Thank you!

“This is my best friend. And this is my second best friend. And this is my third best friend…” This is how 5 cute little people were introduced to me by my sweet little cousin. After the introduction part was done, and when they all left, i asked him, “ How come you have so many best friends?” “umm….” He pondered for not more than few seconds before he replied, “because I like being with them and I meet them daily and they stay near my house! Simple!!” Indeed! The most simple and naïve answer!! Yet, so much profound and reflective..

I remembered my school days, when i used to do the same, introduce every other person in my group as my best friend. And a person whom i would have had a fresh fight would not even qualify as my friend for that day! Funny, i thought.

Not really. That is the age when we actually make so to say langotiya yaars and friends forever! We accept people not because they are cute or rich or famous, but because they are ‘available’ whenever we want, they are there with us in all our fun times.

I’ve had many many such friends. And surprisingly, very few have managed to stay in that position, leave alone promoting to next level. And i don’t regret it all!

I have been a fairly good judge of people, since the age i started to understand. And i can say that with pride.
And i guess that is when i realized what exactly a ‘best friend’ is. And to my surprise, those ‘best friends’ barely qualified in my category after that.

I have plenty of friends even now. Sometimes, while preparing an invite or something like that, i just cannot take anybody out without thinking at least 100 times. Not because they will some or the other way find out the ceremony or the function, but because i really want them to be a part of that.
But similarly, there are people whom i don’t even list down. I just don’t’ have to. They are the ones who don’t need any invite. Because they’ve been there all the time, without me even asking them to participate or contribute.
I’m pretty sure this must be happening to most of the people. But i am very proud to have these people in this category. And i didn’t have to do anything special to make them a part of this list.

For example:.. a person who used to annoy me like hell and was never a part of anything i did ever, became my best friend and eventually the love of my life..apart from being the mentor and real supporter….
... a person whom i barely knew, and before meeting him used to be considered a real jerk by me, became my trustworthy friend, and my “big brother”…who can even sense from the first “hello” in the phone call that something is wrong….
…a person who was junior to me in my school, whom i never remembered when i met him after school, is one such friend now who will say all the bad words to me and still we’ll be laughing the very next moment…
…a person who was the ‘prince charming’ in school days, and because of that we never exchanged a word with each other then, is now the one who have been my first reader to every post here…
…a couple of people who were “just batchmates” are now the ones with whom i share the inner most secrets, and we just cannot have a single week when we do not meet or talk over the phone..

This list is not exhaustive… there are quite a few more people who are in that category, but i cannot mention all of them.. (sorry people, but you’ll always be there, don’t worry!).

I do not meet these people everyday. Nor do we talk every day. But i am glad they are a part of my life. And i am equally happy that some people, whom i have chucked out of my life (and were my so called friends), are not a part of ly life. ‘Coz as i said earlier, i am very good at judging people. And i cannot go wrong at least at judging the wrong people…

And i thank God for giving me this potential of recognizing the good, the bad and the ugly in my life...