Friendships – Do We Have Time for Them Today?

Time is the most precious commodity nowadays. Strangely, it is the only commodity in the possession of every human being in perfectly equal quantities, irrespective of his social status or any other humanly devised taxonomical term. In the age of globalization, when people get paid for devoting their time for any particular task, do we have time for people?

One day you get a call….”Hi…how are you…Remember me?”

Now that is quite a dangerous question… You have been in this situation before and you know it’s a deadly trap.. If it is one of your long forgotten cousins – you had better camouflage your poor memory by humming a hawing and keeping up a small general talk until mother arrives in the scene to take charge of the phone and at least save you by telling out aloud the name of the person at the other end. Then you sigh and forcefully take the phone from her and say.. ”Oh Satish… How is your girl friend da…Sumi right? You still have to give me a five star chocolate as I did not tell your dad about her the other day.. It has been 5 years since you got married to her!” (As if you knew all along that it was Satish to whom you were giving details like the exact altitude and dimensions of the clouds today)

But there is one breed of people and the memories linked with them that one shall never forget… Even the little tug of war you had with the bunny rabbit toy in LKG… The way you both had tried to bury your fallen milk tooth in the school ground… The exact number of idlis he took from your tiffin box during Chemistry class in the tenth standard…. The chalk pieces you threw at each other… The hours you waited for the result of the semester exam… The cups of coffee.. The movies… The teachers you had made fun of.. The classes you bunked for a nice afternoon siesta…

Is there not one huge archive of memories that seems to evade any new age memory ruiner like job stress or marital problems or the omnipresent traffic.. Don’t those memories always bring a smile to your lips when you reminisce about them… Don’t you leave out everything and rush to the hospital when you hear that your friend has met with an accident…? Don’t you plan your leave to attend your best friend’s wedding? Don’t you pray (albeit hurriedly) for your friend too when you stand before the gods every morning in your pooja room? Don’t her triumphs make you proud? Don’t you think of your friend when you get news about something she is desperately in need of…? Don’t you pick up the phone just to listen to her voice when you feel down?

Well…. Did anyone just say that people do not have time for anybody these days?

I say, we always have time, for those who matter, for those who care, for those people whom we care about.

Blood ties - we have none.

We dont always have fun

We are not colleagues

We dont meet up all days

We do argue

confide and giggle

We think things through

We laugh and we tickle

We are there for each other

Now and forever!

My dear friend,

Let us be the same

Till the end!