Kabhi kabhi, Aditi..

"My friend ‘x’ is a little misbehaving type, my friend ‘y’ always agrees to whatever I say, but Aditi is real fun to be with and is my ‘true friend’", my daughter said. She was obviously unhappy about the fact that her best friend ‘Aditi’ is shifting to Delhi. I have seen them fight, compete and play together. They both got irritable when they had nothing to do. They always had an eye on the other, took dance and swimming classes together, checked whose drawing and coloring was better and whose hand writing was coming out well. I could just say, they evolved together.

My daughter’s plight led me to think of Aditi. She too sounded low but anticipates to play with the 'twin' friends who are going to be her new neighbors. She made a picture of a girl with a skipping rope and gave my daughter to 'keep safe forever'. She inturn got my daughter’s 'favorite smiley hair band' and looked relieved to have that piece of memory in her collection. I was reminded of Meenu, my own friend who has been the most meaningful influence in my childhood days and felt a loss for words.

"From where I am now, I have 'some things' to tell you two little children. It happens! my dear ones, and this is also part of your growing up. Life is not always fair and you need to face it with courage. It is not what you would've wanted, but you need to still move on. You need to move on with the knowledge that whatever space you have created in each other’s hearts are going to stay even when you both become as big as your Mammas. And you will even search for your childhood friends in your children’s friends...

You will walk places, climb mountains and cross oceans. You will meet people, make friends and have relationships. The learning that you had about interacting meaningfully and making a difference in each other’s lives will remain with you and help you in all your strides. So strange are the ways, who knows what life has in store, maybe you will still come together, go away from each other again and perhaps end up together all over again. It happens, Aditi, kabhi kabhi! You just have to learn to keep smiling... God bless you both!".