After talking to my roommate, I felt a kind of relief. There was now a peace. It felt so better. I closed my eyes to catch some sleep.

Mom is Mom, she is aware of every need of her Son. For her, I am always the same kid who needs proper care and attention. She knew that I had not taken anything since morning but now it was the right time for me to have at least something in breakfast before I take a nap. She somehow knew it very well that I won’t deny it now. It was hardly 10 minutes when Sameer woke me up again by shaking me rigorously. He was holding the plate full of various food items for me.

“Have it !”, he was not asking me. His tone was imperative. “Aunty (my Mom) asked me to make sure that you finish all in the plate.” , he added while grabbing a piece of Paneer-Pakoda from the plate for himself and taking a bite.

He looked back at me and told me,. “hmmm….. !! it is yummy “.

I took the plate from him, and we both finished what was all in the plate. After that, he took the empty plate from me and moved out of room. I resumed my plan to sleep. It was feeling better because it was where I could enjoy being with my love of life in my dreams.

After some time, when I woke up, I found my friend Aman sleeping next to me on the same bed. His one hand was resting on my chest and other one was touching my hair and he was lying on his side facing me. It reminded me instantly of my roommate. I looked around and noticed I was not in my room anymore. Then suddenly I realized that I am back to my home and sleeping in my parent’s room. I started missing my roommate once again.

I slowly removed his hand and got up. The room was kept dark covered with curtains so that I can enjoy a peaceful sleep. It was complete silence. The AC in the room was set just enough to make it a comfortable stay at around 20 degrees Celsius. I got up and sat on the side of the bed resting my back on the bed’s frame. The darkness in the room was helping me to travel through the memories with my roommate more easily. In no time, I started feeling desperate to go back to hug my roomie and be once again with him. Tears started rolling out when I found myself helpless and away from that sensual touch which pampered me every day. I missed that hug that made me feel valuable and in-demand. I missed those shiny teeth which used to attract my attention every time he smiled. The pain of separation and my inability to find him in my reach was so profound that I could not notice when I started crying, My voice was very low but perhaps it was loud enough in that silent room that made the Aman alert and interrupted his sleep. He quickly got up, rubbing his eyes trying to see clearly through his sleepy eyes, and when he noticed that I crying with my head down in between my arms resting on my knees, he came close to me, pulled me to his chest and hugged me. He started caressing my hair gently. He had never seen me crying earlier. He was confused, and could not decide what to say. But he was sure, it was definitely not a small thing if I was crying like a baby.

Aman’s personal touch and caring made me feel a little more emotional. He was doing the same thing which my roommate would have done. This broke me down completely and I lost control over my crying which I was trying to control till now. My tears were falling on his T-shirt and making it wet. As my crying became a little louder and un-controlled, he embraced me tightly between his arms and I felt his chin touching on top of my head, which was till now resting on his chest. He did not say a word, just kept on massaging my back. Slowly, my crying stopped with hiccups. He got up, went outside the room and brought me a glass of water. I took a few sips of water and kept it on he bed-side table.

Aman, sat next to me, held my hand in between his hands and started caressing back of my palm with his thumb. Afte a few moments, I heard his voice, “What happened?”.

There was a silence in the room. I did not know what happened and did not want to share my feelings. I just could not tell anyone about my problem. And I was not even sure why was I crying. I did not know what was happening to me and why I suddenly started feeling like this. I felt his fingers on my cheek, wiping my tears off.

“Was it a bad dream?”, he asked again. He could not understand why I was crying. There was no response from my side. I prefer not to tell lies and truth was not to be told. The silence continued. He understood that I would not like to be asked many questions. He pulled me once again and gave me a hug and started pampering my back and said, “Remember, we are all here and always with you. I am here with you, and you can trust me. Let me know when you feel like sharing what is troubling you.”

I felt a little better. The intensity of the emotions pulling me down to drown in the pain of separation was considerably reduced with personal touch and care of my friend Aman. My eyes were dried again and flow of tears stopped. My hiccups were under control and I was feeling better in arms of Aman.