"When you are up in life, your friends get to know who you are.
When you are down in life, you get to know who your friends are. "
30 years. Numerous ups and downs. Separated by a distance of more than a thousand miles. But our bond not only survives . It thrives. That's me and my best friend Appu. Though we hardly manage to catch up in person, technology has ensured that our friendship overcomes the barriers of corporeal separation. If not a phone call, a one line WhatsApp message ensures that we are more than aware of the happenings in each other's life.
I still remember when we met in the first year of school. From bonding over lunchbox and homework to squabbling over 'Pani-puri' and clothes and even visiting Dusshera fairs together, our relationship has seen it all. It would not be wrong to say that we have literally grown up together. Being together for the entire school career, it was an awkward moment when we decided to take up different courses in college. I stuck to engineering given my family tradition while she took up psychology. But we still continued meeting over the weekends or even sometimes on weekdays too. If everything else failed, the age old ruse of having 'Pani-puri' provided the perfect excuse to see each other ! However it is another story that we used to drive the old man crazy with our conflicting preferences of 'more onion, no chilli' and 'no onion, more chilli'. Needless to say, the poor guy often lost count of the number of 'Pani-puris' that he had dished out. Even a move to a different city, marriage and then motherhood could not put a dent in the armor of our friendship which continued to remain thick even as we bonded with new people.
Being with a wonderful person like her helped me realize that we need not have similar personalities to become friends. If anything, we need to accept people as they are and learn to enjoy the little differences. In our case, we could not have been more dissimilar. Much like chalk and cheese. And yet we always find common ground. Or rather compliment each other in our own unique ways. When your best friend talks nineteen to the dozen while you would rather be happy listening to others, it is a win-win for both. That is exactly what happens with the two of us. And yet, almost by intuition, she knows when to hold her tongue and let me do the talking. Without ever judging me.
When we sometimes reflect about our friendship and wonder why we still turn to each other for every little advice, the most common thing that emerges is the fact that we never judge each other or try to impose our opinions on each other. Whether it was the time when she struggled with finding a decent job or when I was going through a breakup, we had an unwritten pact that we could reach out to the other person at any time of the day. A phone call or a chat was all it needed for one to hold on to sanity. It is the 'live and let live' philosophy, that we both hold so close to our heart, which has helped us keep going.
Coming to the 'Yaaron Ki Baraat' show on Zee TV that features celebrity friends and puts their friendship to test using some innovative and fun-filled tasks, it sure brings on a feeling of nostalgia. Watching this show in our respective homes, we are sure to be reminded of all those little things that one loved doing with a close friend. While in my case it was limited to homework, project assignments, picking outfits and some failed match-making efforts, one can be sure that these celebrities have much more to reveal. Do not miss the show for anything in this world. The curtains go up sharp at 8 pm on 8th October !!
When we sometimes reflect about our friendship and wonder why we still turn to each other for every little advice, the most common thing that emerges is the fact that we never judge each other or try to impose our opinions on each other. Whether it was the time when she struggled with finding a decent job or when I was going through a breakup, we had an unwritten pact that we could reach out to the other person at any time of the day. A phone call or a chat was all it needed for one to hold on to sanity. It is the 'live and let live' philosophy, that we both hold so close to our heart, which has helped us keep going.
Coming to the 'Yaaron Ki Baraat' show on Zee TV that features celebrity friends and puts their friendship to test using some innovative and fun-filled tasks, it sure brings on a feeling of nostalgia. Watching this show in our respective homes, we are sure to be reminded of all those little things that one loved doing with a close friend. While in my case it was limited to homework, project assignments, picking outfits and some failed match-making efforts, one can be sure that these celebrities have much more to reveal. Do not miss the show for anything in this world. The curtains go up sharp at 8 pm on 8th October !!
What a lovely read. Straight from your heart. 😊😊
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