WoW: The friendship that I will carry till my grave

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. Today is Friendship Day and am writing about one of my most unforgettable friends, Adi and a bond that spanned over more than a decade. The prompt is, ‘The Unforgettable Friend’.

Friendship Day: The Friendship that I will carry till my grave

Friendship is the serum of life. There are some bonds which are rooted in heaven.  I am a sucker at human emotions. When it comes to my bonds with people, I became teary-eyed and feels like it was just yesterday that we hit it off. It’s my best friend, Adi. We just had a long conversation on whatsapp. He is back in Australia after he went back to get married to India this year. What better time to speak again like it during the old times’ sake. Rummaging through the pictures when he celebrated his birthday on August 5 and it was exactly on August 6 that we planned his surprise birthday party in Pune. We were second-year kids in 2005. It was crazy. Strange coincidence, isn’t it? Friendship Day this year fell on August 6.  12 years later!

How I wish that the clock could be turned backward to recreate and relive those memorable days! It were the days of bliss and letting the hair down. I remember once after college, we were just off from British Council when a friend of him was coming down to Pune and he laughed to tell that some chick was coming to meet me from Mumbai. I was non-plussed. His friend N was coming from Nagpur. He told me in broken French, ‘La fille est pour toi’ (The girl is yours). We made every moment count. We fought and pulled each other’s legs. I often smile when I think how he hated the smell of milk. Once, someone was boiling milk in the kitchen and he was entering the milk when I took the milk pan to brandish right in front of his face. He ran towards the door shouted, “He mama.” We both hated it.

To think, the first time that we spoke in college was really bizarre. I was weird. I didn’t know what hit upon my head to walk up to him during the first year to say that let’s go for a movie. Poor dude went blank for a few seconds and must be thinking that I am gay. There was a ‘chick’ story behind this incident. But, the moment we started hitting off, there was no looking back with the booze and smoke every Saturday. It’s such an unforgettable trip of friendship and togetherness. Aunty would always say that we are like twins and he hated it.

Of course, we had petty squabbles but the next day, we would be sitting and drinking together again. He has always believed in the voice of reason while I am the opposite. That one time, when I traveled all the way to MG Road from FC Road to buy two pack of triple 5 cigarettes and paying an extra 70 bucks for rickshaw didn’t make sense to him. How stupid, he would say. Or, the countless cup of chai that we would be having and he will just ask, ‘Smoke or let’s go for a fag…asshole I told you not to smoke now…at least you could have waited for me.’

There was a pot of knowledge inside the hall where I was sleeping. It was a huge jar where he smoked over the months,  emptied the ashes and butt inside. The pot of knowledge as he would call it was filled to the brim until the end of our exams. One fine day, he walked inside, picked the pot and discarded it, saying that it’s not needed till the exams are over. In all friendships, there are trials and tribulations. He became cold at some point when I left for Mumbai. It was entirely my fault.  Things were changing between us. I was going through my mood swing and withdrawal symptom where I wasn’t in touch for a while for some reason or the other. But, we somehow ended up hurting each other.

True friendships are the ones that bear the scars but withstand the test of times. One fine day, I remember getting a call in Mumbai from an unknown phoren number. It was Adi! With time, facebook brought us closer like it used to and whatsapp made things easy calling each other to chat about things. There is something about close friends who are much more than siblings. We get to know when each other is in pain. We may not know it literally but I have received phone calls from Adi when I was in the dumps. It lifted me miraculously. There is another friend who is like that to me. I am blessed that way.

I was among the first people whom he called last year to tell that he was getting married. It came as a surprise.  Him! Of all the people. It’s a tale of an unforgettable friendship that I will carry beyond my grave. There are some friendships like that. They are special. I do miss him and the times that we would spend together. It was good to be true. The Pune days. Feels like a dream, at times.

Happy Friendship Day

Love

V