6 Reasons Why We All Need a Best Friend

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh 

A sorrow shared is a sorrow halved ,just as a happiness shared is a happiness doubled. And since we can't share all our problems or our triumphs with everybody, God has blessed each and every one of us with at least one close chum we can fall back on at the end of each day. The most beautiful part of friendship is, it transcends all barriers- age, sex, caste, creed ,religion or race. For me, the best part of each day is the time of the evening I share with my mother, and we pour  our hearts out to each other in a tete-a-tete over a cup of tea. So, I shortlisted six reasons why we all need a close friend, in order to make everyone aware of the blessing they have called a true friend .

• A good friend is a good listener- No matter what we've gone through the entire day, we can actually share all that with our close buddy. And that close buddy won't mind listening to our crap and endless rantings until our heart is satisfied. What are close chums for, after all?
• Comfort- As I mentioned earlier, we are not comfortable sharing our problems with everyone. So we need that one person wont judge us by our actions but will instead understand our problems and try to fix them.
• Connectedness- There are certain things you share in common with your close friend. It might be a common interest in sports,  a fetish for books, or a penchant for cooking, or it can just the way you both look at things, i.e. the basic philosophies of life. This is what makes two persons the closest of friends and helps to create an everlasting bonding.
• Fun - One of the various connotations for the word friendship is fun. And that's the kind of fun that takes place when two close friends are together- whether its going ROFL over a joke only you both understand, quarreling over whose crush is better looking, or rubbing cake cream all over each others faces!
•  A true friend gives honest opinions- It is important to have that one person who is candid enough to tell us what we're doing is right or wrong. Whether it comes down to a dress we're wearing,  our behavior in public, or an unscrupulous act of having cheated on someone. True friends back us, but at the same time help us see things in a better light.
• A good friend is essentially a 3am friend-  Yes, one of the biggest reasons why we all need a best friend. If you're feeling depressed in the middle of the night and you're on the verge of tears, all you want is the company of a close bud. And sometimes, it might not be possible for your close pal to be physically present, but all it takes is to dial his/her number on your phone. Sometimes you don't even need to speak, but the feeling of having your friend on the other side of the phone provides a whole lot of comfort.

That's the kind of friendship we all look forward to in our lives. And if you look hard, I'm sure you'll find that one person in life who deserves to be called a best friend. The person who has been silently helping you in many ways, but their endeavors to make you happy went unnoticed ! And all though it is not friendship day, I decided to write this post because we don't need to celebrate a beautiful bond such as friendship on a special day of the year! Good luck to whoever is on a quest of finding a true friend !

Schooldays and Nostalgia

         You know how quickly time flies by when:

 

• You empty your bookshelves and stack away the previous session's books and replace them with the new ones you recently bought.

•  You look back on the days of the previous academic year, softly smiling to yourself as you remember a funny incident that had made you laugh many a times hence.
• You suddenly discover an old photo album having pictures of your childhood days. You gently stroke the picture of a one year old you, splashing water in a bath tub. 
• The first time you notice the wrinkles on your mom's cheek, her grey hairs peeking out.
• You find a hand-made birthday card from a friend among junk inside a drawer. It has a typical junior school drawing of a sun with spokes ,and two friends underneath it grabbing each others hands.
• You sit back and realize, you have spent thirteen years of your life in a place which we all so lovingly term as school. It's the very last year of wearing your school uniform, the very last summer break you'll ever have, the very last year you will be called a schoolgirl or a schoolboy. The very last year you'll be spending eight hours a day with those people alike your age who've made your childhood so beautiful, your friends.

It feels like all these years passed by in a jiffy! It's the bitter sweet memories that make life so beautiful- the proud moment when you had beaten your childhood bully in a race from school back home, the first time you earned a star for your drawing,the first time you learnt what it felt to be punished along with your friends for chuckling in class. So here I am, reminiscing, as I prepare myself for my last year at school. Mostly a hopeful me, with a tinge of grief somewhere deep down, as I write my name in block letters on my text- books.

Dedicated To My Friends

I often sit and think what my life would be without my friends. And it is then I realize how much my friends mean to me, how much they care about me. So this is something I want to dedicate to all my dear friends.

I asked God for a companion

And He gave me such an incredible one like you.

You never left me alone in the dark crowds,

Where there was no one to help me out.

You never turned your back to me

When I was wild with anger.

You taught me never to lose hope,

Even when there were failures on my way.

You always cheered me up,

During the gloomy days.

You always made me smile

With everything you said,

When you saw me in distress,

You were the one to cry for me.

When the others only sympathized with me in my sorrow,

You were the only one to empathize then.

Please keep up your love and affection,

For this is what I need the most.

Thank you, my dear friend

This is all I can say.

Monsoon Rhythms

After a scorching summer, the arrival of monsoons is the most delighting. At such times, even a dull and cloudy weather is not that unpleasant. But at times, rains are not welcoming at all. Now, you may disagree with me on this fact if you haven’t experienced it yourself. Suppose it’s eight o’clock in the morning and you are late for office or school and you forget your umbrella at home. And on your way, there’s a heavy downpour and you are drenched wet. I’m sure you would hate rains then. Well, I experienced such days many a times, especially this monsoon. I was late for school and then all of a sudden it started pouring heavily. Rainwater had collected in puddles on the road and I had walked through so many of them. By the time I reached school, my shoes and socks were soaked with mud and water. And I had to wear those soggy shoes and socks for the whole day. But while returning home, I had a wonderful experience. It was drizzling and my friend shared her umbrella with me. On our way, we burnt our tongues with a typical Indian street food “chur mur”. I am one of those who hate getting wet in rain, but I found that monsoons are not bad after all, even though the rains had really troubled me a lot. Now don’t think that I liked getting wet that morning. But I loved the “chur mur” which would never taste as delicious as under my friend’s umbrella with the soft music of the pitter patter of raindrops.

Spectrum: the array of colors in my life

Spectrum 2010

They say good times don't last long.It is one of such good times I'm going to write about.It is an eight months practice for a grand event called Spectrum which was to be held in Netaji Indoor Stadium.It started from the summer of '09.You can't probably imagine a good time in summer ,under the hot sun.But this was truly a pleasant time.
There was very less pressure in studies .Everyday we used to board the our school bus at around 11:30 and return to school at around 3pm.Though the journey from our school to the practice ground was not very long,we used to enjoy every bit of it.We used to crack jokes and sing out loud .But    the worst part was  practicing under the scorching sun.At times we were also taken to an air conditioned hall. During the days practice,we used to feel impatient for recess when we would all sip packs of Frooti .We were also provided with delicious snacks like cakes ,sandwiched and cookies.Practices were really fun.Run throughs were held during the last two weeks where we had to perform in front of Ma'am Khaitan.To we students ,she was a very formidable person..The final week of practice was held in Netaji Indoor Stadium.These days were the best during the practice and  we were given lip smacking meals like pizzas,chowmien and such other tantalizing dishes.We used to share our meals and watch the performances of other groups.When our turn would come and we had to peroform Khukri dance(a traditional dance from Nepal,performed with daggers),we used to hurry to the back stage and get ready.

During the last four days of practice,we had to attend school at 5:30 in the morning and return home at 11:30 or may be 12 at night.The 25th of January-the final day of Spectrum was very exciting because the great television personality, Amitabh Bachchan would come to watch our performance.But at the same time it was also very nostalgic for us, because the eight months of practice had come to an end and we knew that we would miss everything of these special days immensely.We had become like the members of an extended family.We made new friends and also experienced the joy of sharing and caring.Our costume looked really funny with a green kurta ,a black coat,and a black paijama with orange garlands and a ear ring in one ear and a "karra" in one hand.People on the roads used to stare at us with mouths wide open. At the backstage,on the final day of practice,we took signatures of our dance teachers and embraced them with love.We were very nervous during the performance.Our performance came out to be one of the best of Spectrum 2010.We were all so surprised at the news.We never thought that  the audience would enjoy our performance that much .After all success comes after hard work!

The beautiful journey of spectrum 2010 will be there with me throughout my life as one of the most memorable time of my schooldays.