Nostalgic Friendship Day....


Nostalgic Friends......
The first Sunday of every August is Friendship Day. This year it's August 1. 
 Nine years ago, on a wet monsoon day, the three of us stood outside Ernakulam's Sridhar Movie Theatre.
This movie hall have been an institution for cinema buffs for generations. My two friends and I were no exceptions. It was the first day first show of Dil Chahta Hai, a story about three friends unsure about where life would take them. Three hours later, when we came out of the hall none of us spoke for the longest time.
I would like to believe that the same thought was running through our heads: Where would we be ten years later? None of us spoke of it though. Guys never bonded that way then and I think they don't even now.
The following year, Arun changed colleges and I chose a subject that Gerin had no inclination for.  We rarely shared the same classroom and the scythe of time took its toll. Before we knew it, we began to forget birthdays. Since we didn't share any subjects and exchange notes, we began to forget telephone numbers.
Towards our final year of college we were happy to forget about each other's existence.
I suspect a part of it had to do with a few choices I made then. Later, I heard that one of them left the city and the other took up a job offer soon after his masters.
Early, scenes from the film kept coming back to me.
Recently Arun and I happened to see each other in a local bus from Aluva to Ernakulam. It had been over six years since we'd crossed each other's path. So I guess we were justified in narrowing our eyes when we saw each other. We exchanged awkward smiles and I secretly hoped for my destination to arrive soon. Needless to say it didn't.
Partly out of compulsion, partly because we couldn't ignore each other and partly because our friendship meant something to both of us, we started talking.
First it was about this and that, then about how our families were, then I think we spoke something about how hot it can be in Ernakulam and about what we were doing with our lives.
They say people change over the years. But that morning, speaking with Arun I realised how much of us doesn't!
We still had the same views on life and still steadfastly held on to them. And though we didn't get to each other's throats like we had a few years ago, we realized whatever happened was perhaps for  the best.
As the cliche goes, all of us moved on.
Gerin who was studying to be a Business Analyst went on to complete his Business Management from a prestigious institute in Bangalore. Arun, I am told, does a lot of number crunching for a start-up financial firm.
As for me, I like to flip the Dil Chahta Hai DVD every once a while... not so much pining for the past as much as out of a sense of wonder and amazement of how sometimes, just sometimes, life can imitate art.
Note: I have changed the original names of my friends as I don’t want to hurt anyone…..I wish all friends a very happy Friendship Day....

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