Goodbyes are not forever

It is time for my best friend to leave Hyderabad in the quest for a career and a better future. She got selected as a research associate in the prestigious IIT Delhi. I was also one of those friends who encouraged her to take up the offer. Though it took her 72 hours to make the decision, I'm happy that she chose what's right for her.

You know Aarti that I don't prefer to speak much and don't initiate a conversation many a times. I know I wouldn't be able to tell you how much you would be missed, so I decided to pen down my thoughts.

You had always had a special place in my heart. A bestie who I could count on, someone who would also reply at 1 in the night, someone who will never stop me from what I'm doing but will definitely tell me what's right and what's wrong. You know what you mean to me, so you would also know how much I'd be missing you.

Thank you for giving me those college memories I would cherish forever. That EVS class where we laughed till we were asked to get out, those literature classes where I would be the culprit and you and Pooja would be punished, those French classes where your notes were my only hope of passing, those Political Science classes where you took my phone to message the teacher, those Psychology classes I could attend and I could add so much more to it. Gate crashing your blind date, that point when our life was on parallel lines where whatever happened in your life would replicate in mine and vice versa, be it an accident, a date or a new bf. :D  And not to forget the proxies for which I owe you a lot. That trip to Medak only for the burger. And the list goes on and on and on...

We don't click many photos so this is one of the few from my archives. Clicked at Medak, where we had gone just for the burger. And not to forget those remix songs :D

You are one friend of mine who never failed to make me proud, be it the gold medal, your top scores or your initiative Sahaara. Now that you are leaving, I have mixed emotions. I am happy for your career and sad that I won't be able to meet someone to share the story of my life. Also, hope that you have prepared yourself for the challenges a new city would have in store for you.

P.S. I am sure you would make friends in no time, and just like Hyderabad, half of Delhi would also be in your Facebook friends list. :D :D Yes my dear friends, she has the habit of adding random people :p

I love you. And you would be missed until we meet again. And, please try not to hit on guys though I can't promise vice versa.

Remember the Vodafone song, which we thought was tailor-made for us? I'd like to sing that for you again...

L'il things you do for me, nobody else makes me feel good. 

L'il things you do for me, making me smile when no one else could. 

That's why I like to sit next to you, and hear your mad stories, I know they are not true.

And I like that we share secret of two, together!! :)

Much love, XOXO

Happy birthday, A

So it's one of my friend's birthday. I wonder what to do to make it special - Should I order a cake and get it delivered midnight? Should I plan a surprise? Should I ship a gift? But then I also wonder why should I even think of it since we don't talk anymore. After a lot of reasoning with myself, and realizing that I can no way track A's new address, I settled for a blog. I want to tell A about what it meant to have a friend like A in a new city.

One could tag me as a lost soul when I arrived in Chennai, I only knew A in the whole city (besides my busy brother and another friend A). Right from preparing me to fight the challenges in a new city to finding an accommodation, A helped me a lot in the initial days. I learnt from A that I have to adjust and make myself comfortable rather than complain about the problems the city has in store for me, only then can I start enjoying. The days passed by, I loved the job that I did, A made sure that my weekends don't go wasted. I found a place in a small group of A. Right from playing UNO to cooking on weekends to watching movies and going on trips, A made my stay memorable. Though like every friend, even we did fight but that never let us develop hatred for each other. From A I learnt a lot of things... To chase your dreams, to never give up, the importance of adjusting, to help in need, to not compromise on anything in life due to work commitments and the list goes on... A was also another inspiration for me to learn cooking. :D So yes, I owe A a lot.

Though things did not go the right way and professional commitment and other reasons pushed us to choose two separate ways and I had to leave the city, I just want to say that this friend of yours will always consider herself lucky to have crossed paths with you. You were one of my few friends who appreciated me always, encouraged me to write and write more, were my strongest critic, were happy for my achievements, always there with your gyaan to help me in times of trouble and what not. You taught me to stand up for myself. I just want to say that in the process of trying to make you feel special now, in the last  5 minutes, I ended up realizing what I had lost by losing a friend like you.

So my dear A, be the same always. And I know that you would always be there for me in times of need with your faaltu gyaan and say 'fikar kyun karti Neha, main hu na'. And you know that its vice versa too, be it even 4 in the night. :)

Thank you for keeping up with the post. Happy birthday, A.

Somebody I used to know

The clock hit 12. It's Monday (or Tuesday may be?). Monday is such a day where I sit and make plans for Tuesday (Yay! my day off) and next day all I do is sleep throughout the day. So this time I decided not to make any. Bored, as I sit browsing through the internet, refreshing the Facebook page at least 30 times in a minute, a post caught my attention. My best friend had tagged my ex-best friend or XBF (who is no longer in my friend's list (aaah! long story) and bang! all the memories related to XBF flashes in front of me. So strong are the memories, and with nobody to disturb at this hour I chose to write them down.

So here starts the story. Back in the days where Orkut did exist and was extremely popular, I made a friend who was new to Hyderabad. We never met but used to chat a lot, that too late-night after XBF's parent's dozed off and XBF could sneak the laptop into XBF's room. As days (or rather years) passed by, we became close. From friends to close friends to best friends to best friends forever (ugghh! forever? hmm). We did not meet for a long time (read 5 years) and one day coincidentally we happen to be at the right place at the right time and yes! that was the first time I was meeting an 'internet friend' of mine. We used to chat all day long over the phone but now we did not know what to speak. I wouldn't say that we were inseparable, always together etc but we were so close that we made sure that we share our everyday secrets, always there when the other person needed you, always ready to share your shoulder for XBF to cry on and vice versa, and those were the times I knew this person was my BFF (best friend forever).

Then XBF's dad got transferred and we thought we wouldn't be able to meet often. But XBF's parents and I landed in the same city :D Back to our chindipanti. We continued meeting whenever XBF came down to visit XBF's parents. XBF got fruits when I was sick, we watched movies together, met at terrace and spoke for hours, walked through the lanes of our street (XBF stayed three lanes away), ate panipuri together, had lunch buffet at 90rs :P, attended concerts together but this person always made sure that I was back home safe, was in safe hands and that I was happy and cheerful always. 

Then I came back to Hyderabad, XBF got a job in another city and things took a turn. We continued to chat, we continued to speak over phone, continued hanging out (the google version duh!) and made sure that that there were no secrets between two best friends. Well, until this ABC had to interfere. Well, ABC is an acquaintance (never thought of ABC as a friend 'coz except for ABC's full name, I technically knew nothing). Then I figured out that XBF started hiding things because of ABC. There is this person who now matters more. Expecting from your best friend is not a crime, no? After listening to a lot of 'believe me Neha I am speaking the truth', 'Baah! ABC is all screwed up and needs help', 'I don't have friends here', etc etc etc, I decided I shall end it. After all trust is an important part of a friendship na? So to be away from even the thoughts of XBF, I deleted XBF from Facebook, deleted number and deleted outta Gtalk (okay, I mean hangout) too and I never pinged back, neither did XBF.

Never knew things would take such an ugly turn. Never knew people who mattered to someone for years wouldn't be your priority anymore. After that day I never heard from XBF, NEVER! Though I want things to be like before. Though I still care. Though I still miss. Though I still wish. 

And that is how two best friends turned into total strangers. :)

P.S. I seriously need to learn how to maintain friends. Agreed. But once a paper is crumbled, it would never be perfect again. So is trust. Btw, after writing it down, I feel good. :) Also, I realised that it is easier to write it down and get away with the emotions rather than talking it out.