28 March 2019
There are some moments that are so perfect in their simplicity and the happiness they bring along, that you just HAVE to keep them safe. Tonight, I climb up the stairs, hugging one such moment close.
Have you ever looked into familiar eyes and seen an entirely different side of them surface? Do you walk along your best friend of the growing years and realise there is so much to still discover about him?
Summers often get a little lonely, with the work load soaring and the house being empty for longer durations. You come home, exhausted and yet wanting to talk to someone, anyone!
On a whim, you call up a friend who you hadn’t been in very regular touch with, until a few months ago. It’s been years that you have been friends with this guy, and yet there have been long absences from each other’s lives for the greater part of these years.
It’s been a long day, for you and him. And yet as he walks up, still dressed in the day’s formals, you cannot help but smile. This is the same guy who had always sported an unruly mop of hair yet who always manages to be dressed sharp. Back then, he dropped everything at the drop of a hat and came over any time you needed him, and yet tonight he wouldn’t until his work was done. He walks with a purpose now, unlike his aimless wanderings from so many years ago.
So much has changed, you cannot help but sigh to yourself. And just then, he begins to talk. Tell you about his day, that new book he read, that particular research article which caught his fancy. He takes it upon himself to educate you about the “latest” in the world of investment banking, a term and a universe so far removed from yours!
He realises this and switches to easier examples, relatable stories and maintains a steady stream of smiles. For a moment I am distracted; at how animated he seems. I am almost scared to interrupt lest the magic is broken. It seems nothing short of magic, how the threads of this friendship could so easily be picked up.
Our feet swallow the kilometres, our mouths blabber without a break. We cover a range of topics as time literally flies! Our professional commitments urge us to say Goodbye for the night, and yet the feet falter. For just one more moment…
The night had to come to an end, but the moment need not. The spring in our steps, the twinkle in our eyes, the smile on our lips assure us it will not.
There is a certain charm about old friends, that never dies. They have seen you and continue to bear with you through all your whims and fancies, mood swings and tantrums. They have been there to wipe your snotty tears and also to laugh with you till your stomachs hurt.
There, under that soft glow of the street light, you see those familiar eyes smile back at you and you just instinctively know, “There are some moments that are so perfect in their simplicity and the happiness they bring along, that you just HAVE to keep them safe!
