The Farewell Speech

   

 Everyone in the class was in a festive mood. On the last day of their graduation, all were giving speeches in their own style. Some were trying to overcome their shyness and fear. Aditya overcame his stage fear. Shekhar overcame his feeble voice. Vani overcame her tendency to laugh. However, others were lifting up the spirits with their own swag, as usual.

    Then came his turn. He actually thought to prepare and talk. But he was lost due to other work the previous night. He had to pay for that mistake - an impromptu speech and that too on a non-technical subject. He did not want to ask some more time. He did not want to observe others and copy them. He proceeded to the stage through the cheers of the audience.

    "Hello everyone", he was still shivering. He continued. "We had a long time together. Enough time for a memorable journey. A journey from strangers to best friends. A journey from best friends to enemies. A journey from careless to responsible people. A journey of rising. A journey of fall. A journey towards better clarity. Some of you may not explain your journey in simple words. In that case, join me in your team..!"

    He was taking a brief pause between words. He was relaxing for a better flow of thoughts. His brain instantly made him a documentary of his life from the past four years. He was not recovering all his memories. Maybe because he did not have enough memories to recall. He said, "Our batch will be the best in terms of tours and visits. I forgot most of them(He was smiling, so did everyone). But I remember we talking about how we saw everything but the main tourist spots."

    He wanted to tell his experience about friendship. "Initially I was on the thought that everyone from their junior colleges already had their own world. Their family, their best friends, their goals, and their plans. Later a friend of ours told me that these four years was very a big time that at least one best friend would be there for each and every one of us. A separate friend dedicated to the graduation memories. I see this was indeed right. I think I would attend two marriages of our classmates at the same time..." his classmates started shouting the names of such pairs. Some of those pairs are ignoring the shouts. Some of them are laughing along with others. Some of them were actually angry, but smiling for the situation's sake...

    Someone asked him "What about you Deva..! Who's your best friend..?" His immediate thought was to say 'It's Kripa.' He did not tell it, however. He said another boy's name. Everyone knew the truth though. He continued, "Thanks Gowri for the idea to record this. We never know when we meet again like this. All of us. Together. This video, and the slam book, will be with us. Forever. We don't know where this journey leads to. Some may achieve things early. Some may catch up late. Some may end up with regrets. Some may leave us. Some may never leave us, even if we want them to... Thanks to the eternal time for giving me this college, this branch, these friends,  these struggles, and these memories."

    Everyone thought his speech was done. They were picking the chits to select the next student to speak. He was thinking about Kripa. He was missing her. When he was ready to say her name, she was not there. He was lost in his world, and then Gowri came near to him and asked, "Do you want to tell anything still..?". He said, "No. Thanks for this. You have a great event planner in you." Gowri smiled.

    Handing over his mic to Gowri, Deva came to his place. Kripa was not like every other girl to him. She was calm and composed. She was a great sportsperson. Even though she was not an extrovert, she was active on her own terms. But she had never come to any of the trips during the graduation period. He did not know the reason. Even her friends did not take it seriously. It was not like she was ignored. They just respected her decision. So did he.

    He attended some of the trips even though he was not interested, just to meet Kripa. He wanted to talk with her. He wanted to listen to her. He wanted to know about her. He wanted to understand her. He wanted to start a good relationship with her. But she never appeared. He thought she'd come to the farewell event at least. His prediction had been proved wrong again.

    His inner self asked him, 'You should have said today. Hadn't you missed a great chance? She would see the recordings later, right?' He was not agreeing with his thoughts. He wanted to talk to her in person. It did not happen during the graduation. That's it. He then got a question - 'What next? When will you talk to her then?'.  He smiled and said to himself, 'When we meet again..'

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