11th July- R.I.P. my friend

when i was in school, back in the big city, i had very few friends. mostly just the kind you hung around with in classes, and shared your lunch with. nothing close or intimate. no baring of the soul, no sharing of thoughts and secrets.
then he came along. funny, we were not even in the same school. we met in church. i don't even remember how we became friends, just that i soon realised how important he was to me. i wonder whether our bond was stronger or weaker because of the fact that we both had almighty crushes on the same girl.
he was always the 'life of the party' kind of guy (i say "kind of" because at that time, i never had attended any parties; those came in college) and had all the smooth moves. he was, to put it simply, comfortable with himself. i was the exact opposite. when nervous, i used to swing between two extremes- absolute lips-glued-together or total tongue-wagging-with-no-sense-of-direction. and yet, he never felt i was below his standards of cool.
he was a lovely singer. people wanted him in the choir all the time. no one asked me, on the other hand. i should have gotten the hint. but he always used to make me sing with him. and till i was with him, i never realized what a lousy singer i was. some of my best memories with him are those of walking down a road just singing any popular melody.
what sealed our friendship was the discovery of God together at a charismatic retreat. how does one explain that bond to someone else?
sure we fought once in a while, but who doesn't? for three years, he was my soul-mate.
then i came off to college in this small town.
it really took some time to find new friends.
for the next four years, we kept in touch through mail and over the phone.
the last time i met him was when i went home for christmas in the fourth year of college. i didn't even know he'd be coming over from his college elsewhere. but he had news. he was going away, to new zealand. his parents had moved, and so would he. it was goodbye.
i knew then, that i would probably never see him again. sure, i promised myself i would one day earn enough to go there and meet him. but somehow, i knew it wouldn't happen.
so we kept in touch by mail again. he seemed to like the place.
i was in the last year of medical school, presenting a surgery case to a rather odious lecturer, while my friends all stood around, some barely concealing boredom, other furiously taking down notes. and my mobile was buzzing away. there was no way i was going to pick it up then.
the class ended and i made my way back muttering about the lecturer and wondering why he had to be like himself. then i remembered the missed call. it was from someone back in the big city. i called up.
he had died in a car accident- july 11th, 2005.
i remember walking down the corridors of the hospital with tears streaming down my face, and with "no" on my lips. i remember my classmate watching me get into the bus and asking jovially why i was looking as if someone had died.
i remember making my first ever international phone call to speak to his parents. well, i didn't speak. how does one speak to a man and woman who've just lost both their children in one fell blow (his younger brother was with him in the car)? but i did cry. and all his mother said was, "your friend's gone, isn't he?"
not a day goes by when i don't wonder- why him, or pray for his soul
ETERNAL REST GRANT TO HIM, O LORD; AND MAY THE SOULS OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED, THROUGH THE MERCY OF GOD, REST IN PEACE, AMEN.