r'ship bluz...

*edited to add: title has been changed bcoz i had a prev post with the same title.

here's a true story i promised to publish for a friend.

*disclaimer: X & Y are real individuals. their names will not be mentioned coz they're both happily married. not to each other. if u know who i'm talking about, pls stay mum about it. we do not wish to discuss them publicly. this ideally, shouldn't be blogged about. but i thought it would help a friend. and i hope it does.*

so, once upon a time... there was a gurl X. and there was a boy Y. they had a lot in common. including their disdain for relationships, flings and people. they had both been in relationships as well as had flings prior to meeting each other. they both wore their "happy to be single" badges rather proudly.

what started as routine acquaintance, soon turned into friendly, harmless flirting. neither took it seriously. Y was known to flirt with all women. X, also enjoyed flirting. she thought it added some spice to friendship.

Y, at this stage was regularly meeting other gurls. for matrimonial purposes. he used to discuss these meetings with X and they used to laugh over them. he started liking X. he thought she was everything a woman should be. she was smart, intelligent, independent, funny, knew how to handle relationships, attitude and life. they did have a lot in common.
then, one fine day, X met Y for coffee and told him how a "friend" of hers had told her he liked her. and she was upset about it because she thought he was a good friend. she also told him how she felt about people not being able to control their feelings and ruining perfectly good friendships. Y agreed with everything she said. and argued for the point, even louder.
the truth was, X liked Y too. she thought he was a simple, down-to-earth guy who made her laugh. and she'd have liked to give this r'ship a shot. but she did not know that he liked her. and she wasn't the kind of girl who'd ever tell a guy that she liked him. also, she didn't want to risk losing him as a friend merely to give the r'ship a shot!

they both believed that they were too old to "fall madly in love" anymore. they'd seen enough of life. and believed that life was all about taking a decision and not looking back.

they decided to let things take their own course.

gradually, unknown to each other, they both started liking each other quite a bit. all their friends knew. the friends thought that these two had confessed their liking to each other. but these two, kept quiet. hoping the other person liked them, but not wanting to say it. they even laughed at how their friends kept talking of them as a "couple".

this went on for almost a year. by this time, both knew they liked the other. and both refused to let the other know. they both kept going out of their way for the other. thinking that these were signs to the other. but they were so alike... neither of them saw the signs. and if they did, they refused to believe in them.

then one fine day, X told Y that she was meeting someone her parents wanted her to. for matrimonial purposes. Y, in his usual nonchalant manner said "go ahead. have fun." that did it for X. she went ahead and agreed to the nuptials believing that Y didn't care for her beyond friendship. tired of waiting for him to realize he liked her, she went ahead and got engaged. Y was quite heartbroken. and confessed to X - two days after her engagement - that he liked her. that he had always liked her. but hadn't known how to tell her. and now, he couldn't pretend to be happy for her.

but life isn't a hindi movie. X told him that she had waited for almost a year to hear that. and now that she did, it was too late. she had taken her decision. and they should move on.

today, they're no longer friends. i don't know if they miss each other. i don't know if they are happy with their respective partners. but i do believe that all of this could have been avoided if they had been honest about how they felt towards each other. they MAY have been happily married - TO each other. or they may have decided to go separate ways. but i guess they'll never know.

moral of the story *this is ONLY for the friend i wrote this for*: if u like someone, make sure u tell that person. LOUD. and CLEAR. leaving no room for doubt. because once u like a person, u can't be "just friends" with them! someone's heart is bound to be broken.

the inner circle

life has changed a lot for me in the past couple of years. and i seldom analyze how blessed i am to have friends who'd do anything for me. it's so comforting to know that i can count on every one of them to be there for me. to make me feel better when i'm feeling grey... to make me smile when i least feel like it. to point out the silver lining when i look up at dark, stormy skies.

i've always categorized everything. frenz included. so i have acquaintances, colleagues, people, friends, and then close friends. here's to core that form the inner circle!

minal: for knowing exactly when i need her. we may not speak for days... weeks... but somehow, the DAY i'm feeling low, she's there. almost telepathically. she has this uncanny way of just knowing what i'm thinking. i don't have to bother finding d words! i love the fact that nothing has diminished the closeness we feel. if anything, we're closer today than we were when we first met.

suruchi: for being there for me. through-out! on days i desperately need to talk to her & on days when i don't. for opening her heart & home to me at a time when i was a li'l lost! *and even homeless, after the b'bay floods!* she made me realize that i don't detest kids, maybe even like them! she made me understand that marriage doesn't tie you down if you marry the right person. that u don't have to lose your individuality only because you're a wife, a mother. you still ARE you. and above all, she made me realize that i wasn't the idol of perfection! :) she keeps me rooted, no matter what. and i am so honored she thinks of me as a friend!

vibs: she morphed into a friend from a colleague before i could turn & say "i like to dance!" she's stood by me through some real stormy, confused times. she made me fall in love with b'bay. and with life. she was my food guide, my area guide... we've done a lot of crazy things, driven people up d wall... had fun. through tears and smiles. through storms and d calm preceding it. our friendship has been put to test at so many levels... and we're still close. i don't know what i'd do without her in my life. d only person i know who lives life with so much zest & style! she's going through a tuff phase right now and i hope i can be there for her like she has been for me.

mishra: he's allergic to mush. simplifies every issue with a flair that makes me feel silly at times! but he knows how to make me smile. irrespective of how screwed i'm feeling. sometimes, we take people for granted. with him, i know i can... and i do. and he returns the favour. but we both know how much the other means to them! and tho i'll never tell him... it's comforting to have a fren like him.

joy: for being the bozo only he can be! for introducing me to bong rock! and making me procure a legally banned CD. has d most amusing perspective on every situation! thinks i married V so HE can have twins! *complicated, warped logic... don't bother!* but i know that if ever i need to fall back on him, he'll be there.

then, there are my occasional guardian angels who help me cheer up on arbit days when i'm blue for arbit reasons... there's GPS, whom i only grow fonder of with every passing day... there's Poo - she can be annoying as hell at times, but i still love her!

here's hoping all of u who believe in V-Day had a good one... and so did all of u who don't! :)

a ray, to fr'ship...

this piece is about a very dear fren of mine. a very dear, very very modest fren. who gets embarrassed if anyone else knows that he's doing well in life.
- a fren who manages to get ONE part of his body broken after the previous one has barely healed.
- a fren who, in a drunken stupor, managed to get his LIP ripped off by an alsatian. *he'll KILL me if he knows i blogged this!*
- a fren who's seldom answered my calls, never bothered to keep in touch with me despite staying in the same city. but he's always been there for me. i don't know HOW, but whenever i've felt lonely in d big, bad crowded world - he's always been there.
- a fren, i've always ragged for being really primitive when it comes to technology. and yet, he managed to write me one of my sweetest testimonials on orkut!
- a fren who didn't come for my one & only wedding. and didn't make any excuses for not being there.
- a fren, who despite being so close to me, doesn't know V's name. *at times i doubt he knows mine*
- a fren with whom i share emoticons on gtalk! :-/ *yeah, that's the latest one! and we both loved it!*
- a fren i've known for a good 7 years now. and yes, when i look back, it's been ALL good!
- a fren, with whom i can be completely and unreasonably me.
- a fren, who will disown me if he comes across this blog piece and realizes it's about him.

to the world he may be obnoxious, a workaholic, erudite, holier-than-thou... anything. but to me, he'll always be one of my closest frenz. someone i share a lot with. without ever saying the words.

lucky i am. really.

p.s.: u need to know him and me, to comprehend the title of this piece.