I Found My Lost Friend

On the first Sunday morning of the New Year, I settled down on my newly upgraded computer with my morning cup of coffee. It was the last day of two week vacation and the thought of starting work next day was agonizing. Feeling low and gloomy, I opened my Outlook to read possibly New Year greetings in my emails. There were no unread greetings but I found a new email from my college friend Dinesh, titled ‘Music’. Without paying notice to the single sentence of his short email, mechanically I clicked on the embedded link.

The speakers connected to my PC filled the room with a beautiful but a sad song of the legendary singer Mukesh. I continued listening to the song while reading news on the internet. My wife and daughter both walked in the study.

“Dad, why are you listening to this sad song? Are you sad because holidays are over?” my daughter asked.

“Yes, reality hits now,” I replied.

“It is one of your many favorite songs. Right! Who is the singer?” she asked.

“This one is from Mukesh,” I replied.

“Is this Mukesh? It does not exactly sound like Mukesh. May be it is Rafi. Can you check?” my wife queried.

I moved the mouse and clicked on Google and searched on the song.

“It is from Mukesh” I showed the song on a website.

“May be it is a remix,” my wife still not convinced.

I started paying more attention to the song and it turned out my wife was correct but right at that moment the song finished. I clicked on the ‘Play’ button on the Media Player. Just after seven seconds, I jumped from my chair and declared

“Oh My God, it is Dinesh singing.”

“Dad Dinesh and Mukesh rhyme. Are they brothers?” my daughter asked.

“No they are not brothers. Dinesh is my friend from college days.”

“I did not know your friend is a professional singer,” my daughter said.

“He is not. Yes he is. He definitely sounds like a professional singer,” I contradicted myself.

“Does he sing in the movies? He should if he does not.”

“He is a computer professional and lives in Boston. But I agree he is a really good singer. He used to sing in college.”

Confirming from the email that the singer is really Dinesh; already out of my chair, suddenly I was feeling happy and excited.

“Dad, calm down. Sit down. Why are you so excited?” my daughter asked.

“I found my lost friend,” I replied

“Did not you speak with him two days back on the New Year day?"

“I spoke to him but I found him now,” I said.

“Dad you are confusing me,” she said.

“My friend was lost somewhere in this world of material and responsibilities,” I replied

“Dad, I am only 13. Don’t tell me riddles. Tell me how you found him now.”

“Dinesh loved to sing and in our free time in the college he would always sing for us. I never heard him singing all these years after college. My friend would share his singing with me without worrying about the reaction. He did that after so many years. ”

“He sings really well but would he send you his songs if you don’t say good things?” she asked.

“Yes, he would because he trusted me to be honest and knew I would always be his friend,” I replied

“Oh I got it. You found your friend back because he sings again and trusts you again to share his songs and joy of singing. I am proud of your friend.”

“Me too,” I replied.

Together we emailed a new song request to Dinesh and waiting for him to sing.

(Author’s Note: Occasional or regular greetings can make people stay connected at professional level but sharing joy, sorrow, success, failure, contentment and frustration of lives keeps friends in touch. Here is the link to the song that Dinesh sent me. Enjoy and like good friends be honest.)