My White Elephant,

I wake up feeling like a part of me just went missing. My behaviour seems a bit ubsard to the people around. Of course, if we are going to get money from the insurance company and I have a car to drive, I shouldn’t feel bad.
If you were around, I would have locked your door, we would have stared at the sky and I would have cursed or better still we would have driven to our favourite flyover and the blarring music would have drowned out the ambient noise.

I have always believed , “To know a person, you have to observe them when they are alone with no one around to play the game with. When you see them with their guard down, you catch a glimpse of their essence.” Question is-unless you are a Peeping Tom, how would you do that? But you my Dear Friend, were the Peeping Tom, my five year old diary, my most consistent companion.

We’ve gone on such crazy adventures, you and I. You remember, when the Srinagar -Delhi highway was closed and we took 42 hours to get back home. The number of times, my assistant would cover your windows with a black background, so I could park you on the side of the road and sleep for a few hours. You remember how difficult your first winter trip to Kashmir was? After a while, I guess you realised that it was your fate, to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether, it was the harsh weather or the men who tried to follow us, together we braved it all.

I can’t recall the last time I acknowledged loving someone. But I loved you, loads. That you were not a living being doesn’t make two hoots of a difference. Thank you for being there and for keeping me safe. Thanks for letting me cry over your steering wheel, every single day for almost a year. You were my unflinching shoulder. In a few months, your replacement will arrive. It may be new, bigger or faster than you…but you will always remain my favourite partner in crime.