Friends
- October 7, 2021
- Posted by: MAYURI
- Category: Articles
Friends
One of the most cherished relationships in life. We all have friends…or we think we have…until proven otherwise. Right from early childhood we try to make friends and continue to do so for a long time in life. Then we steady ourselves sometime in our middle years, with a few to call our friends.
There are varieties and varieties of friendships. Some harmless, others not so.
- Childhood friends who meet once in a while and incessantly recall all funny and unfunny details of our interactions, promise to call back but disappear
- Colleagues from our earlier job, who recall our existence when in dire need, call regularly until the need is either fulfilled or dashed
- Neighbourhood friends talk to us only in public places; temples, shops, on the street, even on our or their door step. Many times we don’t even know their names!
- Then there are friends we meet only in a particular place. They spend a lot of time with us in this place, make no promise to be in touch
- We also have a large group whom we call friends whom we meet only in groups and never have a one to one conversation
- We also have friends who recall us only for certain tasks , get it done by us and then disappear again…until the next time
- We also have admirers who would like to be more than friends …embarrassing us with their clingy and jealous behaviours
- Then there are friends who want to be our mentors all our and their lives…can never get rid of them and their uncalled for advice and possessiveness
- Then there are the most frustrating friends, especially from the opposite sex, who are vacillating between being friends and wanting to be our lovers!
- Then there are those, who neither leave us alone nor be on our side as friends
- Frenemies … a recently coined word …we really don’t know whether they are our friends or enemies! But we cannot avoid them too
- Then there are some who claim everywhere that they are our friends…because it pays to be our friends!
- You have more ‘friends’ than you want if you are a good listener! Many claim friendship and tell you all their sob stories as often as they please
- There are dangerous friends too, who befriend us to get something from us…they ditch us at that moment and might even harm us in some way
Not all is negative about friends though … there are great friendships too…
- There are new ways of expressing good friends : BFF: best friends forever, who are there for us for all seasons and all reasons
- There are 3.0 am friends…whom we can disturb in the middle of the night with real and imaginary grouses!
- There are friends with whom we do only certain things, but they are not generally with us; shopping, watch certain type of films, play cards, golf, book reading club members etc
- There are other friends who lend us money without asking it back/ we give money to friends without asking it back too…without confiding anything to them
- Then there are those with whom we share personal things, clothes, food, notes, books, music albums … again not bothered about reciprocation
- There are those with whom we can share all our good, bad and ugly life experiences…they will listen, nod and let us be…not being judgmental is their great contribution to our friendship
- There are those to whom we turn for advice…they are great at that, without expecting anything from us
- There are those with whom we do not maintain any touch, but we are sure they will always be there for us
- There are those who were lovers once upon a time…but are now friends and will be there always…not many can boast of such friends though
- There are specific, special friends at different points in life situations who were indispensible at that time, but are no longer in touch…but we always cherish their friendship of those days
- There are those friends who pushed us into life changing activities that we were hesitant to get into and then they have disappeared! Unforgettable they are in our life
- Then there are those relatives who are more friends than relatives, with whom we share a lot which we do not share with anyone else
- Siblings too can be more friends to us than brother or sister; some fortunate among us have such relationships with siblings
- Then there are those colleagues whom you might not see as friends, but do more for you, both directly and indirectly, than you can ever imagine!
- And lastly, there are friends from our childhood to our old age…lucky few among us have them…unswerving friendship this is
There are those among us who are unfortunate enough to have no friends at all… they invariably tried and found most from the first set listed above and in frustration gave up on friendships altogether. For them friends are
- Books- favourite books which they re – read for solace
- Music- listening, practicing music; singing, instrumental music
- Work- these are the silent workaholics we see around us
- Writing – they are the ones who express themselves through writing
- Other art forms, exercising, single actions such as cooking, traveling alone etc
Now I know all of you are wondering about the ones in the first list and the second list to check where you stand on friendships… carry on!!
But hang on to those friends you are sure you do have in life right now…they are invaluable and irreplaceable!
Wonderful write up akka👍 I hv 4 childhood friends with whom I hv been past 45 years. Amazing friends 👍
Mayur Atta. You continue to amaze me. I recall a few of your acquaintances in Sultan Bazaar.
I hope you are still blessed with a few of them. Lovely penmanship.