Childhood Friends

The ones you have grown up with. The people who know your dreams and your inhibitions alike. The ones whose roots resemble yours because you have practically shared their family and made them a part of your own. You haven’t just learnt the game with them, you have played it together. You didn’t just go to the same school, you taught each other the lessons (yes the gossip called as ‘joint study’ is what I exactly mean). You created opinions on things together, but still do not share the same opinions. You spent hours on arguing about a single logic but still are on different tracks from each other. The semantics and equations with them can never be defined. All concrete definitions risk missing out the wholesomeness this bond of innocence offers. The bond that was built on the basis of just being the people that you we were. Nothing more, nothing less.

Childhood however, doesn’t last all your life. You grow up. You move to different cities, different places, different countries. You have different journeys and hence different destinations. Your surroundings change and so does your way of looking at and dealing with things. You become busy with your own struggles, your own responsibilities and suddenly your ‘own world’ comes into existence. And all of this happens so gradually that when you become aware of it, you are surprised.

And then, one day, out of the blue, your phone rings. It is one of those idiots whom you haven’t talked to in ages. The smile on your face and the joy that fills up your heart is one other story all together. You pick up the call, abuse each other with everything bad, evil and mean that you can think of and finally get talking like human beings. You settle down in a comfortable corner and minutes turn into hours.

The conversation keeps changing zones, and you see yourself talking about things that you never thought had affected you. All your uncertainties suddenly seem funny in front of the obvious faith they have in you. They help you remember that the speed-breakers of your path were well known of before you set off for the journey (they know that because you created the road-map with them and if you are one of my cases, then I won’t be surprised if they created it and handed it out to you). They remind you that you chose to take the trip and the reasons for your choice. And suddenly, the hope that was meandering here and there for so long, kicks back in immediately, as if the only one person who could scare it enough to come back is the one on the phone.

You laugh, you scream and you have fun on the cost of each other. You remember those old times and feel as if nothing has changed, nothing at all. And immediately, as a paradox, you notice how each of you has grown over time. However, the most amazing thing that still holds up the value of your relationship is that neither of it matters. The bond still exists just on the basis of the people you are… Nothing more, Nothing less!

P.S. On such occasions, the sin of over indulgence with my cell phone becomes impeccable, doesn’t it?