365 DAYS 365 TALES

Online Friend

And another selfie!

Why the people are so crazy about these selfie's nowadays, I thought. It had been almost two hours since I logged into Facebook today, and all I'm watching is a horde of selfies. There was a girl displaying her cute face, a friend showing his new haircut, those two girls pressing their cheeks together. And then there was that sad depressed friend craving for attention. It was all just a group of selfies. 

Bored at watching the same thing over and over again, I was about to log out when the phone vibrated.

You've a new friend request.

That stirred my interest in Facebook again. I quickly flipped the tabs to see who it was. It was from an anonymous girl, Kritika Sharma. I tried hard to recollect if I knew some Kritika Sharma in school or college. But no, I couldn't remember any. Who could it be then?

I clicked on her profile.

Her profile picture showed an elder woman, around the age of my mom. That was the only picture of her. The cover picture was some random abstract art. Her timeline was filled with quotes, both sad and lively. There was nothing to help me recognize who the woman actually was.

Maybe she's the mother of some of my friends? I did have a couple of friends with 'Sharma' behind them. I opened her friend list to check which of those two friends this lady belonged to. Nothing came up. We didn't have any mutual friends. I was again left thinking.

I was about to close her profile and go on about my business when something caught my eye. It was her friend list. Though we didn't have any mutual friend, there were about a hundred people there in that list. But what really intrigued me were all their names.

There was a Rahul Desai, Rahul Malhotra, Rahul Patel, and many more last names; but all behind a single name, my name! Rahul.

This really intrigued me now. What was this lady up to? Why was she making friends with only Rahul's in Facebook? Was she doing it for fun? Was she aiming at a world record? Or was their a different criminal angle to it?

It must be the curiosity which flicked my finger and made me accept that friend request. Within seconds, there was yet another Rahul in her list of friends.

I immediately wanted to ask what was this all about, why was she doing it? But the gentleman in me didn't allow me to directly question her like that. Finally, I ended that session saying just a "Hi".

I hadn't really expected a reply, but the next day when I logged in, it was waiting for me. It was also a simple "Hi", nothing more and nothing less.

I slowly started a light conversation and within a matter of weeks, we reached a stage where I could call her a 'friend'. I had heard many of my friends boast about how they met a random girl online and soon became fast friends. Maybe this was my time to boast.

But I hadn't forgotten the real intention behind my accepting her friend request. It was that curiosity, that eagerness to know why she was befriending all the Rahul's.

And so, after a couple of weeks, I finally had the courage to ask her that. I carefully weaved the message so it won't look a direct allegation, but would still do the task of getting my questions over. The usually talkative girl had suddenly gone silent that day. There was no reply for the whole day.

I thought it had done the trick. That she would never talk to me again and I would end up being just another name in her friend list. And tomorrow she would again go out on the search of some new Rahul to spend her time with. That maybe all those other Rahul's had got the same treatment before. But no, I was wrong. I was so wrong.

When I logged into Facebook the next morning, her reply was waiting to be read. I had presumed it to be some nasty excuse, some prank to turn the topic around, something like that; but what I read was not at all expected.

"Dear Rahul,

You may not have asked directly, but I know what you want to ask. You want to know why I'm being friends with only people name Rahul, right. I will tell it to you today.

You may have thought many things, presumed many different things; but let me tell you, it's not how you think it is. I'm not a criminal, I'm not a prankster; I'm just a mother. Yes, a mother, a mother in search of her child.

When I had my first child, I wasn't married. Though I wanted to keep him, my parents were so enraged that they took my son away and gave him up for adoption. I fought with them, did all the things I can, but all my efforts were in vain. My first son had gone far away from me.

After many years, when I finally went out in search of him, to see if I can meet one more time; all I could find out was his first name, Rahul.

I didn't understand what to do. The adoption home had shied their hands away saying all their data was destroyed in an office fire five years ago. And so, when all the options failed, I turned to Facebook. Since you youngsters are so engrossed with it, I thought I might get some lead.

I don't how I'd recognize him, but I think I'd just know when I find him. And that's why since that day, I try to be friend with all the Rahul that I meet. I talk with you all; try to be your friend with only one hope. That one day, I'd find my son back.

Hope you still remain to be my friend Rahul."

***

I don't know what my friends would say to that, but since that day, I still boast that I found my best friend online.

R7۷aݵq:|wX_%ϖ:uv^#O&>YsE^Z