Friends? Interest? My story

[NOTE: This is a long story of my 25 yrs journey with friends. Its not complete but its a bit long]


Friends get attached to our lives without our knowledge when young. From childhood till the death bed (I believe), we are always surrounded by friends and its a long journey which is not going to end just like that because they play a crucial life in each and everyone's life, whether someone realizes it or not. But as we grow up we do find the freedom to choose friends. That is what happens when we start realizing things and the influence friends have in our life. Something to someone may mean something else to someone. So we should respect everyone's thought. That is what i believe in.

My interest in friends goes back to the early days of my schooling (as in everyone's life too) and i would say its only because of my interest to stay put with my friends that very recently i could meet a friend whom i met after 22 yrs when i left my school after finishing my 1st standard (kindergarten to 1st standard). His face is still the same, don't know how this happened but i recognised him instantly and verified with the name of the school as the code. So he's been my friend for exactly 25 yrs now, the oldest friend in my friends network.

And a few days back, i ended up meeting a friend after 17 yrs and she's still the same who recongised me instantly after i attempted to ask her if she's the same classmate who studied with me during my 2nd to 5th standard...her enthusiasm and interest at the discovery was the same as mine. And because i have some information pertaining to my other school mates of the same batch, her excitement knew no bounds and kept asking about each and everyone of them forgetting that it was way past the dinner time. But interest is something which always makes one forget things and works without a time frame in mind.

Although i would say, education did helped me grow up to some extent, making me read, write, understand and educate others but otherwise its nothing less than a disaster in my life. I still wonder as to how people find such kind of interest to read something already written which isn't going to be of much use in the later stages of our lives (The Indian education system is a wonder in itself). Like we have to memorize if we want to pass out, understand things even if one does not understand anything in real, look at things even if its not interesting, pass out any how by hook or by crook whether one likes it or not. In short TO SURVIVE.

With questions of why i am doing what i am doing going on inside my brain since my school days, i grew up with lot of friends in between. I remember during my 6th to 10th standard, how few boys of my class, of nearly 25 guys used to drop in at my place only to drink water because they found it tasty. This drinking went on for 2 years and my school friends had a separate tumbler for themselves. During examination days, friends used to turn up for night outs but it used to be mostly a disturbance and time pass. Whatever those days were like but i enjoyed the most because i was the most distracted among my group. Today i have info and whereabouts of all the 87 members of my last school. Some have been missing for more than 10 years in between but i did discovered their whereabouts till recently, its really amazing.

My college days passed just like that because it was more of a daily affair. But today i have friends spread throughout the globe including most of the places in India and in various organizations which i could vaguely think few years back. I met more college friends after my college than whom i met during my graduation days. And i also ended up meeting seniors, super seniors and would keep meeting them whenever the college name in which i studied props up adding new friends to my list.

I celebrated my school get-togethers and college get-togethers last year. And the reaction on everyones face when someone meets the other after such a long gap is something to be seen.

Penpals are someone whom i've been looking out for too long time but not one stayed for more than three years at a stretch. I still have tens of letters still safely stored in my collection of letters ranging from Norway, Russia, USA, Brazil, Estonia, Saudi Arabia and of course India. Few are still in contact and are in my friends list of my other networking sites which i access [Orkut, Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Hi5 etc]. The way of letters is really amazing. The feeling of the place hides in each letter. One interesting thing to talk about is my Norwegian friend, Marie Bunes. She ones collected seashells from the sea along with some sand and sent it packed in a box to give me a feel of the place in which she lived. I was awestruck to the extent anyone could go to do things. The fastest mail delivery from India was to Norway which took 4 days and the longest mail delivery was to Brazil which took 2 months. Amazing at the pace letters travel. I discovered that letters depend mostly on the network of a country, the importance it gives to this system. And the last Indian postal service is really very efficient and also is the largest network in the world.

Coming to my online friends, i did made a lot of friends through my website, my yahoo group, photo blog, writing blog, through mails forwarded to friends which were again forwarded etc and i was lucky enough to meet most of my virtual friends in real and enjoyed spending time, knowing things and their interest in my friendship. Being a foodie i also enjoyed eating the regional flavours of the places i visited, accompanied by friends. I still remember how courteous my penfriends parents turned out when they gave me a place to stay in their house and treated me with a feast for three days. I feel my penfriends parents to be really great to have extended such kind of warmth but i also do feel bad whenever i think of that penfriend who got lost struggling with the day to day life and putting aside all her activities and ending my penfriendship.

Philately and numismatics is an hobby which i pursue with utmost interest. With friends to exchange things, i discovered new lands, new stamps, new coins and the way someone shows interest.

And i still keep meeting friends, adding new, deleting few. Some are warm enough and some turn out crazy, some don't have time for themselves and some give all the time in their life, some value the friendship, the ship in which one is traveling and some will take no time to abandon without a second thought. I still feel surprised the way things happen in our life pertaining to friends. For instance, a guy whom i knew for more than two years literally used me up in his city but again another friend from the same place showered such kind of warmth towards me that i am still amazed and feel so great about that friend that i keep thinking.

Family members are there in our life by default but friends those who are strong and give importance to friendship are going to stay in our lives forever. I would say it all depends on the 'interest' one gives to one's friendship which decides things. And i've been lucky enough to have found good friends around me most of the times. And i extend my hand to whoever calls me any day any time.

It's just a matter of a minute's time out of one's day to day life that makes a difference. One can build strong friendship if one is able to reply or spare even a minute's time: replying emails or sms's or missed calls or even if one remembers or wishes someone on his/her birthday. It makes a lot of difference. This difference can only be felt because it cannot be expressed. I feel happy whenever i get a chance to fill happiness in someones life, known or unknown whenever i get time. That is the way of life. I am 29 complete now, i still have a long journey to take. But till today i would say my life's journey has been amazingly wonderful learning and discovering things each and every day.

In short it all depends on one single factor i.e. INTEREST.