The cliché called friend

Everybody is a friend these days. You meet someone on the train and exchange numbers. Friend. You room with someone for one year in college. Friend. You blogroll someone and they blogroll you back. Friend.

Not that I have anything against meeting people in this manner. I’ve met some wonderful people via this very blog, some not-so-wonderful people as college roommates, and pretty-much-nobody-I-remember-anymore on a train.

But what happened to the “friend” that we talk about in our historic quotes like “A friend in need is a friend indeed” or “Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies” or “A friend is one who walks in when others walk out”? Is that “friend” history?

The fact that almost every second person we acquaint ourselves with is called a friend, is what has led to terms such as ‘true friend’, ‘close friend’, ‘special friend’, ‘best friend’, ‘second-best friend’ etc!

Now, I have some friends who think the world about me; they pamper me and treat me like a queen. And when I call them “friends” and call other people “friends” too, I feel like I’m doing them grave injustice. Because these friends will literally give their lives for me, if it ever came to that. Maybe it’s because we met at that innocent age where letting him have the only blue crayon and choosing to colour my own sky green seemed like the biggest sacrifice. But there’s something about those childhood friends who have stuck with you over the years that you can never find in anybody you meet in your older years; the kind of friends you don’t necessarily have to talk to for days, weeks or even months and it makes not an iota of difference to the bond you share.

I have met amazing people throughout my life, be it physically or virtually. Sometimes I feel like I could never meet people nicer than those I’ve already met because I’ve already met the nicest! :) In fact, anybody who puts a smile on my face is someone I will remember for life. And that includes all those of you who’ve never even laid eyes upon me. However, there are those who will kill anybody who dares bring a tear to my eye. And I owe a lot of who I am today to them.

Here’s celebrating 20 years of friendship with Pradeep - who I know since the day I was born and was thus the second significant male, after my dad, in my infant years; 15 years of friendship with Vivek - who doesn’t spare a second to stop pulling my leg but gives me the best hugs in the world that translate into “you’re safe with me”; and 10 years of friendship with Mukundh - who would never dare to rat me out because I know all his dirty secrets as he does mine, Alok - who has made it very clear that he will, and I quote him, “chop the balls off any guy who tries to mess with me”, Bichu – who cracks mean jokes about me all the time but is the one who gets more teary-eyed every time we say goodbye, and Jeevan - who made sure I was laughing every second so that there was never time for me to cry. You guys mean the world to me and no amount of words could do justice to how blessed I feel to have you in my life. I love each one of you as if you were family. You guys are truly friends in every sense of the word.

Honorary mention - Ankit, Sandeep and Jobin. You are right up there too, though I sort of suspect that your friendliness has something to do with the fact that you have a major crush on me! ;) Yes, I love you too! :p