My old, blue college shirt speaks up (?)

“What should I do with this?”, my mom asked with my college shirt, signed by my friends on the last day of college,,in her hands. The next moment I was shouting at her demanding her to keep her hands off that shirt as if it were a million dollar antique. She asked me to relax and said she was just cleaning up the cupboard and wouldn't have  thrown it away in any case. Ok, I over-reacted.

That’s when I heard a soft sigh from somewhere. My mother had left me with my shirt. So was this very shirt  making that sound? ‘Duh can't be!’, I said to myself. Just then I heard my shirt calling me by name and what followed next was a mental (yeah right, MENTAL it was) conversation between me and my old, faded blue, college shirt, scribbled with good-wishes and “I will miss you”s all over it.

Shirt:”Hey Pro, you know I was so touched to see you standing up for me. I know it wasn’t a crisis and she wasn’t going to dispose me off either but still. Your concern mattered.”

Me:”Yeah OK. I ought to protect you with all those messages from my friends. That’s why I brought you with me right?”

Shirt:”Hmmm….that’s true. Still I am glad. Will you just talk to me for a few minutes?  All the clothes in the cupboard just treat me as an outcast. I feel so lonely”

Me: (to myself) Don’t I have anything better to do rather than listening to its blabber?? It’s a goddamn shirt after all, which has suddenly turned all emotional. Just because I love the colour blue I am not going to entertain it.....

  
      Okay! Speak up. But you better keep it short.

Shirt: Ok ok. You just don’t seem to have any respect for me. Well,that's not much unlikely too. You never liked me and always grumbled over the bad fitting. But was that my fault? The tailor was at the job. And what about you? Who asked you to be all dumb and not instruct the tailor about the fitting and all? Anyways I just did ok for all these 4 years. You lost weight and regained it towards the end. But my fitting was never a cause for concern.

Me: Ah, yes. Carry on sir.

Shirt: Hmm…..you remember those first year days? I was a lot more blue and bright then. Infact all of us looked so great together. You went to college more often then. Why did you decrease your regularity later on Pro? I loved that place man. I mean that’s where I belonged!

Me: Hahahah.,,, Haan yehi baaki tha!. I had to attend more classes just for your sake. Get a life!!

Shirt: Yeah, why not? In fact I heard some of your friends went all dressed up in uniforms to college even on Sundays.

Me:  I never belonged to that elite group dude (grins)

Shirt: and….and….your T-shirts told me some even carried our kind to the City Center?? Malls and movie halls !! Ah! They had a life. But no. You always had to be the fashion conscious one. Just for a single occasion in these 4 years you could have gone out with me on. I don’t mind being teamed up with a pair of jeans.

Me: (still laughing) wait, wait. Let me finish laughing. Oh my god!! Now you tell me you wanted to visit malls. Damn! New age shirts huh?!

Shirt: Very funny!! I deserved a bit of outing for all the sweat that you drenched me in. Man, you sweat a lot! Thank god, you took regular baths unlike your friends. And I loved the deodorants. The alcohol in them made me feel tipsy.

Me: Huh! Whatever.

Shirt: Well, well. Don’t you show me your attitude ok? I know exactly when your heart skipped a beat and when it went faster.  I hanged too close to the area that matters. So I know stuffs…..like when you were being roughed up by your seniors and you made a sullen face or when your face went all red at a particular occasion. I know,..I know when you once bumped into a girl in the corridor...

Me: So?? What will you do? Go out and tell those stories to everyone? You know you can’t. And can you please embarass me a little less?

Shirt: As if I am blackmailing you. I was there with you on your big day too, remember?. Your first ever interview. I was also nervous along with you dude. The chilling weather just didn’t help either. Glad you made it. You are smart!

Me: Ok (smiles)

Shirt: <sighs> I miss my wife..

Me: Hold on…come again. You had a wife??

Shirt: Of course, your tie!

Me: (laughing aloud) Oh my goodness! My necktie was your wife?? Super cool!!. Then you might have been guilty of wife-swapping ‘cause we guys always messed up our ties with one another.

Shirt:Huh, how could I know?? They look all the same. But I was lucky to be with my wife on most days when you made your trip to college, considering there were plenty of divorced shirt-tie couples and some having an on-off relationship.

Me: You got to be kidding me.Yeah, right. I never went to college without my necktie on.

Shirt: And then came the last day of your college life. I didn’t like the idea of being scratched with pens and markers. I was scared to death seeing Himanshu and Abhishek's shirt being torn to pieces. Imagine my relief when I got away with just a ripped-off pocket and a few broken buttons. Oh, I heard there was this one Khan who was later on going around with his pocket-cloth taking autographs? That was kinda sweet. And don't tell me you didn't get a tickle or two with all those girls writing all over your torso though technically they were all scratching me...

Me: Ha Hs Ha.. You are one crazy piece of cloth man ! (still laughing)!
.

Shirt: But as they say there is no gain without a little amount of pain, so I did bear it all…more so, because those writings meant a lot to you. I knew I won’t be washed ever. But still, unlike my twin brother, your other shirt, I wasn’t given away to your maid. You brought me home. I am happy.

Me: Hmmm….you got a point buddy. (smiles)

Shirt: Ok then. That’s all I had to say. I know I will be never worn again and will be stuffed in some cupboard or suitcase for ages. Even our kind can be no more seen in that college thanks to our great Sharma Ji. We have been replaced by pathetic off-white shirts. But I don’t mind. At least, I will be with you. Now come on. Put me back in my place before your mom comes and shouts at you. Goodbye. Take care.

Me: Yeah, ok. I don’t know how to react. All I can say is thanks for being with me in such an important phase of my life. Goodbye friend…

Well, this might be an imaginary conversation, very much pertaining to my days spent in an engineering college , yet it can be any one's story. We all have passed out of schools and colleges and have particular items that remind us of those days. We go back in flashback mode, much like in the films,whenever we have a look at those things  and it seems like each one of them has a story of its own to tell... We move ahead and get on with our life. But they remain where they WERE, waiting to be listened to.