Friday, July 31, 2009

Partners In Rhyme !!!


‘Lucky’ is one word for someone who has in fact found a real friend, a person one can hope for. Someone who is there not only to spend happy times with us, but more on our appalling times. But having a real best friend whom you relate your secrets to, talk about how boring your day at work was up to, your whining about the new dress you just bought from the store. Someone whom you share your thoughts or plans to. It’s because they know who we really are, through the worst things we did to them and they still stood by us and still love us, that’s a friend to keep.

What do we owe our friends? Friends owe each other their friendship, their help in times of need, their companionship when we are lonely. A friend owes nothing more or less then what they receive from you. You need to have an equal amount of respect for each other. Sometimes we make choices that our friends don't agree with but in the end a true friend understands we must make our own choices and gives us the time and space we need to in order do so. Personally, I owe my friends a lot simply because they put up with my shit. In return I put up with shit I wouldn't normally take from, say, an everyday correlate.

In how many ways have friends enriched our lives and made us feel loved, accepted, respected and cared for? Probably, too many to list and the list grows daily. Friends...but I deviate, that’s why all friends are so different...each one is your friend for similar and different reasons, just like you are a friend to them for whatever encircling reasons they feel. We each give and take, and when there is a balance…yes it's wonderful, but at times one might need more than the other, and it's under the premise that, if I was in that situation you would have done the same thing. That might seem to be an expectation of a friend, but it's more like it's the thought that counts.

A lot of people go through life with only a few friends. It seems that some have less than that. They have no one on whom they can call in good times or bad. There is no one with whom to bounce ideas around, or to talk about deep and troubling subjects. They have no one to call in times of need or difficulty. They are at the mercy of life, standing alone. Others seem to have a multitude of friends. Wherever they go, people know them, and like to be around them. Should trouble strike, their biggest hesitation might be over which friend to call. They know exactly the person with whom to discuss the topics of inquiry and debate. Life is full of entertaining and invigorating relationships because it is full of friends.

It is safe to say that when God shaped the world and all the splendid things in it, when he streaked the heavens with radiant shades and the earth with grand mountains and awe-inspiring canyons, when he painted the plains with waving grassland and erected gracious woods of towering foliage, he outdid it all by creating friends. Why not take a moment or two and thank someone today for being a friend to you?

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Droplets of Life...

The backdrop:

“Deba: Arpan da…aji office’r pora ahute khub titilu…bhal lagile.

Me: boroxunor’r kotha nokoba...beya lagi jai…Pune’t thakile etiyale sage flat tu tita kapuror gundhot bhori gol hoi.

Deba: ha ha...hei smell tu. aru ehoptah man ekeloge beli nedekha..office-le jaute boroxun..Office-r pora ulaute boroxun...eibilak pisot bhabile birat bhal lage. apuni likhibo try diyok..bhal hobo !!

Me: boroxun’t ulai jaute saba…tumar cell tu…juwa bosor ki hoisile monot ase nohoi??

Deba: bag eta kinisu..tar bhitorot eta polythene ..tar bhitoror cell aru purse ..eibar risk nolou...:)

Me: aru aji khana ki…??

Deba: khana aaji soya beanor kheti...aru papad…”

The memories…they keep on coming back; touch me again and again. Reminds me papon da singing…”fagunore bauli baa…loi jaa muk loi jaa”

I slipped out into the open…barefoot. The night air is cooling but not cold. Goodness it’s raining! I stand there gently…looking at the stars. I love rainy nights...love listening to the rain singing me a lullaby...love the ambience, the romance, the sadness, the beauty, the stories behind the rain. Rain makes me nostalgic…make me soak in memories…something I’ll cherish for a lifetime…and beyond, if allowed.

Rain reminds me of Pune. My second home…it owns a ‘Lions Share’ of being me. The knowledge, the molding, the bike rides, the ‘Dhaba’ trips at midnight when its 4°c outside, those "night outs", the ‘rescue’ missions, those midnight tease, birthday bumps, old torn jeans, late night walks, long chats and conversations, cooking sessions, crushes, getting kicked out of the class, the project time, struggle for marks, writing on desks, fighting with friends, tears for love, just anything and everything...unique and unmatched.

Well, I am back in and feel sleepy and fairly at peace with tomorrow's uncertainty and its prospects. And I am grateful for the unexpected gifts of yesterday. There are some things you don't have to say but are just understood. But then, why not stretch these things out as long as possible, right?

Night-Night!

P.S.: dedicated to all my Pune friends, seniors, juniors, classmates and colleagues. You people made life such a wonderful voyage.