I turned around, the shout was coming from a guy on a bike nearby. I couldnt see his face with his helmet on. I stared at him curiously. He got down and started hurrying towards me.
"Jonty, my bro, what a surprise. So nice to see you ", the stranger said coming nearer.
I had that " who the hell r u" expression on my face. Also he had addressed me as bro. For a moment i wondered... did I have a brother?... No...It was just me and 2 female pranksters as my siblings. My expression still remained the same. Seeing that the guy said," Oh Sorry!!" and removed his helmet.
"Oh My God!!", i exclaimed. He was no stranger.
"Altaf!!!!!!, Hiiii". The bear hug came instantly.
Altaf had left school in the 8th standard. His dad got a transfer to Ooty. So it must have been like 10 years since we had seen each other. I remember Altaf as this timid weakling. Possibly the thinnest guy in school, who was quiet, shy, reserved, introvert of sorts, all to himself most of the times. Very calm. He never got intimidated by anyone or anything. If people passed comments on him, teased him, he would never attack back. Just remain quite. This was what I liked about him. He was a bookworm to the core and studies were his only and main concern. He was not much into sports except this one thing. The 100m dash. He was the undefeated champion. A gold medal to him was gauranteed everytime he ran those 100m. That was all he took part in and he always won.
But looking at him now. A six feet 3 inches hulk with those bulging muscles, chieseled looks. He would give any bollywood actor a 'run' for his money. And speaking of "run", he would def win here again too.!!
We went to the nearby hotel to have a chai and a chat!! We talked a lot about the school days, about him, about me, about the good old teachers, about the not so good teachers, crushes, sports events, friends, possibly everything we could think of.
He was working for an MNC in Mumbai and unfortunately resting those legs of his, which were made to run. He had come to Pune for a few weeks on some official training. We spent a lot of time together for the next few days. Hung out a lot, caught on the old times. There was so much to discuss everytime we met. It was good to see him after a long time. But there was something, which had changed in him . Something which made me look at him as if he was not the same Altaf I knew. It was something inside him. He had become a bit more aggressive. His attitude towards life, with people had changed. Many situations made me realise it.
Situation 1:
We had gone to Lonavala on a weekend. There was a lot of rush that day in the train. We climbed and started searching for seats. There was a seat where a middle aged guy (probably his dad's age) was sitting. There were bags kept on the seat.
"Anyone sitting here?" , asked Altaf.
"yes.....they are coming. Two people.", replied the man.
Altaf understood something was fishy. He said,"When they come, we will get up." and tried to sit.
"Arey baba, they are coming. Go sit there", he said pointing to an empty seat in the adjacent area.
"Chal yaar Altaf, wahan baithte he", I said interrupting and caught the seat.
We both adjusted and sat down on a seat where only one person could sit.
"These guys, dont know whether they are lying or telling the truth.", he was a bit upset.
As the train started, the cool breeze calmed him down and the beautiful view outside soon got us into the "chat" mode again.
Later, Altaf got up to go to the loo. He saw that same guy sleeping on the entire seat with his bag made as a pillow and feet outside the window. Thats when I saw Altaf's facial expression change in a zippy. He rushed straight towards that man, hit him, woke him up and shouted,
"Where are those two more people who were going to come?".
Before the guy could respond anything. I saw Altaf going on hitting that man till he bled. It was only when I and a couple of passengers on board stopped him, did he stop.
This was not the Altaf I knew. The Altaf I knew used to offer his own seat to anyone he felt would need it more than him. But what I saw left me shocked.
Situation 2:
We went to a shop to buy some clothes. Altaf asked for a red colored shirt, party wear. The shopkeeper removed a shirt and showed it to him.
"Aur he kya?", Altaf asked like any other customer would.
The guy removed 3-4 red shirts and said." This is all we have."
His tone of voice was not very good.I saw Altaf's eyebrow twitch.
"Can i try them and see.", he asked later.
"Sab mat try karo, shirts gande ho jayenge" was the reply.
Altaf was still quiet. He was biting his teeth hard. I cud see blood rushing to his face.
He didnt try them. Just held them in front of him and a look in the mirror.
"Aur kuch designs he to batao?" he asked one last time.
" Nahi he. Bolo to aapke liye specially banau kya?" the shopkeeper smirked.
The next thing I know is that the shopkeeper had a black eye. and blood running down from his nose and me dragging Altaf out from the shop, before we got into trouble.
Situation 3:
It was a sunday, and we decided to "cook" something in my house. We went to the market to get the things. We stopped by an onion vendor.
"Kitne ke he?", Altaf asked.
"12rs", he replied.
Altaf started putting the onions on the basket, choosing them carefully to see if they had not been spoilt or anything. Everyone does that, i believe.
But then the vendor said," Itna time to doctor bhi nahi leta, patients ko check karne ko".
This was targetted at Altaf. He knew it. I knew it.
Whack...He threw that basket full of onions on the vendor face. The basket ripped of some of his facial skin and the onions were all over the ground. Before he could do anything further, I stopped him and dragged him away. The vendor was shouting foul words now. Altaf forced himself free from me and ran towards the vendor and Wham!!. A punch on his cheek. The vendor collapsed on the ground and skeltered away. I forced Altaf before things went out of hand.
These were just three of the situations. There were many more. It was not that he started the fights. He was provoked in a way. But if it was the old Altaf, the one I knew back in school. He would have remained quite in all these situations. So what was it that had made him change. Who is this new Altaf. What is it that makes him angry and loose his cool.
"I dont know Jonty", he said. "I know I have changed. I know I tend to get angry nowadays more often. I dont know why. But there is one thing. Your old Altaf is still there inside man. That Altaf goes home and before he sleeps, he recollects every moment and then cries. He feel he should not have done what he did. He is such a weakling, a helpless soul, that he needs someone to protect him, someone to support him, someone to help him emotionally, physically, mentally. Thats when the Altaf you see outside shapes up."
Seeing the worried look on my face, he said, "Dont worry Jonty, I aint suffering from split personality or something. Its just me." , he said laughing.
"I have fulfilled the physical protection part," he said showing off his biceps in pride.
"However, the emotional void still remains buddy." , he said in a subtle way.
"OKKK....", I said smiling. "Time for you to speak up now. Who's the girl".
"Ask Who was the girl", he replied giving a sad smile.
TO B CONTD.
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