A Diary Entry

This is my first attempt at fiction. Due to technical difficulties, I stand in the shoes of one of the characters and pen down this diary entry.

Dec 20, 2008

I learnt what it takes to build relationships and understood the multi-faceted nature of friendship. I learnt how hard it is to resurrect one and understandably, underwent the hardships associated with it. I learnt how tough, overcoming mental stress is and despite this, presenting oneself in the best manner possible to overcome the acrimony is a yeomen service one is rendering, just for maintaining a friendship. I experienced the fury when a smiling face had to be put up just for the heck of it. I did come across joy, warmth, and the exuberance associated with a pure, heart-felt and lovely relationship called FRIENDSHIP. I admit, I got a feel of happiness only, and put behind me, the melancholic past after I learnt to bridge that inconspicuous gender gap that had clogged our re-union. And this bridging put an end to the months-long ordeal.

I realized, there’s nothing more sorrow than accepting your friend’s straight face and there’s not anything that could make you happier than the delight, your friend bestows you with, even for a few seconds. I definitely want to forget the sorrow of the former but the happiness accompanied with the latter shall be treasured all my life and beyond a stage, I yearned for the wonderful moments we once shared. Can you imagine your friend not giving a smile at you, and pretend to have not even taken notice of you, after having sat just near you, for an hour? But how is it, when your buddy calls early in the morning at 6, even after three missed calls, to convey birthday greetings despite the fact that the meeting between you is just minutes away. When the former happened, never in the wildest of my dreams did I expect the latter to follow, in just a few months, and when the latter happened, I wondered if the former had actually taken place.

We had given birth to a baby called ‘Friendship’ while in school and just like any kid, ours too was so much attached to us and in its infancy, it was so much fun to play with, throw banters at each other. But when it was time to part ways with each other (as we moved to different high schools), we seemed blind to the fact that the baby (friendship) had to be shared equally between us and that it shall not be taken away with just one. The baby’s beauty could have been best realized and subsequently admired had we shared and when I, on my part, failed to realize this then, the baby had to be orphaned and later, it questioned to us, its birth when we were in the process of reunion after two years, in college. It’s extremely tough to get the comfort level going and fortunes did fluctuate when reunion was done in college as the last two years that preceded was too big a gap to be bridged. High school is when we enter teens and emotions run high when we just finish high school (especially in my friend’s case) and begin a new life in college. And at this point of time, in an attempt to give back life to this baby, we ended up getting petulant and made life tougher. Though we share a lot in common, the differences seemed more prominent and the prejudiced minds never really got us going in a friendly direction.

Amidst the tribulations, I acknowledged the presence of a concealed unwitting liking for each other and this exactly acts as the fulcrum on which the endurance of our friendship rests. In retrospect, I qualify this aspect of friendship as the prerequisite for a strong bond between friends, filled with trust and affection devoid of egos and mental blocks. I best enjoyed the happy times because I had a taste of the toughest times too. As time passed, we understood each other better, shared the best things in life and I always made sure, I did things that she liked the most and our friendship reached unprecedented heights. And just when it attained its peak, due to reasons known just to us, we had to move a little away from each other and became the most dependants on wireless communication.

Ironically, we spent majority of our time together when we were not the best of friends and had to move a little away from each other when our friendship reached an unmatched peak. All said and done, I still treasure the times we shared and the series of events, full of twists and turns were indeed a learning experience and deservedly, weaned me off prejudice. I still yearn for the days when I was bestowed with happiness of the highest order and life then, looked beautiful and joyous like never before. I shared the best of times for those few days when we were the best of friends and also stayed together. Without an iota of doubt, we are still the best of friends and despite the reasons that distance us, I hope for a much better life ahead (and the very best of times in the coming months).

Rajesh