Friendship flavors

Friends come in all flavors. Sweet, bitter, jittery, spicy.. you name it and you might be able to think of a friend of that flavor. You catch onto some real fast. Some, you acquire and develop as you try them more and more. Some become your “comfort flavors”. You turn to them whenever you’re really happy or depressingly sad, or even just like that..all the time. And just like it is with food, you can have some all the time, and you really need to be in-the-mood for others.

And this long weekend… was my opportunity to indulge in my favorite ‘anytime immediate comfort’ flavor- my best friend D was coming to meet me.. ALL the way from Bangalore. We had been planning this trip for a long time. A little too long.. something like 2 years atleast! And both of us being pretty decent at procrastination, we postponed it till now, when I am almost all set to leave for abroad and we thought that we might not get another go at it like at this time. So well.. all in all.. we finally met.. at peace.. at leisure.. not at each other’s or some common friend’s wedding.. not at CP for a quick bite before I catch my flight back.. not for any other reason.. but just to be.

We have known each other for more than 10 years. And it must have been the 2nd day in college, when she complimented me on my cute pink Lucknow embroidery kurta, that I knew that this babe and me were going to hit it big. And what has continued since has been magical.. a friendship that keeps growing deeper and better with time. She’s my talking buddy.. much rather.. my yapping buddy. We can talk for hours (which is very very unlike me btw). We can talk about anything and everything under the sun. If we had the opportunity, I bet we could even make it to the Guinness Book of World Records for yapping with each other! We hit it off so well during our grad days, that inspite of our poles apart differences in attitudes and choices, we were almost addicted to our conversations. Just imagine, months like May and June, icky Delhi summers, two babes (who are ever so conscious about getting tanned) bear the mid-afternoon sun standing at the college bus stop waiting for a bus back home. And half an hour later, as the bus approaches, both peep into the bus, gawk at it and let it pass.. just so that they could continue their conversation. And an hour later, when the talk has still not subsided, they decide to walk for about 2 kms to another bus-stop just to vile away time. Cut to present: we have come to terms with the distances and the priorities that occupy the other’s time and mind. And we have made peace with the fact that atleast we can be connected online most of the day and are there just a phone call away. Even the grind of grad days, then post-grad, and internships, and jobs, and promotions, and boys, and boyfriend, and marriage and husband, and new cities..and just about everything that you suffer in your 20s to nearing 30s.. has not been able to dissuade us.

We have seen each other grow up and handle life, and in the most curious manner, seen drastic changes in the other, laughed over it and kept up with it. So whereas I have seen a hard-to-impress, aggressive, “difficult”, absolute-go-getter Punjab-di-Putri mellow and settle down to beautifully handle a home, a marriage  and balance it with her career, she has seen a much timid, peaceful, “sab chalta hai” me become the aggressive, hard, in-your-face chak de phatte person I am today. But rather than drifting apart as one might expect, we have grown closer and are growing together. We are typically thinking about the same things. We have the same agendas on our mind. We ponder and worry about the same mysteries of times and life. And we catch on to the same fads at various times, be it reading, our ‘me’ time, cooking, power dressing, weight loss or whatever. We are each others sounding boards, as well as the ranting pillows. We crack the most innocent jokes and we bitch like the best of *******. And we share our achievements and our fears with equal gest. And believe me.. inspite of the very different personalities we are, we surprise even ourselves at these similarities!  The best thing is.. between us.. there’s no fooling each other. Because we are like two very different facets of the same fiercely-independent, strong-minded female of today.

Friends will come and go, flavors and choices will change, but the very special place that she holds in my life will always be reserved for her. She makes me understand myself. And no matter how far we go, or what we face, we will always be right there for each other.. to grow fonder and age together.

In short, we are like soul-mates.

Disclaimer: neither of us believes that there is just one soul-mate per being, nor that it is only your better half who is eligible to become one. :)