My Best Friend

I have always been amazed at the random usage of the term ‘Best Friend’ by many. It’s fascinating at times to see how some can actually make an entire list of their respective ‘Best Friends’! And adding on to all the astonishment is the million dollar question often posed: “So… how many ‘Best Friends’ do ‘you’ have?” “I am sorry but the plural of that term doesn’t exist in my dictionary,” pat comes the reply without much thought. Maybe it’s just normal to have numerous in that category and maybe it’s abnormal of me to keep that term sacrosanct, reserved just for one. But I prefer it that way. Why? Well, because to start with, my best friend’s and my friendship goes back 20 years, to a time when we hardly knew what the word ‘friend’ means. Secondly, our togetherness, which we have shared on every stage of life till date, is not bound by worldly factors like time, distance and most importantly, religion, caste or creed.
We come from two most starkly different cultural backgrounds, live in different cities, manage to bump into each other for a virtual chat occasionally, and yet have been forever striving to be the first one to wish the other on her birthday (it could very well be a few minutes before the clock strikes 12, purely to achieve the goal)! Apart from schooldays, we haven’t exactly been together in all those wild and golden moments life throws at you during college or racked our brains together to make career decisions. Nevertheless we have always been there for each other whenever any of the two felt the need to scream in sheer frustration, to announce some much awaited good news or to just talk. In short, she has been my emotional outlet and vice versa.
Inspite of having our own set of good friends or ‘group’ as some would like to call it in our respective cities, there has been a remarkable connectivity between the two of us, hard to define but rock-solidly maintained. Right from kindergarten to today, we have not only discovered the various facets of life together, but also the nuances of friendship for that matter. Sharing or rather exchanging tiffins during recess, competing in exams, discussing crushes, fighting like cats and dogs, after which we wouldn’t speak or see eye-to-eye for almost a month --- every little instance has only added in building a stronger friendship.
To come to think of it, more than fun, our journey of exploring life together has been fulfilling. For both of us know that if ever the whole world would have to turn it’s back on either of us, we would still have one ‘Best Friend’ to look for no matter what.