To Friends.

At the very outset, Happy Friendship Day to whoever is reading this right now!

I may know you very well, or not at all, but at this moment you're reading something written by me rather than doing the million other things you could have been doing instead. 

And that matters to tiny, baby faced me. So,before I write any further, here's a big hug. :)

Yaaaaay,it is the first of August. 213th day of the year.

The one day of the year many gladly fall prey to the enormously successful marketing strategy of Archies and Hallmark, spending mindlessly on colorful friendship bands and cute little photo-frames. And admittedly

,till 4 years back, I was an avid buyer of all of the below. :P

(These are Archies bestselling items,by the way. I took this picture of their website!)

Today is also the day you are bound to receive countless SMSes on your cell-phone that go something like this.

"If CARE is a WAVE,
i give u SEA.
If RESPECT is a LEAF,
i give u TREE.
If TRUST is a PLANET,
i give u GALAXY,
if FRIENDSHIP is LIFE,
i give u MINE 4 FREE..
keep smiling.my dearest frnd."

Do you feel like smiling with gratitude or throwing up at the cheesiness of that? :P

But today, I think of all my friends.

The girl with whom I played with Barbie dolls in first grade in Coimbatore.

The guy who introduced me to Backstreet Boys in sixth grade.

The girl who I sat with on a scary ride at Essel World for the first time, and who hugged me even as I screamed at her.

The guy who calls me Bundo and messes up my hair all the time.

The girl I've had the most horrible fights with and laughed about them all later.

The guy who gave me 2 music CDs as a farewell gift when I left Calcutta.

The girl who I bunked school with to watch a Himesh Reshamiya movie, "first day first show" just for the kicks. 

The guy who gets drenched in the rain to get me a Dairymilk when I'm not feeling so good.

Tangled up in Blue, Srishti, Sankoobaba, Einstein and others- People I've never met, but have become close companions on my blogging journey.

And I thank all of them.

Just for having been a part of my life, exactly the way they have. :)

"Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,

Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg’d comrade."

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3.


I'd like to take that chance to be friends with the "new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade" today.
In case, I don't know you, here, I repost an old blogpost I'd written for you. :)
http://contradictoryexistence.blogspot.com/2010/06/to-stranger.html