Today I got a call from a friend, Shiju, who I haven’t spoken to in 9 years. He had got my current number by chance and decided to call me up. It took me a while to remember who he was. We spoke about the last time we met, when he came by my house and gave me a small bottle of Absolut vodka. He was working in the Merchant Navy at the time and then had left it to join a company in Bangalore. Currently he was working for a Bank in Hyderabad and was married with two kids.
After the usual catching up and stuff, I asked him about James. The expected silence was followed by a sigh. James was his best friend from the age of 10 and a mutual friend of ours. They were inseparable and did all kind of things together. They even worked in the stock market together for a few years – until James went missing. The rumours were that he had a huge gambling debt or that he had borrowed a large sum of money for his sister’s wedding and stuff. Whatever the truth about the reason is, the fact remains that James has been missing and is presumed dead for the last 10 years.
Today would mark the 10 anniversary of his disappearance.