334. The Unrevealed Secret

A secret confided is no longer a Secret

I am troubled beyond explanation. I am hiding a secret for almost ten years. Now, it is the right time to reveal my secret.I have many secrets to tell my readers. But the secret that i am going to reveal now, tops the list of secrets that are stacked-up in my brain cells.

This is a ten year long secret that was between me and my friend,Ridley. His full name is Ridley Scott. I call him Ridsco. The incident happened in the year 1999. I had just completed my schooling and was waiting for my exam results. Ridsco was British and when ever i visit London, he took me around in his car. He was such a funny guy and even though he was old, he had a very pretty young girlfriend. He knew that I liked her.He never allowed me to talk to her freely. He was the possessive boyfriend types.It was the summer of 1999 and I went to England. Ridsco and I painted the streets of London in all possible colors. He used to talk about all his ex-girlfriends and I used to tell him about Renu. On one such occasion I was so sad and in order to cheer me up, he took me to a drink- joint. We ordered a couple of beers and started drowning our sorrows in alcohol. Even after a couple of mugs, I was uncontrollably sad. So he jokingly quipped,"Hey Chriz! Cheer up man. Why don't you act in a movie? I will direct the movie". Though it was just a joke, that one line cheered me up and I said," Ridsco! If you are really gonna make a movie with me as the Hero, I will be Happy".

He never expected me to take his joke very seriously. But when he realised that I was indeed serious he had no other option but to direct a movie with me.(Note to my readers: This is a true incident and I am not making this up).The next day, he invited a few of his friends and we had a discussion on the movie.The whole incident was like a dream for me. I called my parents and told them that I am gonna act in an English Movie. They were surprised indeed.But my dream was short lived because my exam results were announced and that meant I had to rush back to India to attend interviews to get a Engineering seat in some college in India. Ridsco was very sad that I had to go back to India. I still remember his words when he came to see me off at the airport,"Chriz! Only you could act in this movie. But now I have to find some one else to fill your shoes".

I came back to India and got an Engineering seat in Pondicherry. (The above picture is the map of Pondicherry).Days went by and I got immersed in my studies. Very soon I completed one year of Engineering. I had a few friends; we were greatly involved in music and movies. We formed our college Rock Band and started performing in all the inter-college competitions. When ever a movie was released in the city, we would be the first ones to watch the movie. Some movies that I watched with my friends are still in my memory. Some of the movies were Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Cast Away,Erin Brockovich,Gladiator and Traffic. I seldom cry in a movie hall. But I had tears in my eyes when I watched the movie Gladiator. My friends laughed at me and made fun of me saying that I was a cry baby. I wiped my tears and smiled with them.

Before you start calling me a cry baby, I have a confession to make. I cried that day because when I was watching the movie Gladiator, the parting words that Ridsco said played hide and seek with my thoughts.

"Chriz! Only you could act in this movie. But now I have to find some one else to fill your shoes"

This morning I was going through my old photo collection and a particular photo that was mailed to me by Ridsco welled up my eyelids with tears. Check the photo here [link]. For the past ten years, only Ridsco and I knew this secret. Now I have revealed it to you. Will you keep this as a secret?

-Chronicwriter