Blood strain

In 1937......

"Jiru, wake up, it already too late. Wake up." Said Jiru's mother.

A 16 years old boy woke up while stretching his arms. He seemed very refreshing.He got off from his bed and He looked outside the window then pour water to a glass. He was about to drink the water when he heard a sharp sound outside his room.
He looked around him, then at the outside to know if there was anyone. But he found none. sat on his bed while drinking the water.

" Jiru... It's me, Look."

He looked through window and saw  a guy was hiding behind the bushes  in his lawn. The guy was tall and had a semi dark complex. He was looking at Jiru and telling him to come down stairs with his hand movements. Who was this guy ? It was none other than Asim.

" Dada, why are you here so early today."

"Shhh.. hey, come to the road. What if your mother would hear me."

" Ohh, I am coming. Wait."

Jiru was Hindu while Asim was a Muslim boy. They lived in Puri, odisha. They were best friends since childhood but Jiru's family didn't like that their son is a friend of a Muslim boy. They always tried to separate them but it went all in vain.
On the other side Asim was a Orphan. People says that his  parents were killed by some people. Who were those people? Nobody knows. The only thing was known that he was left on the road all alone. Since childhood, Asim worked hard to survive. He worked harder and harder day by day to achieve success. He knew the worth of parents as all orphans do. When they were very young,  Jiru used to give Asim food. Asim was very grateful to Jiru and also happy to get a friend like him. He always thought that Jiru was the only one in his life. Jiru had a special place in Asim's heart.
Jiru was 2 years years younger than Asim.Since childhood, Jiru and Asim used to  meet each other at the roadside field of Shammi grocery shop. This is about 3 miles away from Jiru's house. They always play games there with other children.

" Dada, why are you here too early today?" Asked Jiru.

"Hmm... I thought to meet you today a little early."

" A little ?"

" Hello Mister, it's already 8am." Asim continued. " Do you want to see some thing intresting?"

" What? Show me quickly."

Asim took him to a pond. The ponds water was totally muddy. In between this muddy water they could see two lotus flowers were tied to each other.
As if they bloomed from the same peduncle.

" What so special about these? These two are just flowers".

" That's why you are a child. Look these two flowers grew in this pond. Tied to each other. Just like us. "

" Hmm.."
After saying this Asim became silent. He stood up and looked into Jiru's eyes.

He said, " Jiru, I have something to tell you?"

"What?"

"First tell me you won't be mad at me."

"No, I won't. Just tell me. I am waiting. Fast."

" I am going to Kolkata."

"What? No...no you can't leave me."

" I have to leave."

Jiru became emotional. How could his dada leave him alone. One could see that there were so many tears in his eyes. He was just about to cry. How could he broke their bond by leaving ? It's not right. How could he even think to leave him?

" Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Asim dada! "By just saying this a drop of tear fall from his left eye. He wanted to say something more but was not able to say. He broke off with a little shudder. His eyes had turned into red. He looked into Asim's eyes. After sometime he was able to say something.

"Fine. If you have already decided then why are here? Leave. Just leave me."

By saying this Jiru pushed Asim aside and  ran towards his house. He didn't wait for Asim to say something. He was just wiping his tears and running. Asim called him loudly to come back. But he didn't hear anything. Near a tree, he stopped. He took a deep  breath and look towards his house. Just few steps away. If he tell someone that he ran away angrily just because his friend wanted to go somewhere else they might be think he overreacted. But only he knows how it would feel if your one and only buddy want to leave you and leaving you all alone.

He entered  his house and lock himself in his room. Asim went straight to Jiru's house and called him loudly. But Jiru didn't came outside.   For a long time Asim waited for an opportunity to meet Jiru to tell his story. But Jiru never met him again.

Asim left for Kolkata few weeks after that incident. A years later, Jiru also left his home for higher studies in London .
  
In these 10 years everything had changed. Asim had changed. Jiru had changed. The whole world had changed. The only thing that didn't changed was their friendship. Even if they didn't meet each other for years.

                                           Continued......