Friends

"...Good friends we have had, oh good friends we've lost along the way..." sang Bob Marley. Those words always bring a lump to my throat. Faces of people I've known swim out from the darkness of the past. Familiar faces blurred by the haze of time. Recognizable features to which I can't put a name. Places that were once frequented everyday, now buried somewhere by the sands of my memories.

Time goes by so fast. Some days are so clear; as if they were yesterday. I can recall every detail. Every single moment as it passed. The sight of all my friends. The smiles. The laughter. All the secrets that we shared. The understanding. Knowing what was going on with each other. What was important. Hopes. Dreams. Aspirations. Hours spent together doing nothing. Just hanging out. Discussing the latest movie or serial. Impromptu plans for lunch. Late nights just driving. Hanging out at someone’s place with nothing to do. Asking for favours, knowing it won't be a big deal, and that it doesn't have to be a give and take thing. Nothing to be given in return. Calls that went on for hours even if it meant that on both sides we'd be on our computers playing or browsing, just grunting every once in a while to indicate our presence. All the advice. All the support. All the things we learnt from each other.

And now there are only acquaintances. No friends. The closeness and affection has all been swept away by the hands of the clock. You meet people meet and then go back home. There is no time to connect. Actually, no one even seems to want to. The cut throat world that we live in forces everyone to look out for just themselves.

Everything changes so much. Keeping in touch is so hard. I have no idea what is going on with my closest friends right now. I haven't talked to them in months. And the worst part is, I keep putting it off myself. Tomorrow, I tell myself. And we all know, tomorrow never comes.

Well, it's here now. I'm gonna put off everything else. I'm gonna sit down. And I'm gonna talk to some of the people who meant and still mean the most to me.

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