put the earbud in her ears, something she didn’t prefer, but without the mild music other thoughts crept in consuming more energy than what was required for the run.
Aditi slowly walked out of the apartment building and onto the running track alongside the society road. Slowly she started picking up the pace with a light jog, moving past her building then the next one, but then she stopped. In the open space between the second or third buildings a small crowd of people had gathered. A few loud voices could be heard.
Aditi usually ignored such situations unless she was involved in some way. But at this hour of the day, the first thought usually was that if someone had been hospitalised or worse. Aditi noticed a few familiar faces and she quietly walked and stood near one of the neighbours Mrs Khera. Mrs Khera looked at Aditi and both passed a smile to each other. Aditi looked ahead and she caught a distant familiar face. Distant because they had not been seen for a while in the society, for almost 4 years.
Mr and Mrs Medda’s son, Mohit was quite popular in the society. He wasn’t the studious type; he spent most of time outside so people around on many occasions came across his smiling face. He would help those who needed his help. On a particular bench in the society park he and two of his friends frequently spent time and people would indeed look for him or send for him if they needed help.
Others of Mohit’s age knew this was not going to last and one day Mohit will have to face the reality no matter how much the elders around showered love on him. It happened and it happened in a manner that left Mr and Mrs Medda speechless.
Mohit had run off to settle with a girl he had fallen in love with in college. That day his parents weren’t at home and Mohit had left a letter for them along with a box of sweets. He had bought quite a number of boxes of sweets, giving one to those he felt were close. Each box of sweets had a letter inside different from the one he had left for his parents. The letter was the same for everyone else, photocopied. Mohit had asked everyone to be happy for him, as he was sure he was making the best decision of his life. Then he was off on a borrowed bike that belonged to his best friend’s father (no, the friend did not know, the bike was being taken for this purpose) and a significant sum of money that he had gathered secretly from his own parents.
Four years later Mohit was back. Long and unkempt hair and beard. Oversized clothes that needed a wash, a mouth that lacked words, eyes that lacked life. Aditi had a few conversations with him in the past, felt like a decent person. A momentary brush of sadness passed through Aditi’s heart, for his parents who had forgotten to smile long ago.
Aditi tapped on Mrs Khera’s shoulder and passed another smile before quietly walking away and continuing her run.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 