A page from the Diary of Arushi Talwar's friend.

School reopened today Arushi…


Remember we sat together in the new class for a month or so,
But now you won’t be back; days, months, years will go.
I will settle down with a new seat companion.
You will be up there rejoiced in His union!
All stories will become history as the time is past.
Helplessly you shall remain printed in my memory till it lasts...

I am growing; adolescence is at the door, knocking.
Transition is no longer an exciting fun; it has become shocking.
Apprehension has made me conscious and uncomfortable;
Helper, friend, kin, strangers; the crowd seems unpredictable.
I need mamma around, I want to talk and I want to share.
I go weak when she is not there to protect me from those stare.

Howsoever bad I do, even the whole world might throw,
I will always have one place to go; I know.
They will embrace me, they can’t turn to me blind,
Now sometimes I look at them too... with a fear in my mind.
Don't know, what can ever force my Parents to think of diminishing me?
I just no longer feel light inside; your demise has transformed me.

Hey Arushi, can you be back once only for half an hour?
We had just begun life and so soon it has turned sour.
I want to breathe freely, I want to fly high;
It haunts me all the time, your painful last sigh;
For once you say; it was a natural death, no big insight.
Just that you longed for life and to succeed Yamraj had to fight!

And see how normal the life seems to me again;
You know living with fear is a continuous pain;
Your exit itself has left me devastated.
Beyond this no terror can be accommodated.
Live peacefully wherever you are my dear;
I might get slightly busy; see class tenth exams are near…


Life goes on…
Your school friend, your class mate, another life on earth like yours was!