Girish,

It's getting very cold here.
It's colder in Dehradun
and even colder inside your heart.
Someone asked me the other day
if you were a coward.
I told them you were
the bravest man I've known,
because I was brave,only enough
to have stayed back that evening.
You, on the other hand,
were brave enough to let me go.
I keep the bottle of chilli pickle
you gave me, on my table
and do not muster the courage
to break the seal,
because last time you told me,
things are better when left alone.
Maybe. Or maybe definitely not.
May you wake up at nights
and wonder if it's me
who's keeping your toes cold.

- The Broken Clock