Eighteen summers

And this one is for my friend Vaidehi. I first met Vaidehi in July of 1995 when we were mere shrimps of 12 years. I remember as a shy silent girl who had accepted the fact that people will make fun of her and of her name. She had joined our school because her uncle had started teaching there. I used to have a large group of friends at that time and we took Vaidehi as one of our own.

In the next few years, Vaidehi was a shy girl, who didn’t express herself, who never lost her number and who, more often than not had people trample her feelings. Most of the times, she took herself for granted. One of her hobbies during school was watching commercial advertisements and imitating them, a hobby she shared with Saumya.

As school ended and college began, Vaidehi started asserting herself more. She even started getting angry. But her anger was never because of her own ego, it was because she had witnessed some injustice or other. But with time, she took some major steps; she accepted those who were alone.

But this is not about Vaidehi. This is for the relation that I share with her. She advised me, that I never followed. She scolded me (sometime) but I always laughed my way out. She stood by my side when I was sad, when I was angry, when I was mad, when I was unreasonable, when I was lonely; and she stood by my side through my work and marriage and after. She tried to understand me, though I have serious doubts if she understood me. But all in all, she has always been a good friend. Maybe she has been a little strict friend; but nevertheless a good one.

So this is for the eighteen summers that we spent together. Laughing and sharing and studying and playing and arguing. With all our differences we gelled together. Maybe this is friendship.

Friends once,

Friends forever.