There was this boy once, someone who everyone liked. He used to laugh for anything and everything and he had this knack for being in any group. Of course, he did not speak our language, he was from a different part of the country. The first things that he learned from the local fare was all the curse words in our mother tongue which he used to repeat at the funniest of moments. He was a never a mere acquaintance to me but nevertheless not as close as what you can call a friend. Then he went away as he had come to some far corner of the country. I did not hear about him for sometime. It was a time when Facebook did not exist and Orkut was something that I was just starting to discover.
One day someone said, the boy is suffering from cancer. Yes, cancer, when all of us was laughing out loud, playing about and enjoying some prime days of our lives, this boy was battling cancer. It was sad to hear that, you know the twitch that you get on your heart when something that is buried deep inside of you is scratched out.
"Why him?" the question had run through my head then.
Then one day a post appeared on Facebook. I do not remember the exact words but the matter was along the following lines "After battling cancer for such a long time, I have emerged as the victor". It was a happy moment for me. And it would have been for anyone who wasn't all dead inside. He was good now. He could be just like any other kid again. The boy could go back to playing some of the games that he really loved and we remembered him for, or so I had thought.
Again he faded out from my mind, as I said he wasn't as close a friend.
I was in India when the news came again, the boy had relapsed. That dreaded disease had poked its head up.
"Why him?" the thought ran through my head once more.
I agree it was not the prime thing on my mind for the days that followed. Although there was a constant reminder as the pictures kept coming in. And almost in all of them he appeared cheerful. Even in the last pic that was uploaded he had managed a smile. How he had done that, I have no idea? He was a true fighter I will give him that.
Yesterday the news came again. The boy had passed away at the age of 23 or so.
"Why him?" the thought ran through my head again.
One day someone said, the boy is suffering from cancer. Yes, cancer, when all of us was laughing out loud, playing about and enjoying some prime days of our lives, this boy was battling cancer. It was sad to hear that, you know the twitch that you get on your heart when something that is buried deep inside of you is scratched out.
"Why him?" the question had run through my head then.
Then one day a post appeared on Facebook. I do not remember the exact words but the matter was along the following lines "After battling cancer for such a long time, I have emerged as the victor". It was a happy moment for me. And it would have been for anyone who wasn't all dead inside. He was good now. He could be just like any other kid again. The boy could go back to playing some of the games that he really loved and we remembered him for, or so I had thought.
Again he faded out from my mind, as I said he wasn't as close a friend.
I was in India when the news came again, the boy had relapsed. That dreaded disease had poked its head up.
"Why him?" the thought ran through my head once more.
I agree it was not the prime thing on my mind for the days that followed. Although there was a constant reminder as the pictures kept coming in. And almost in all of them he appeared cheerful. Even in the last pic that was uploaded he had managed a smile. How he had done that, I have no idea? He was a true fighter I will give him that.
Yesterday the news came again. The boy had passed away at the age of 23 or so.
"Why him?" the thought ran through my head again.
