EVEN DEATH COULDN’T STOP HER FROM SAYING GOODBYE

I still remember the day when Meeta joined as a trainee in my office. There was instant connection between us. I used to question myself why I had this feeling that I knew her from somewhere. We both belonged to different cities and had never met before. Still we liked each other very much. If she didn't come to office for a single day I used to feel sad. And if I was sick, she would call me ten times to ask me how I was doing. From colleagues, we became close friends, like sisters. We used to take our lunch together, share our problems.

Then came the day when I got engaged. From the day of engagement till my marriage, she was there with me like my shadow. Helping me with my shopping, packing, and what not. A day before my wedding, I asked her to go and take rest. But she said she wanted to enjoy every bit of my marriage. For her it was a fairy tale wedding and she wanted to be a part of it. I couldn't imagine my wedding without her. Days passed, months passed, and then came the day when I was going to the USA. The ever-smiling face of her was sad. I waved my hand to say goodbye, but she turned her face away to hide her tears.

We were thousands of miles away, but thanks to technology, we were able to chat through the internet. One day there was only a single sentence in her mail saying, "Di, I'm getting married! Come soon!" I reached India a day before her marriage, but couldn't help her the way she did at my wedding. I felt guilty when I met her, but the glow and the smile on her face was enough to make me smile as well. Then she went on her honeymoon and I went back to New York.

One day around 5 in the morning when I was still in bed, she woke me up, continuously saying "Wake up Di!" as if she was in a hurry. I got up and was really surprised to see her and asked "How are you here?" She answered "I came to say goodbye" Then she started moving backwards towards the corner of the room, where she entered into flames. I yelled "Don't go Meeta!", and woke up.

"What did I just see? Was it a dream?"

I kept staring at the corner of the room, no trace of the fire, or Meeta.

It took me a while to come back to my senses. I ran towards my computer, asked one of my friends "How are you guys?" I didn't have the courage to ask about Meeta. Hours later, a reply came,"Meeta no more. Just came back from her funeral. She was hit by a train." I went blank. At that moment no logic, no science, nothing mattered to me. For me, the only thing that mattered was she did come to say goodbye.

People say that you have to go when death comes. But even death couldn't stop Meeta from saying goodbye to me.


-      Deepali Trivedi

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