An Impassive Farewell...

It was the season of saying goodbyes...To part and cry...Try and forget...And then move on...

And yet,everyone seemed so excited...

Never could I imagine a farewell to be so awaited...Studies almost became secondary as everyone got busy with rehearsals.Even the vice-president had to come all the way to the college field for the 'official' valediction.And we had our pockets pinching with the remaining pocket-money 'coins'; the rest,half-heartedly though,being sacrificed for the same.

It was farewell season at my school too.It had to say goodbye to its father.After all,it was that first principal,who had created and fathered it for 15 years.It must have felt remorse to part from him.
And there was another fresh gang of boys and girls leaving school with eyes full of dreams and tears...It felt nice to become one batch senior.

Everything demanded a change...a fresh start.

Amidst our busy routines in and out of the lab,another sound accompanied the noise of clashing test-tubes and of steam forcing out of the oven.It was the cooing of a little creature stuck in a cage in one corner...an albino rat...our dear li'l Ross.

It had been an inseparable part of the lab...and an "important" member of the department as much as us.In fact it happened to get more attention than the professors.So much so,that we couldn't bear it as something 'inhuman' and gave it a gender recognition.It became "Mr.Ross".

Attending Ross,atleast once in a practical class,had become a habit for all of us.Some loved him,some liked,and some laughed...even some ignored.But Ross was there on everyone's mind.For some,giving feeding him was prior to any practical work.And the rest,with the excuse of work,happened to gather at the corner of the lab only to have a chat with Ross.What more...he was even the cynosure of the sports day march...being the tiniest participant on ground.Clad in his white furs with a blue cap,he proudly went leading us all through the parade with a hoarding behind,written-"ROSS-THE LAB PET".He caught the attention of every single soul on the ground,and maybe he was the reason for our runaway success in that march.We were announced the winners and plannings were started for the departmental picnic.All because of Ross.

Days kept passing on as usual,until one day we came to know..Ross is not well.Somebody demanded a bigger cage for him,but the crude answer was...he has lived his life and is soon going to die.It seemed a severely harsh retort,but authority has to have the last word.Some said he had cancer,some said not.Some wept at the thought of losing him,some seemed to be least bothered.But all got tensed on the whole..Ross was again on everyone's mind...It was then,we came to know that Ross was a girl.Tears turned to laughter and it momentarily made us oblivious of the tension.Ross was forgotten.

It was yet another morning we gathered at the departmental lab..all too busy with their work.Maybe it was the first day no one noticed Ross.It was the lab assistant to come up..in an unsure state of mind..and convey the news to us.

Ross has died.

Suddenly there were cries of disbelief throughout the lab.Everyone rushed towards the cage in one corner.Ross was still there..eyes closed..and hundreds of insects strewn all over her.Some couldn't accept the fact,and said she was having a nap.May be she was.But this one won't break and was going to last.Forever.

It was some one hour later that we somehow managed to get time out,for bidding a last farewell to Ross.On reaching the corner,we saw no sign of Ross.Or her cage.A hope sprang up.Maybe she was alive.And had been taken to the vet.Curious eyes searched her all through the lab..before they fell on the cage.The lab assistant was cleaning it once and for all.Our queries got answered by the pointing of a finger towards the terrace.Ross was getting buried by some seniors.Our rush to the terrace for one final sight was of no avail...Ross was already deep beneath the earth.......

Days have kept passing by the same way since then.The test tubes still clash and break..and the hot-air oven continues to get perturbed by the steam.We are still busy with our rehearsals for the farewell.And talks are being made for bringing two more rats in the lab for some research work.This time the cages should be larger.And there are plans for the picnic..And for sports day,next year.Amidst our busy routines,we still walk in and out of the lab.We have again tried and forgotten...and then moved on...but Ross will possibly stay in our minds,atleast for some long.Some will cry,some will lament...and yet some will be least bothered.But on the whole,may be we will always miss Ross.................Or may be not.