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Monday 30 June 2008

Of old friends, and unexpected appreciation

For those of you wondering where I've disappeared to, and why, it's basically been a trip back to the real world because I lost my paternal uncle to kidney failure.
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This post here gave me this funny feeling of going back in time... getting comfortably lost within intricate shapes of nostalgia, and also like something warm and chocolatey was melting somewhere within me, around the region of my stomach. It reminded me of Mango trees, cobbled streets, and this place I like to call My School.

Friendship is strange. Old friendship is just plain delicious. And surprising.

I don't really know why this particular post reminded me of Mango trees, or cobbled streets, but I do know why it reminded me of my school. This is where I met all those nutters I now have the complete honour of calling 'My Old Friends'.

You know, I'm not in touch with all the people I include on this list, but every time I think of these people, the overwhelming love that fills my soul is more than a little sappy.


There is this girl N... she shares her birthday with my best friend, D, which I didn't know, or got confused somehow, and in XII grade, after knowing her for five years, while walking around with D on her birthday, met N and this is what happened:

 
Me to N: Hi! Wish D, it's her birthday.

N to me (looking slightly unsure of the situation): Uh... it's my birthday too...

Me to N: Don't be silly, it can't be your birthday!

------ This continued for a while, where I refused point blank to believe it was her birthday, while she assured me that it was, indeed--------

Finally:

Me to N (huffily): Oh, all right! If you have to insist- Happy Birthday!

She tells me she loves me, even though I wrote more about Roger Federer on her shirt on our last day at school, than I did about her.

A while back, when I was thoroughly bogged down by my college life, and had almost forgotten what it was like to be BARKING mad, and do things just because I felt like it, I suddenly found her on facebook, and she reminded me of who I used to be before I came to college. It was like rediscovering myself. Like the proverbial light at the end of the long, dark tunnel.


I have mentioned an incident before on this post about how another old friend shook me out of the moping and self pity. It's strange how I blindly turn to him whenever there is trouble in my paradise. I sometimes wonder if he would look to me too for similar comfort.


D, the girl I mentioned above in connection to N's birthday fiasco, when Gaurang died, we spent hours on the phone. Yet we barely spoke. We didn't need to. She kept up the other end of the line, and I held onto my end. If the connection broke, one of us would call back. When we spoke, it didn't have to be about what had happened... when I cried she didn't tell me to stop. But she let me know she was there.

That's what Old friends do- they remind you of who you are, when even you have forgotten yourself, they are the quiet sources of comfort and initiate the startling moments of clarity. And sometimes, just sometimes, they make your day by telling you that something mundane you said (or did) was appreciated very much.

21 comments:

  1. Can't say I follow you... please try and explain?

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  2. i thot so too..

    the layout of ur blog, makes my eyes pop out
    (not in a thrilling way wen U see soemthing U dnt get to see often)

    its tough to figure out at times,
    most of ur post r almost camouflaged

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  3. Sorry to hear about your uncle. Were you close?


    This is my final year of school, and I doubt I'll be in touch with any but the oldest of my friends.

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  4. No, we weren't very close. It's not a shock- he'd been in the ICU for a few days before the incident. I'm glad I met a him before, though. In the ICU, I mean. He recognised me. I guess I'll take that with me forever.

    Last year of school... will definitely be the toughest year, no questions about it. Take care not to lose touch with those people you care most about.
    And study HARD.
    Luck.
    :)

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  5. Oh well, you met him. :)

    Yes, tis the toughest. And the exams are next month... Thanks!

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  6. Take care...
    You were being missed...
    so glad you met your uncle...
    i lost my grandmother and we were very close and i couldn't meet/talk to her...i will take that guilt with me FOREVER.
    i have been meaning to tell you that i love the lay out and if i weren't such an illterate with these things i'd probably do it...
    but ummm..sometimes it is hard to read because the white font clashes with the aqua blue :D

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  7. Sry to hear about your uncle. and yeah, friends dont get any closer than the ones you meet in school!

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  8. @ Silbil: Wll take care of the font, and colouring, :), and thanx for the understanding, and the missing.

    @ thewhackster: so true...

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  9. Sorry to hear about your uncle. Hope you'll e back blogging again soon. Hugs.

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  10. Sorry to hear about your uncle.

    True friends are really hard to come by, and for me most of them - practically all have moved far far away... which sucks!

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  11. Mixed Blessings: No updates? It's been almost a month. Are you alright?

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  12. Mystic Margarita: Thanks, and I'm back now :)

    Foxhound: Thanks, and yes, I know what it means to have close friends living far away... it really sucks!

    Arun: Yes, I'm much better now, thanks :)

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  13. Oh well, irregardless of whether this thing you write was supposed to be funny or not, it did make me smile. Thanks for the free smile, you write beautifully about such mundane events.=)

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  14. @ Toni: Thank you :)

    @ Madman: Maybe you'll now find the layout better... more soothing.

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  15. 2 mixed blessings:
    yeas yeas it is gud now

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  16. "Traveller, from whence do you come,
    and where do you go?"

    I chanced upon your blog.. and I never knew you write so well (And so much)! Amazing stuff!

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