Monday, January 25, 2010

Buddy!

Kicking the dust, letting wind ruffle their hair, while the sun shone from between the clouds, Sridhar and Buddy enjoyed the flight of their bodies hopping on the road. Catching butterflies and in an effort to make them dance on his nose, failing every time, Sridhar never ceased to bet with Buddy, catch them and while he turned his spine the umpteenth time, the butterfly flew away with eternal glory, leaving an innocent frown on his face, much to the amusement of Buddy. As if an antidote for the hot tempered, dewy-eyed Sridhar, Buddy performed his all-time favourite Dhum-Pichak-Dhum twist shouting at the top of his voice,
"Hanse ab Hum aur Tum..Dhum Pichak Dhum..Kaahe Ko Gussa Hote Ho...Dhum Pichak Dhum...Ab to ek Step maar de yaar...Dhum Pichak Dhum!!"
Seeing Buddy with his front teeth constantly biting his lip, hands moving like a traffic police man signalling the vehicles to go, body swaying perfectly like a sine wave, Sridhar couldn't control laughter fits until he joined too. Humming their own songs, strumming the air with their hands, they ran fast till they zoomed past the house, the one where Sridhar lived with Buddy!

Located in a small colony, a house painted white, meant for four, was the Home-Sweet-Home for both of them. Mrs. and Mr. Panigrahi, Mr. Panigrahi's father, Sridhar and Buddy resided there as a happy family. Buddy had been christened by Sridhar and they were so close to each other that nothing, noone, no distance, no condition could separate them, would separate them. They roosted in the same room, went to the same school, wore similar clothes, took active participation in every mischief, in fact masterminded it, though it was Sridhar who was always caught for being naughty. It made him a little envious of Buddy but then watching Buddy in trouble was the last thing on the earth he ever wanted. Moreover, he knew the dexterous impression he had on his teachers and the armor of this impression always saved him on the Parents Meet.

When the sun soothed a bit in the evening, they went out to the nearby park to play football with their folks. The stimulus the game provided was enough to send Sridhar in a frenzy. He was passionate about it. The ball after being kicked by a fidgety lad, stopped by Sridhar, dribbled for a while, passed to Buddy, who missed it and the ball landed in the bush. Animated faces appeared from all sides, except him, who looked rather embarassed, just before Sridhar shouted, "C'mon boys! Easy!" Buddy couldn't think of playing the game, let alone mastering it. He was bad as bad could be but never would he quit trying and he did it all for Sridhar who loved to have him playing by his side. He kept trying in vain until he was totally down and out and waited for his partner to come back with clothes stained and greased with mud. They stayed there even after others had left, waiting for the stars to adorn the silhoutte of the sky, under whose cover they would explore the vast horizons of their thoughts. Sridhar always considered Buddy as his alter ego and that helped him talk candidly about the nuances and intricacies of every lesson they had learnt from their teacher, their Guru called Life! They hashed over science, disputed over sports, rolled on satire, pointed out each others flaws, high-fived on every second thought. This tête-à-tête ended when the watchman came tapping his stick and the two ran over the bushes, on the pathway, out of the gate and ran till they reached the gate of their house where they waited and laughed for five good minutes.

Such was life! Their love grew with every passing day, in fact it grew exponentially! They never knew it because there was nothing as love or hate between them, they just knew they were each others pillars of strength, they loved each others company, one understood what was on the others mind before he spoke out a word, it was all that mattered. Life couldn't be better.

On a lazy Sunday morning, while Mr. Panigrahi and his father were having a heated discussion on the policies of the government and Mrs. Panigrahi applied strawberry marmalade on the toast, Sridhar and Buddy came out of their bedroom in their night pajamas and took their seats. Knowing that mother would be scoff at him for not getting fresh before taking breakfast, Sridhar winked at Buddy followed by a boyish chuckle. His mother looked wary of him.

She finally asked, "What's with you? Why are you acting queer? Don't think I don't know what you're up to! I'm your mother and I can make out what's on your mind before you can think of it. So be careful! And if you think you're going to get to go with your friends playing football, then change your mind because we are going to the Art Academy today for a Painting Exhibition. Get ready soon! And stop chuckling now!"

"No, Mother! Can I have homemade Makkhan on my bread?" said Sridhar, controlling his laughter.

"Hmm..sure! If that's all you need!"

"Yeah..Mother! That's all."

May be he needed more. Only if she could see the little guy who had dwelled in his cupboard over the years and will continue to, that guy who was Sridhar's best Buddy!


38 comments:

Harini said...

A very nice read :).

Pesto Sauce said...

Good effort....story writing is not easy

Americanising Desi said...

ansolutely a thrill to read you :)

Skywalker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karthik said...

Jaunty has written a story. Yaayyyyy!! :D
And man, was it good?!
An absolutely stunning story, Rhythm. Loved it to the core. Trust me, I'm not biased.
I actually got a little skeptical when I read "a house meant for four," but you tricked me with your excellent narration and I forgot about it. It only dawned upon me when I read the last sentence. Too good re. :)
"Show. Don't tell," is the basic principle of story telling, and you've done a complete justice to it. For eg; not mentioning the age of the child(ren), the description of catching butterflies, etc. Just wonderful!
Lengthy comment? Sorry, yar. I'm a tad excited and mesmerized. :)
Hope to read more. :)

Siddhesh Kabe said...

hey hey hey...that was a very nice story to read...:D

superb!!!

Skywalker said...

may be m too dumb.....but who/what actually/exactly is buddy??? @_@

Destiny's child... said...

Loved the descriptions. The way you painted the characters was beautiful. But the end left me a bit confused. Is Buddy what I assume he is? Do tell me :)

Insignia said...

Oh wow!! That was a good attempt. Its not that easy to keep the reader engaged and your story did it :-)
More would come I hope :-)

zeevie said...

i knew it the moment u wrote "meant for four" n then listed 5 names

Sruthisagar Yamunan said...

good one jaunty....great flow :)

Unknown said...

Klink

Sakthi said...

nice one

scarlet pimpernel said...

Hi Jaunty

dumb question

Is buddy an alterego ? or is he a real guy hidint out in the closet ?

Anonymous said...

hey...
that was a good one. nice story...

loved reading it.

SEPO said...

nyc one
jus loved reading it..!!

Forever a Student said...

nice one..i guess i undrstood who buddy ws:D

Jaunty anima said...

@Harini:
Oooh..Thanks a tonner gal!!:)


@Pesto:
It ain't! My first one...n I sat continuously for 3 hours to produce it...Damn..though the time taken doesn't so justify the end result!!

Jaunty anima said...

@AD:
Thanks sweets!!
I'm supah-dupah happy!!
Yay!
:)

Jaunty anima said...

@Karthik:
Ohhh my gosh!
The comment comes from 'the real writer' and gives me enough reasons to jump over the ceiling....
Well...I wasn't so excited about the end result..thought could have been better...
But your comment has brought the smile right in its place...All you writers around inspired me..Next time I'll try and come up with somthing still better!!

Did i tell you I'm already gleaming with a broad smile, with eyebrows forming that gleeful arc, coz ur appreciation has made me so damn happy!!
:)
:)......to infinity!!
hehe...

Jaunty anima said...

@Sid:
Thanks dude!!
I'm so glad u liked it:)

@Skywalker:
You are not...Genius, i.e. u are not at all dumb!!
Buddy was Sridhar's imaginary friend residing in his cupboard..People have it, imaginary friends!
Got it, now?

Jaunty anima said...

@DC:
Thanks so muchhhh...gal!!
Really...confused!!
Anyway, Buddy was Sridhar's imaginary friend residing in his cupboard..Haven't you heard about imaginary friends...People think it's crazy but it's fun..really..to have a buddy who demands nothing n gives u everything!!

Jaunty anima said...

@Insignia:
Thank you..That comment has lightened up my face...
That's too big an appreciation already for my first attempt..
M so happy...Gawd!

@Zeevie:
That was the plan..to let it out there and then make the reader forget about it...but you caught me right there..oops..goof-up we call it..I'll try and do better next time!
Anyway thank you so much!

Jaunty anima said...

@Yamunan:
Ohh thanks a tonner boy!!
:)

@Neo:
Well..there you go..!!
N ur pro????:o

Jaunty anima said...

@Whatever that name is:
Welcome to my blog!:)
Ohh..wud be glad if u cud temme what that name is..Mallu..are you?
And m happy you liked it!

@Scarlet:
It's not dumb at all..dear..I've answered it various times before..so dun have to do much but copy n paste..
Buddy was Sridhar's imaginary friend residing in his cupboard..Haven't you heard about imaginary friends...People think it's crazy but it's fun..really..to have a buddy who demands nothing n gives u everything!!

Jaunty anima said...

@Gautam:
Thank you so much!!
Long since you visited..wud love to have you around scanning my posts regularly!!
hehe..demanding..I sound;)

@Sepo:
Thanks so much sweets!!
I love all the appreciation..hehe!!

Jaunty anima said...

@Su:
Arre thanks a ton sweetie!!
I knew you could make it out easily...since we had discussed about it a few days back...N shukra hai I dint have to copy n paste Buddy's info again..!!*wipes off her brow*
ahhh!
:D

N J said...

Enjoyed reading it :) Keep penning more of these. Nice work.

SG said...

Nice story. Liked it. Waiting for more stories from you. Thanks.

The Holy Lama said...

Some direct speech would have added to the way it was presented. Nice imagination

Sorcerer said...

*claps *claps
good one..
:)
Nice flow and..writing story aint an easy task..you did it.
well..I think I gotta catchup some older posts!

lIl hIgH said...

Loved the narration. Liked the ending. If there was a little more intriguing plot or something like that created around the narration, it would have been even greater. I aint any good reviewer just telling what I felt. Maybe the comment totally might not make sense though :)

HaRy!! said...

i thought i got confused initially... nope!! nice read... cya around :D my first time here

HaRy

Anonymous said...

a wonderful story.. very nicely written.. :)

Jaunty anima said...

@NJ:
Thanks dude!!
Hopefully..I'll be able to do more of these..

@SG:
Thanks a ton man!!
Amen!;)

Jaunty anima said...

@Lama:
Will consider your advice the next time I write something..N how much do I thank you for it..really needed some honest opinions...n therefore I loved this comment for that..!!

@Sorcy:
Thanku Sorcy!!
It ain't, at all!!
There's a lotta catching up work, still!;)

Jaunty anima said...

@Lil high:
No..I appreciate your comment!!
This was my first attempt..So I just wanted to check whether I could intrigue my reader..The next time I write, will consider ur point and try to come with an intriguing plot..
But thanks so vry much for ur comment...
N yes! Welcome to my blog!:)

Jaunty anima said...

@Hary:
It had to be confusing..was plotted that way...nway m happy to know that u liked it..wud like to see ya around Hary!!
Welcome to my blog!!:)

@Rashmi:
Thank you so much, gal...:)