Friends

I met up with Tim and his girlfriend, June this evening. It was suppose to have been to confirm an insurance policy I’m working out for June. Yeah we did cover the plan (with very ‘broad strokes’) as we downed a couple of beers. And as the evening went on, Tim began recounting the time he and I trekked the Annapurnas, and we began telling stories of our experiences there.

In the midst of it I realised how lucky I’ve been and am – to have friends. Maybe it’s age or maturity or maybe there comes a time in life when we begin to realise what the really important things are.

I’ve some very dear friends all of whom have taught me valuable lessons. I’ve learnt about compassion, responsibility, love, sadness, class, style, humility, doggedness, letting go, truthfulness, forgiveness, peace…every one of life’s lessons. It’s very beautiful, our friendship. You see we don’t ‘hang out’; neither do we do the buddy thing often.

Instead we weave in and out of each others lives; it almost like we were travelling on different roads that once ever so often would begin to run parallel and merge for a while; and then veer off in different directions, only to meet again in time. And when we meet, it’s as if we’ve never parted in the first place.

A few weeks ago, I met up with my cousin Anand, his brother-in-law, Rag, and another friend, Kumar; the sharing that went on in that one session brought me so much joy, and healing. The experiences each of us had been trough, the though times and good times, the issues we’ve had with our parents and siblings, the experiences with the women in our lives (oh I mentioned the though times, already?) – I felt so alive and so grateful to be alive.

I’m so happy to be me and so grateful to have these people in my life. It’s a beautiful Universe; I’ve got beautiful friends.