Not Those Average Friendships.

My mother just returned from a reunion with her high school friends. They have met after twenty long years. Though some of them are in contact, a major part of them have gotten in touch a few weeks ago only because of Facebook, and of course, the WhatsApp groups. The internet is a wonderful thing. Sometimes, I am surprised at the remarkable things it introduces to us.

When my mother got in touch with all her high schoolmates, I did not fathom that their whole class would come together for a reunion. Twenty years is a long time definitely and one cannot be convinced that the entire class would actually come together. Well, they did. All of them. All thirty of them. My mother did not stop talking about her friends after she came back. Just like in all high schools, there is the helpful one, the planner, the envious one, the bully, the class leader, the conversationalist, the high achiever, the low-key one, and you get the drift. Looks like the 1970s and 1980s weren't so different after all.

I've always imagined that after you reach a certain age, you stop having friends, mostly because you move on with the other phases or life or move to different cities. I'm afraid, countries! But the fact that two of my mother's friends flew in from the USA, practically shattered all the myths I've built around the reality of friendships. I mean, we are clearly talking about people that withstood twenty years of friendships without any issues whatsoever about geographical restrictions. It gave me a new hope that no matter how old we get, and how well we master the art of pretending that we are all grown up, there is always a child within us that yearns for childhood. It makes us yearn for the high school days because what's more eventful in anyone's life than high school?

This brings me to another thing, it is people who make things like this happen. Not the Internet. It is just a highly powerful medium that amazing people use to their advantage. It's spectacular, right? The kind of things that friendships make us do!

And oh, this time, I have a song for you: You're My Best Friend by Queen

Twenty-First Vs. Twenty-Fifth.

It was 2012. My twenty-first birthday was slowly approaching. I carefully picked a pink dress and a got a haircut I regretted for weeks. It was just around four years but it indeed feels like a distant time with everything different. I was a different person too.

It was a significant year of my life. I was graduating, I had a couple of college admissions in hand, I was yet to take up my first job and I was highly indecisive about what to do with my life. I was not willing to settle down for mediocrity but my twenty-first year was just about that -- settling for mediocrity - in terms of love, life, friendships, and more importantly, the career.

It is 2016. My twenty-fifth birthday is fast approaching. I carefully picked a lot of dresses this year and was wise enough not to get a haircut like every birthday. I'm such a different person now. From choosing mediocrity to fighting adamantly for what I truly believe in, I sure have evolved into a person that was alien to my twenty-one-year-old self.

At twenty-one, I was largely apprehensive about the new path of life, bigger responsibilities, and tougher challenges. I was worried that I was growing older and that the best years of my life were simply behind me. Now, what can I say about turning twenty-five? Four years older, wiser and with more feathers in my hat, should I be more worried that I am soon hitting the later years of the twenties and life is just never going to be the same again? But why do I feel like the best days of my life are right ahead of me? That they are beckoning me with sweet promises and bitter miseries. All of it would still be worth it, though. Won’t it?

When I was a child, I was told sternly that time does not stop for anyone. Sure, I believed it for a lot of years only to realize that the myth could be altered. Time would stop, walk, and run with you only if you value it as much as you value yourself. If only you grow along with it.

Now I know that being twenty-five isn't being old.  There is so much to see. So much to learn. So much to live. And not to forget, there is so much time.

At this point, however, I'd like to worry about the birthday dress that a certain someone picked for me. It doesn't zip up well, but I am completely in awe of it. Oh, the little curveballs life throws at us in the middle of happy realizations and moments!

Look, Look, Gibberish.

Well, well, what a week!

I do not know when Monday came by and left, and I do not remember how it led to Friday. I have written so much over the past 5 days that today, I just want to stay still. I just want to watch really good movies till late in the night and go to sleep. Do you know that feeling when you're really drained out but still have that inkling feeling that you've had a great week? I've had a week like that, and I love my work. Although I must admit, I have ignored most of my friends this week.

On my way back home, I was consumed with various thoughts. My music player played the same song throughout the drive, and I was perfectly fine with that. I scanned my contacts list but did not have the urge to talk to anyone. I felt detached. I felt I needed silence.

When I was in college, I had a number of friends. Quite obviously, I had to part ways with a few of them after graduation. In due time, more friends parted, and a few moved to different countries. Soon, I stopped making efforts to maintain relationships even though I did not want to be left with only reasons. Eventually, that is exactly what happened. A friend from college used to constantly complain about the number of friends I had and kept making, and about how often I wanted to meet them. I vividly remember the number of times he would ask me, "Why do you need so many friends, Sunaina?" But it did not stop me from making more friends. I did it as easily as I left every time a friendship strained. Today, when I was reflecting on the relationships I've built over years, I know that I have only a handful of friends -- friends who have stood by my side, friends who fought for me, friends who never let me go when things strained or friends who let me be when I ignored them. While at so many levels, it sounds crazy, I think it comes full circle when I think that people who are meant to stay in your life will stay. Even if you are being a first class jerk. Even if they are being world class pricks towards you. Because these are the sort of friendships that come without any limitations. That's the beauty!

P.S. I know this post absolutely made no sense, but hey in my defense, I have written way too much this week and I am glad I was still able to type this gibberish.

New Beginnings.

I have amazing friends. I think of all the wonderful moments I've spent with them and I am constantly amazed at how lucky I am for having them. Especially, when one certain friend travels all the way from a different country to make you feel better. I mean, who does that? How was she able to do that? And why, just why did she do that? I admit I'm quite self-centered. I am flawed. I barely pick my friends' calls. Sometimes, I talk to them only on my whim. I take them for granted. I cancel the meetings they plan ever so carefully. And I never apologize for the wrong things I do. Or say.

Remember we all have that one friend who ditches every plan? Yes, I am that one friend. I wish I spent more time with my friends when I was in college. I wish I had broken my 'I will not meet any friend on a Sunday' rule for them. I wish I told each of my friends how much they matter.

I am not the one who takes lofty New Year resolutions. For me, a fresh beginning can begin anytime and I do not wait for the New Year's eve. But this year, I gladly took one. This year, I will make it a point to make more time for my friends and meet everyone I haven't met in 2015 or in 2014. The list is long, but I am all willing to make amends.

It is time for a new beginning.