A friend whom I miss a lot

I once had a friend called Kaushik when I lived in Dandeli. Was in 8th standard, studying in a Govt. School.We were all probably 12 to 13 year old kids, but our class had a elderly group of kids upto the age of 16 to 17 as well. These guys were bullies, and all they did was to bully the rest of the class. Somehow they did manage to copy, cheat and get good marks in the examination. They were that aged probably because they had joined the school very late, I am not sure, I never really found out. But they were taller, meaner, stronger and used age to their advantage. But there was one guy no one could ever touch, he was the dude of the class and his name was Amit. My best friend. We used to play a lot of cricket together, trekked together and used to hangout on the shores of River Kali catching some Fish, or even trying out weird experiments like in the Dexters Laboratory. Amit was so popular because his father was a cop and thats why even the bullies were scared of him.

        Kaushik was the worst affected by those guys. They used to call him "Cow-Shit" as it rhymed with Kaushik. Kaushik had a strong stare, but just the stare. There was a gang of bullies out of which one guy called Yoginder was terribly insulting Kaushik as once he had lodged a complaint with the class teacher of his behavior. They had put Cow-dung in his bag. No action was taken, as if the teacher herself was annoyed with Yoginder. But Yoginder took things personally and started beating Kaushik everytime he found a chance.

       Kaushik usually kept himself away from everyone, he used to come with an old almost torn bag full of neatly kept books. He used to write very tiny letters, conserving the space of his book. Yes, he was poor. He was more of a loner. Learnt that his Dad had passed away 2 years ago and he was living with his mother and mother's brother. But he was a nice guy, we used to sit together, but hardly spoke. We did have a subtle understanding of his likes and dislikes and he had mine. We were pretty brilliant in the class and even few girls were hitting on us, it was pretty usual and its a sort of reward that paid for being smart. But, Yoginder had his heart burning in jealousy, I was least bothered, not sure what Kaushik used to think. He wanted to be a scientist, and we discussed now and then a lot about Rockets, and Space, etc.,., at that time he was interested in Time Travel. I assumed that he wanted to go back in time to be with his dad, and the idea then didnt sound ridiculous. Kaushik wanted to also build a hospital and treat people for free. He was the one who first spark the idea of "being your own boss", inventing things to solve problems. Kaushik was extremely good in science and maths. Always topped and always got 100 out of 100

      One day, while walking back from School me and Amit saw Kaushik's shirt torn, pant torn at the knee, and was walking with only books in his hand (his old bag was missing). As he walked closer to us, his lips were swollen and there was blood all over his mouth. My heart shrunk, I knew what had happend. Amit saw him and asked "what happend Kaushik, who beat you?" Kaushik didnt even have a word to say, he was still shanking. In about 10 minutes he could hardly walk and he collapsed sitting down and crying and we noticed that he had bumps all over his head and some finger nail marks on his chest. Amit and me knew what had happend. Slowly Kaushik spoke "I dont have new shirt or pant to wear. My books are torn. I have complained about Yoginder to the class teacher and he has sworn to beat me" and he could hardly breathe, he was crying.

    Learnt that Kaushik was dragged with his bag tied to Yoginder's bike for I dont know how long and then kicked brutally. Kaushik added "I go home, my mama will beat me up for getting into this fight. I have done nothing to Yoginder. I dont want to go home". Amit, held kaushik by his shoulder and said "you sit with me from now on and I will always walk with you. From tomorrow onwards come and play cricket with me". Kaushik slowly got convinced and probably he wanted to play with us as well. He did love cricket.

 
    From then on, things went well. Kaushik hung out with us and we had an amazing time. We went to Maulangi, and other water falls. We went to Ambikanagar and other places in the forest. Played with some rabbits and birds and yes, played a lot of cricket. Months after my father was transfered and I had to leave to Chitradurga. I took the address of Kaushik and Amit. Later learnt that Amit's father was posted to Karwar, he went there and I always wondered what happend to Kaushik. I kept writing letters to Kaushik. 1 out of 4 of my letters would get a reply with very less words.

        A Year later, I got a letter. "Kaushik is no more. Stop writing any letters to this address" and his Mama had signed on it. I was shocked to see that. I am sure Kaushik wouldnt play such a prank. I verified and learnt that he had truly committed a suicide. No reason quoted, there was no letter. I am not sure of the reason, although I assumed it was Yoginder. I tried to write some more letters, it came back stating there was no one at that location. I wanted to know why. But the lad had a lot of pressure on him. He was an emotional person wanting to be with his father, and he had a lot of dreams and visions. I was so sure that he would grow to become something very big and famous. I still think of the time spent with him and I miss him the most. He will always stay in my heart, and will cherish all the time spent with Amit, Kaushik and mother Nature in the forests of Dandeli. Someday I will visit the place and make a effort to tribute Kaushik. Of all the friends I miss, I miss you the most Kaushik.