Of Friendships

I had a friend in high school, or what we call the XI-XII in this part of the world. This friend went on to get nineties and now studies his Masters in English at a reputed university in Kolkata.

We were at one point of time, inseparable and it used to be me spending half  of the week at his house and him spending half of  the week at mine. Mom always cooked dinner for him whenever he’d come irrespective of whether he ate it or not. I was extended the same courtesy when I went to his house.

Yet somehow by the time both of us went to college our   friendship broke off. It took it’s time. Three years of it in fact, but it broke, with an audible snap. The last time we talked on the phone, we spoke like strangers and this is a month ago. I’d called him after maybe over six or eight months.

On the other hand, the other day I met up with a girl I had last seen in class IV. I’m talking about the year 2005. Ten years. It was as if those ten years had just not happened. Sure, I was a little taller and she was prettier than I remembered her, but she was still the same old girl I knew in school.

So, I have one friend whom I used to hang out with daily, who became a stranger. I have another friend who should be a stranger but is in fact still a very close and very dear friend.

Hmm. Life thou art most puzzling and thy mood swings doth leave me a-wonderin’

But then again as Poets of the Fall say

“Life doesn't run a clear course
It flows through from within
It's supposed to take you places and leave markings on your skin"

The Bilge Master