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“He has been by my side during the best of times and the worst of times. If it wasn’t for him, I would be somewhere, smoking a joint and dying inch by inch, rather than standing here before all of you with this beautiful trophy in my hands. This young man is my best buddy, Aamir. I dedicate this trophy to him.”
Ramendra Kumar’s story ends; Avijit Sarkar’s illustrations, too. Aamir and Sagar go their ways, but they’ve forged a friendship that lasts a lifetime. They are, after all, Friends Forever!
I dedicate this trophy to him
Mohammad Aslam compered the prize distribution ceremony. The Chief Guest was Krishna Reddy, the Sports Minister of Andhra Pradesh. After announcing the presentation of the Runners-Up trophy, Mohammad Aslam declared, “It now gives me great pleasure to announce the Man of the Match award. Any guesses.”
“Sagar, Sagar!” roared the crowd.
“You are absolutely right. Our three member jury, comprising veteran Cricket Commentator, Ravi Prahlad, former Test Cricketer from Mumbai, Jay Balwantkar and yours truly have also picked Sagar for his sensational last over.”
Sagar walked up to the dais and received the trophy from Krishna Reddy.
“I would like to say a few words,” Sagar said.
“Sure, I don’t think anyone will mind.”
“Of course not,” Krishna Reddy said.
“Friends, what I am going to say might make you angry, shock you, or even disgust you,” Sagar paused. Aamir was in the stands with Neelabh and Narendra Puri. Vijayant Rao had joined them just in time to see the last over. Aamir looked at the SP, a puzzled frown on his face, “What is he up to?”
“I think I have an idea. I must say the boy is gutsy,” Vijayant Rao said.
Aamir shifted his attention to Sagar.
“Last year for around ten months I was in the grip of a disease that is worse than death. I was in the clutches of a monster that was sapping the life out of me. I am sure you must have guessed what this menace was. Yes, Smack! I was regularly taking this dreaded stuff and had become an addict. My studies, my sports, my very life was being ruined by drugs and there was nothing I could do about it. At that moment three people came to my rescue. The first one was my Principal, Mr Narendra Puri. He gave me every kind of support which a boy in my position would need. He got me admitted to a de-addiction centre and even made me a Prefect. Tell me how many Principals would stake their own reputation and the prestige of the school on a former drug addict?”
Sagar looked around and continued.
“The second person is Mr Vijayant Rao, SP Narcotics. He gave me strength when I needed it most. He fought for me when doubts were cast on my abilities to play the Final. In fact, without his intervention I would not have been in the playing Eleven today.
The third person is much younger than these two gentlemen. In fact, he is younger than me too. But he sure has a wise head on his shoulders. He has been by my side during the best of times and the worst of times. If it wasn’t for him, I would be somewhere, smoking a joint and dying inch by inch, rather than standing here before all of you with this beautiful trophy in my hands. This young man is my best buddy, Aamir. I dedicate this trophy to him.”
The applause was deafening.
“One last word. I would like to tell all my friends only one thing: Say no to drugs, say yes to life.”
As Sagar walked back he was given a standing ovation.
Friends Forever is a serialized novel by Ramendra Kumar, exclusively on LnC
EPILOGUE
A week later, the results of the Class X Board Exam were announced. Aamir had stood eighth in Andhra Pradesh and had topped in Hyderabad. His scholarship was assured and he was ecstatic.
Shantanu had stood third in Hyderabad while Sagar had managed to get a First Class. Gopal, to Aamir’s utter delight, had also got a First Class. On the basis of this performance, he had got admission into a technical institute where he would major in the Electronics trade. Mr Puri had declared that TPS would sponsor Gopal’s higher education.
And Sagar had made it to the India Under-16 Team which was to take on the visiting Australians. Even though the interview with Alan Bright had not put Sagar in the pages of Sports Scan, his selection to the Indian Team had put him on the cover of the magazine.
How did Sagar fair against the Aussies? Well, for an in-depth answer to that question you had better ask his best friend, Aamir!
(Friends Forever is a children’s novel by Ramendra Kumar with illustrations by Avijit Sarkar, serialized exclusively on LnC every Wednesday and Friday)
Click here to read all episodes of Friends Forever
Ramendra Kumar (Ramen) is an award-winning writer, performance storyteller and inspirational speaker with 49 books. His writings have been translated into 32 languages and included in 26 textbooks and many anthologies in various countries. Ramen has written across all genres ranging from picture books to adult fiction, satire, poetry, travelogues, biographies and on issues related to parenting and relationships.
His writings have been published by the major publishing houses in India. His books brought out by National Book Trust (NBT), India have notched up sales of more than 4.9 lakh copies in just one year.
Ramen has been invited to several international literary festivals as well as Indian events such as Jaipur Litfest and seminars organised by Sahitya Akademi and IGNOU. The author has won a total of 41 awards in the competition for writers of children’s literature organised by Children’s Book Trust (CBT) over the years, which is among the highest by any writer.
Ramen was chosen as the ‘Author and Storyteller of the Year’ (2022), on ‘Talking Stories’, London, UK’s number one Radio Programme dedicated to the art of storytelling. He was nominated as a Jury Member for the Best Children’s Author Category of The Times of India’s ‘Women AutHer’ Awards, 2020. Ramen was also selected as a mentor for the Scholastic Writers Academy.
An alumnus of the prestigious Hyderabad Public School (HPS), Ramen is an Engineer & an MBA. He and his inspiration, his wife Madhavi, were General Managers at SAIL, when they took Voluntary Retirement to pursue their respective passions. Their children are bonsai celebrities in their own right. While Ankita is a youth icon and a travel blogger with an Instagram following of 296 K, Aniket creates cool Apps and designs covers for his dad’s books.
Ramen is now a Cancer warrior and an inspiration to many.
His website is www.ramendra.in and he has a page devoted to him on Wikipedia.
All Posts of Ramendra Kumar
All Posts of Ramendra Kumar
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Today’s Motivation
Positive parenting tips from Ramendra Kumar, the author of Effective Parenting Book which suggests a fresh avatar for the new age parent, with stories and lively, useful parenting advice.
Great sir! Congratulations for the successful and amazing end to this story. 🙂
Well, as a reader of the novel, it is a saddening news that it has come to an end. I used to wait every Wednesday and Friday. 🙂