Then I was in my 9th standard, and it’s a Sunday. What else to say. I and my local buddies planned for a catch up in the evening. Actually this plan is fixed up during our morning tuition sessions.
From the past many days and months we have been hearing the same echoes from every moronic teacher. You guys are entering into the most crucial time in your life, a period that decides your future, fate, or whatever the fuck. We really don’t have any idea what this is all about, but know one thing clearly. The real torture is not far away. We saw our brothers, seniors leaving homes even before the sun takes his duty and returning back late at nights.
Wait. What am I writing exactly? Oh, sorry I forget the title, ‘Under the Orange Tree’, right. So let’s go to the orange tree.
4 P.M, I started on my two-wheeler, back loaded with a carrier of puddings from my home. Bicycle also comes under two-wheeler category right? Then I am not wrong. I really don’t know what kind of joy is that. I unnecessarily accelerates peddle and applies brake again, do the same again and again till my excitement ends up with filthy sweat and energy exhausted.
Tring.. Tring.. Vamsi I screamed. No response, I continued buzzing my cacophonic bell till I heard Vamsi’s howler voice ‘aga ra ne yabba!’ there he joined my back and we both reached to Anand’s house. The same thing again, these two idiots always does the same. Now we both are waiting for the prince to come.
I really don’t have enough adjectives to berate these indolent stupes. At last the prince has turned out with an over coated layers of facial powder and stuff. He took out his caring baby, yeah his bicycle with a lot of care. My dear ruthless Vamsi kicked his baby’s ass and said ‘pada ra sale’.
At last we reached to our common meeting place, Under the Orange Tree. It’s a kind of abandoned place in the middle of green field patches. It’s a 15 minutes’ walk away from the National Highway-5. Here we have this beautifully grooved orange tree with branches spread wide. That too it is by the side of a small lotus pond. Here cool breeze flows 24x7. The ambience around here is almost serine except the hissing sounds of air and moving leaves.
Since it’s our regular meeting spot we made all arrangements of cozy beddings with dry grass spread in advance. Every time we go, we add some bunches of green grass to it, to make snuggest even more.
We three overlapped on each other, laid down supine pointing to cloud beds at an approximate 45 degree angle. Since its all paddy fields that stay low, it’s visible quite far. Looks like a greenish blanket spread over the wide floor. I can see High-Way far away from here in panoramic view. Cars and trucks are looking in the size of my Hot-Wheel toys. And looking like they are moving with sound completely muted.
I am crunching some cookies. Insouciantly a discussion started at that moment. ‘Carrere plans’. All of a sudden I became a famous fashion designer in Paris. Of course all that was inspiration from that so called f-TV late night shows. My dear Vamsi became an Aeronautic Engineer and a Pilot too, instantly. I promise at that time we really don’t even know what those terms meant to be. But my dear nerdy Anand kept quite unlike us. May be no attractive term pooped up in his mind.
By the end of that prolonged discussion I became a ‘News anchor’, a ‘Music channel VJ’ and an ‘Entrepreneur’ or whatever thing that inspired and whatever that comes to my mind. One after another, one after another. Who knows and who cares what this practical world is meant to be. At last that beautiful Sunday ended up, us returning back to respective homes. We desperately prepare for yet another Monday.
If you have come reading this till here, I consider that you enjoyed reading. Nothing more is the theme of writing this.
But since this post need a conclusion. Let me do.
After we three split to start chasing careers. We moved out of that village, out of that Orange tree. Yet now we didn’t get a chance to visit that place again after that day.
Vamsi became a Marine Engineer from BITS and now he’s earning 16 lack bucks. Anand got his M.Pharm degree from JNTU. I became a Software Engineer.
“Beautiful tomorrow never comes, when it comes, its already today…
In hunt of beautiful tomorrow, don’t waste your wonderful today.
Make the most of today.”
