Good friend of 14 years dies

I met her during the summer vacation after my 10th. I still remember the day when my uncle introduced me to her one afternoon while visiting my uncle and aunt at Kottayam. We had been very close friends since then and I look back with a heavy heart, the good times we have had together. She was more than a friend to me and she had a place very close to my heart. She had been unwell lately and this sad demise was in the offing but I never realized that it was going to happen so fast.

It all started 14 years back right after my 10th class exams. I had gone to spend a day at my aunt's place at Kottayam. We then went shopping sometime in the afternoon. We met her at one of those shops next to Bakery junction where my uncle introduced me to her. She was smart and good looking. I took to her instantly.

Since then we had been very good friends and we have been in touch through the thick and thin over the years. I had since then moved to Trivandrum and incidentally she moved too and our relationship grew stronger. Around the time I was doing my engineering she developed some health problems and had to undergo treatment. Hers was a special condition and there was only one place in Trivandrum which could take care of her. I had been with her to the place and was happy to see them taking good care of her. She recovered fast and was back to running shape soon.

My parents had known about her and they were happy to see us together. She was perfect, but for her health. She had total freedom in my house. We have been to lot of places together and I remember having some of my happiest times with her.

Her health was failing but that did not prevent her from going to the US. I went to the US too and we were in close touch while in the US. After being in the US for around 5 years, when I decided to quit my job there and come back to India to live for the cause, she did not complain and decided to come back too. She had been a silent listener to a lot of discussions I had with a lot of my friends about my passion about my vision and my plan to dedicate my life in pursuing that. She could feel my pulse and I was not surprised at all to see her come back to India with me.

Back in India, her health worsened. It was still only place in Trivandrum which could treat her condition. Right after her return she had to spend several days at the place. We were all losing hope but she kept ticking. It was a refreshing sight to see her face even when she was undergoing treatment. Her condition recurred several times after that and I had been with her all these trips to the place. One of these visits the person who was in charge of her treatment called me aside and asked me to be prepared for the worst.

I couldn't take it initially. I was hoping against hope that she was going to make it. She had to have an organ transplant but there was none available. Once before she had to have a transplant, they got one from Chennai. That option was checked once again but it was not to be. She came back after treatment and her face didn't show any signs of the fact that she was dying. Her face was pleasant as always.

I tried to be with her as much as possible but with my busy schedules it was getting tougher and tougher to take care of her. She was getting slower and slower. I had never seen her like that and I knew it was coming. Then one day it happened, she died. I was with her when it happened. She spent her last few minutes of her life on my hand. Her face still had that pleasant look. I didn't cry.

Here I write an epitaph for her. It reads -