Definitions.....

"You been drinking too much these days " shouted his mom over the phone. Sethu just smiled. His mother throws temper tantrums about his lifestyle so often that he got used to it.

"Every Friday you drink saying that it’s a weekend, then there are promotion parties, client parties, and what not  ..." she continued.

"Okay Mom, bye-bye." he interrupted "Will call you tomorrow” and cuts the call.

He walked back to the party to where his friends sat sipping their vodka.

Martin:"Your mom huh? You told her again"

Sethu: "Yeah  ...I see no point in hiding the truth"

Amal: "And you see no point in listening to her”

Sethu: "She's one big drama queen!!!"

Martin: "Some women just don’t understand things”

Amal: "Drinking once in a while is okay, but you do it too often"

Martin: "Just shut up will ya!! Listen, Sethu this is the age when you should enjoy. So do whatever you want, because once you’re old, you won’t be able to enjoy even if you want to. When I was your age, I did the same. Now I am happy that I enjoyed those days"

Amal :"You are still doing it ,else you won't be here with us tonight"

Martin:"But you see..."

"Listen everybody” announced the DJ "This is the last song for tonight. So hop on and rock the dance floor".

Amal stood up and asked "Aren't you guys coming ??" .

Sethu just smiled. Martin replied "I'm too old for it kid!!"

"Okay then" said Amal and jogged towards the laser lights. Everyone was on dance floor. Well, everyone except two obese men sitting at the corner table.

The DJ played a remix. People roared and danced along. Martin started pouring more into his glass while Sethu sat watching Amal dance. Sethu always wondered why he hangs out with Amal. They were too different, despite being of the same age. Amal was a soft spoken heath conscious guy with an athletic build. Sethu was just the opposite, a cute plum careless guy.  He loved to dance, but was scared of being laughed at. Last month, a friend uploaded a hilarious video of Sethu dancing at his apartment. Talks about it went around for weeks at the office. He was embarrassed, but smiled as if he didn’t care. Martin was the only one who didn't laugh at him. Martin and Sethu were almost alike despite the fact that Martin was older, and with more than a decade of experience in the industry. Both were good performers career-wise and wished to enjoy life to the fullest. They defined enjoyment in 3 ways-drinking, eating and buying ultra expensive things to show off.

The music came to a halt. People cheered and went back to their seats.

 “It’s almost midnight” said Amal as he walked back.

 Martin: “Yeah yeah  ... we need to leave. My wife will start calling now.”

Sethu: “And we have a client call tomorrow morning at 10. My bike is still at the workshop.so…”

 Martin:” Fine, I’ll come to your place at 8:30.”

The next day at 8:15, Sethu reached the main gate of his flat. Martin has the habit of being early for everything. If Martin says “at 10”, his subordinates know that it means “at 9:30”. So Sethu was expecting Martin to be waiting there at the main gate. But, the only one at the gate was the flat’s security. “May be there is a traffic block somewhere” Sethu thought.

So,  Sethu stood at the gate watching the residents from the nearby women’s hostel walking to their colleges. As minutes flew by , more and more college-goers filled the road. “Colleges start too early these days “he told the security guard. “So many girls leaving so early”. “It’s already 9, Sir, they are leaving on time” came the reply.

Sethu checked his watch. “What the fuck!! where is Martin??? “. He dialed Martin’s number. The phone rang but no one picked up. Sethu was sure that Martin would come. Martin always does whatever he says he’ll do. “Can the traffic block be that big?...”thought the young man “May be he slept off …na.. not Martin.. he’s serious when it comes to work ..May be he forgot “. He dialed again. Still no response.

Six miss calls later, at around 9 :15 , Sethu called a cab and left for office. Fortunately he reached in time for the conference, but unfortunately Martin was not there in his seat.

“Even though one of our teammates is not here, we must start the meeting now “explained the Project Manager to the client“the agenda of ……”

Martin’s absence bothered Sethu. It felt strange. Martin never misses calls .Sethu sat there uninvolved. The Project Manager caught him and gestured him to leave.

 “Must be yesterday’s hangover”  whispered one of the teammates. Sethu just smiled even though he wanted to give a good reply.

 “You can leave if you wish to do so “said the Project Manager.

As soon as he got out, he dialed Martin’s number again; still no response. Then dialed Martin’s wife’s number, again the phone rang with no response. He dialed again and this time someone picked up.

“Hello” said a soft child-like voice. Sethu knew that it was Martin’s 6 year old son.

Sethu: “Hello, Steve, is that you? Where is papa?”

Steve: “Papa had chest pain at breakfast .Then Papa fainted. We are at Doctor Uncle’s place.”

Sethu: “Is your mommy there? Give the phone to her...”

Steve:” Mommy is crying. She is not taking the phone. Doctor Uncle is telling her not to cry. Mommy still crying and.. “. The phone got disconnected. Sethu dialed again, but failed to get the connection.

 “What did Steve mean by fainting? Was Steve describing a heart attack??” he thought and a shiver ran through his body” Was Martin dead or just unconscious??Martin is too young to have a heart attack .He’s only 33”

He took a cab and went to the hospital where Martin’s cousin worked.  “Steve mentioned ‘Doctor Uncle’. He must have meant Martin’s cousin”

Sethu started sweating despite it being a cool winter morning. “He can’t die so young.” thought Sethu” His son is only six. Wife is jobless and he’s the only son of his parents. He can’t die so young. They are rich, but wealth can’t replace a dad, a son and a husband. Or maybe I misunderstood. May be Steve was just describing a chest pain. May be he fainted because of some silly small illness. “

Sethu dialed Martin’s wife’s number. It didn’t even ring. He called the hospital reception and enquired. They connected his call to the doctor’s phone.

“Yes Sethu, he is alright for the time being” said the doctor “but I don’t think he’ll survive another stroke. Well, I knew something like this would crop up one day. I had advised him a million times to change his habits. He never listened. He chose this fate “Sethu started sweating more.

Minutes later,  as he climbed the stairs to reach the room where Martin was admitted ,  he meet Martin’s wife. She hated Sethu and he knew it.

“My husband “she once told him “has become more careless and irresponsible after meeting you”. 

She starred at him. Sethu felt bad.“I am sorry “he said

“Three words are not going to mend all what you have done” she replied .

He felt angry and sad at the same time. “Why is she blaming me?” he thought “Am I the only one responsible”

 “Tell me what I should do. Should I jump from this building? Will that make you happy? “he asked ”You are talking as if I tried to kill him. I was being his good friend. I wanted him to be happy that’s all “

“If you were his good friend you should have discouraged him. If he dies, you’ll just loose a friend. You’ll get many other friends. But my son will lose his dad. And that can never be replaced “

Silence prevailed for a few minutes. Then she spoke again.

“The doctors told me that he needs a surgery soon. There is only a small chance that he will survive. That too only if he follows the proper diet and have his tablets in time. But he won’t listen. Not to me nor to the doctor. Can’t you convince him??  You are his best friend, right?? “

“I promise you, sister, I will do my best “Sethu replied and walked into Martin’s room.

Martin was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. He looked sideways when he heard the footsteps.

“Sethu …” said Martin with a big smile. “Thank God that you are here. I hope you heard the news. I almost died today morning. Now they are planning to do a surgery. There is only a small chance that I will survive. That too only if I follow the proper diet and have my tablets in time. But even that won’t guarantee that I will survive. I am probably going to die. So I was thinking Sethu, if these are my last few days, shouldn’t I be enjoying them? Go bring me some beef roast, poorotta and a bottle rum. Can’t you do that? You are my best friend, right?? “

“Friend”. That six letter word can be defined in six hundred different ways. Now it is left for Sethu to decide how he should define that word.