Does friendship still exist?

It was 1996, I was free from the clutches of school. Teenager-with-wings, that’s exactly how I felt, free to be on my own without any rules, and oh, the bliss of it all! College was welcomed with both arms (and legs!). Did friendship really exist? Well, each day was a new start with a joyful end, filled with pranks and fun and knowing another new friend. Friendship then was genuine, without any expectations!

I met a friend through another friend, and she was bubbly and naughty. To this day, she still is bubbly and I am sure her family would say in ways naughty too. Back in college, we were a group of bubbling young blooded friends who were always up to having a blast. Our days were filled with teasing people, pulling a joke on one another, putting friends into a spot, et al. We all sat together enjoying our freedom from the school jail. My new friend was tall, thin and had a lovely smile. Our wavelengths matched and thus started our friendship. She stayed about 3 km away from my home. During the first year of college our interactions were limited within the college campus.

Over the course of time we realized that we could take the same bus (public transport) home. As we chatted all the way home I understood her more. Her bus stopped a couple of stops before mine. One day we figured out a shorter way from her home to mine. And so we used to get off at her bus stop and then continue chit-chatting. Eventually I would walk back home using the shortcut.

The walking served me two purposes, the first was to build a stronger bond with her and in doing so we laid a strong foundation to our friendship. The second reason was to save a rupee. (Weird you think? Well, back then a rupee did have a good value.) That money would be stashed away to be used once in two months till I had collected enough to spend on a softy ice-cream or a pastry cake. And so the first year of college went by and we were happy to become seniors.

The next year of college was with a bit more excitement as both of us got our driving license (learner’s license, but still an achievement). My dad had recently taught me to drive a bike and she had learnt to drive a Scooty. We convinced our parents to allow us to use the two wheeler for our commute. So for the first day I got my bike and the next day she got hers and so on and so forth. Basically we were striking a deal with our parents by showing them a profit margin!

Having gained our parents trust we regularly travelled by two wheeler. There were many a times when we skid, fell and still went to college with those bruises. One such incident was when my kameez tore after having skid through the rain from driving faster than needed. I didn’t go back home and instead went to her home and changed into her clothes and we went back to college. Sometimes she would still be shivering from the aftershock of the recent fall (off the bike) and sometimes it would be me. Through all of it we had each other’s support.

After junior college we went to the same college for our graduation course. In the mornings I would reach her house in time to reach college. My friend would still be sound asleep. Everyday her mom would give her an earful, although it didn’t change her through the six years we went together. Never-the-less, I enjoyed all the good words her mom praised me with!

Most of the time I stayed back at her home under the excuse of studying (of course we did study too). I would read the entire chapter and my friend would just be listening. She avoided reading and I loved to read and so it was. There were times more often than you’d imagine that we would fight like crazy and I would just get up and leave. In that rage of moment, I would generally walk back home. But by the time I reached half the way home, I would cool down and just go back to her home. We would sit there for hours without talking a word to each other. The very next day we were back at talking and bygones were bygones.

Any family functions at her house and I didn’t need an invite, it was as though I was part of her family. All her relatives and their family friends knew me well. Of course they could not have missed seeing me at her home. My mother used to wonder if I was still part of our family or if I had been adopted by them!

As the college years progressed, academics forced us to join tuitions. During that time my family was facing a bit of a financial crisis. I joined tuition for one term. However, the next term I didn’t have enough money to pay the fees so I did not go for tuitions. One day, she called me and told me about the piggy bank she had since childhood. She said that she would break it so I could pay my tuition fees.

The pride in me did not let her do any such thing and I refused to talk to her. Silly me! The next week our tuition sir called on me to know the reason I was not attending his classes. I had a pretty good idea on how he got to know and with a trembling heart, told him about my situation. When he heard it, he gave me a good talking cum scolding. He convinced me that I could pay my fees after I got a job! I kept my self-esteem and treasured my friend.

We both have very different personalities, some even say we are quite opposite but she is my best friend. We spend festivals at each others places, we belonged to different religions but we learnt to respect each others religions. I loved spending time for all the festivals along with all the scrumptious food. She did not like the boiled rice which was cooked at my home but still did not mind joining our religious celebrations.

I met her in college and she turned into my finest friend, and much more. I wish the next generation has such bonding’s beyond money and games, to relish friendship which stands true to its definition without expectations or intent.