Yesterday evening i was jus hurriedly walking home after alighting the cognizant bus. It was raining and i wanted to avoid the “hachchooos( I mean catching cold)” bcoz it has jus about settled in that i am not a coll student anymore and a day’s leave means “loss of pay”.L As i walked i saw two cute little heads cuddled under an umbrella. I recognized one of them to be a kutti gal who lives in my colony. She smiled at me and introduced the other gal as her BEST FRIEND! I gave her also a smile and walked on.
As i walked my mind got stuck on those two words…” best friend”.. What if the gal had asked me “akka who is your best friend??”…. My mind was racing!! whom would i hav said??Aaalll those faces that had even once smiled at me and whose hands had waved at me these two decades were one after the other appearing in attendance order!! Five minutes into it and i still did not have an answer!!! It was then that i understood that the problem was not that there was NO BODY who had been “best friend”. The problem was that “EVERYBODY” has been best friend!! (so all u guys out there calling me your friend pat yourself on the back and say “good job”!!)
Well… that set me thinking.. Wat parameters do ppl use to decide who is a best friend??will they go grading??? amount of care shown -20 marks.. no of times they have made u smile-20 marks… and so on??? or.. maybe the person shud hav fished u outta trouble?? well… all friends always do that..dont they??? maybe they shud console u when u are down and out.. well again, all friends do that.Why do u need a “best friend” for that..?!.Maybe they share common interests?? Obviously ! don’t we know birds of a feather flock together?? So among the birds how will they decide??? hmmm… mozhi style some bulb will suddenly burn bright or some bell will ring eh??? Or some poorva janma bandham will resurface and a stranger will suddenly turn best friend??? And haven’t we heard so many stories and seen so many movies where “best friends” turn into “best enemies”?. Well.. if your so-called “best friend” cant forgive you and stop fighting with u… who else will?? So were they really “best” friends before fighting then???
I was still thinking… in coll we were a gang of six…and not for a million pounds would i be able to give one of them a point more than the other. They all seem equal before swa’s eyes!!! (sounds like some civics lesson… all citizens are equal before the law!! Hee hee ) Similary my school friends gang.. there too the same prob! Leave alone grading them. How am I gonna compare them with my coll friends and decide who is better?? And finally among them… one best??? Phew!!! My head sure is spinning!!
Am i the one who is not able to understand the “concept” of a best friend or is everyone else jus pretending??? welll….. folks!!! I know u must be thinking.. “apppaa!!! how many questions will she ask??”. So for your good I decide to stop here.
But my dear friends I must say.. The coveted post of “swa’s best friend” still remains unoccupied and I make an announcement here that any body who answers all the above asked questions satisfactorily shall automatically be recruited into that post!!! So All the best dudes and dudettes!!!! 🙂
It was around 6:30 pm one evening and I was all ready dressed in my usual joggingpants and tee shirt getting ready for my evening stroll to the beach. The sun had almost set and the sky above was a violetish pinkish dark bluish mix. The sea breeze had jus set in and painted a pretty picture for a nice walk.I live opposite a school which is second home to around 25oo kids. As I opened my gate to leave I heard a muffled sob.
I jus turned around to see a cute little pony-tailed kid dressed immpeccably in crisp navy blue skirt and an “ujala” white shirt standing all alone in the darkness. All kids seem cute to me usually but this one was definitely one of the cutest I had seen till date with her rosy pink cheeks and olive like eyes. I could’nt somehow bear to see such a sweetie pie in tears and so started walking towards her to see if I could be of some help. I had jus about moved a few yards when she started wailing even louder!! waaaaaaaaaa !!!she wud go!!! Do u look that scary swa?? I asked myself.. but realised that she had actually cried due to fear of a huge street dog that was walking beside me.. Phew!! Thank god!! I walked up to her and tried to be as akka- like as possible and calmed her down saying..” He is called chocolate.. He won do anything.. He is very friendly..”(though I am shit scared of that dog myself and have been chased by it a zillion times before!!!) I knelt down and asked y she was waiting. The kid replied that no one had come to pick her up. Jus then it struck me that the school usually closes by four and that the kid had been standing there braving hunger, thirst, darkness, loneliness and above all huge street doggies! All alone for over two hours.!!
I took her home and gave her something to eat. She then regained control over herself and became a little calm. It was then that I started my quizzing session. I asked her what her name was.. She replied that her name was Smriti. Then I asked her what her parents did and the kutti kid replied that both were working in “computer company”. Software professionals she meant.Then started her story!! Both parents came home really late. So her servant usually picked her up from school, took her home, gave her something to eat, and kept her company till she finished her homework and watched tv. She would sleep by around nine and her parents would not be back by the time she slept! So she would see her parents only the next morning!!! wat???? seeing one’s parents only the next day??? And imagine the mornings!!… mom wud be busy preparing lunch.. the kid wud be groaning to go to school..then wud hurriedly have a shower and gulp down the breakfast… then the dad wud drop her off to school on the way to office…when in the world would they even talk to each other???…
Imagine not having anyone in the house when u get back from school.. no one to listen to the little child’s stories of the day.. how her teacher gave her a star in her notebook for writing neatly.. how some boy pulled her ribbons.. wat all dishes her friends bought for lunch… how fat her english teacher looked…well… i could’nt but help feeling really sad for her.. But then…I had work to do now… I thought maybe her parents thought the servant would have picked her and did not know this had happened. So I looked up her identity card and found her mom’s cell number…I called her and told her that her kid was at my place and she should pick her.. and I was flabbergasted angered and shocked to hear the reply I got.. ” Oh I forgot! the servant said she would not be coming..” was all she said without even a slight hint of remorse!! I jus did not know wat to say…!! I jus hung up and waited for her to come and pick the kid. Just as I expected she was this chic looking young mom driving an innova and without a word of acknowledgement she jus ushered the child into the car and took her away… “the poor kid” i thought, as i waved her goodbye…
Dunno y but this really saddened me.. In the rat race for money modern day parents seem to be forgetting little kids who require their attention and not their money. If our generation had missed out on the virtues and values of a joint family our next gen seems to have forgotten wat a family is all abt!!!! The irony of the whole thing was.. Smriti ki hi smriti nahi rahi toh kiski smriti rahegi unhe??? They forgot to remember!!!
What swat says..... 