Yaara Teri Yaari

Dear Diary

Dear Diary,

It’s been long since I had a heart to heart conversation with you. Life has been quite overwhelming in the past few months. It keeps me busy, stuck up and gives me uncountable sleepless nights. Nights which I have to survive on coffee cups with my eyes fixated on my laptop screen. I guess that’s what adulting is. I am no longer a child or a teenager who had all the time in the world or a carefree boy, in his world of fantasy, school crushes or homework. Life has changed. It has shown me different colours. Colours that were not always pleasant. It threw challenges at me, tested me. Tests, which I must say, were always out of syllabus. That is what growing up means.

Well, today I was having tea with mom in the morning. You see, Sunday does give us a chance to sit together and chit- chat over a cup of tea or coffee. Mom bought up the topic of friends and how they are an important ingredient in the recipe of our lives. Her words reminded me of Dad. He once told me :

“Not everyone in your life will come to teach you a lesson. Some will vibe with you and just make you realise what life feels like.” This particular dialogue of Dad remains with me forever because I remembered few friends. It’s been 5 years since dad left for the heavenly abode. But his words are clearly etched in my mind.

Friendship, an important relationship. Something as important as salt in food. We cannot see its presence but it adds taste to the food. Friends are similar to salt. We may not feel their presence. But without them, life feels tasteless and totally meaningless. And I feel blessed enough to have those bunch of idiots with me. Many things changed in life. Except one ! And that is us -  the crazy three. Akash, Karan and me ! Three people,  each with their own set of personalities, tastes, likes - dislikes yet sticking together, no matter what. It all started way back in class 3rd. Dad had a transfer from Delhi to Mumbai, resulting in  a change of place for us. We shifted to Mumbai and I was admitted to a new school. It wasn’t easy, you know.My introvert and shy self was apprehensive about the new place, about the new school. But did I have a choice of not going ? Hell no ! Little did my 8 years old self know that this new place was about to give me a treasure. An invaluable treasure called friendship.

As they say, the first step is always a difficult one. Similar to that first step, my first day in school wasn’t easy. I was sitting in a corner of our class when the class teacher told me to get up and sit with a boy…that boy being none other than Karan. That’s how we first met. Karan was already friends with Akash. And I soon joined them. These two ass-heads have always remained with me and I was no longer the introverted, shy, apprehensive Atharva.  Class 3rd to class 10th, we stuck together. Faced and enjoyed every shade of our growing up years with each other. We had our first crushes, heartbreaks, crying sessions…we had everything. How well I remember when I broke up with Trisha in class 10th. It was my first relationship and my first heartbreak. 15 years old me was shattered. In those hard times, Akash and Karan stood by me. They made me realise that there was more to life than a mere breakup.

When my mind was crowded with unwanted and ugly thoughts, when I have felt an aching deep inside my chest, waiting to burst open and reach a breaking point, when I wanted to give up, when there was a void in my life, growing wider with every passing day, when I have felt suffocating as if world was closing and I was left without a manual to it,Karan and Akash have been a ray of hope, a guiding light. They accepted my imperfections with a cheerful smile. In my moments of weakness, failures, emotional episodes, they have been the voice of logic and pragmatism in me. They knocked sense into me. They have been my therapist. We had a fair share of joys and sorrows. We did have ups and downs in life. There were episodes of insecurities, misunderstandings, miscommunication, arguments, differences, and fights. But despite everything, we were incomplete without each other. Only three people but personalities consisting of colors more than a rainbow.

Pranking on our classmates, flirting with girls of our class, getting punishments, complaints in parents - teacher meetings, cheating in exams, studying one night before exams with coffee cups..we were everything together. There has been something totally different about Karan and Akash. They have added new flavours in my ordinary life and have always shown me a new angle in every episode of life. 10th class came to an end and we had to choose our streams. Life happened there. The three of us took different streams, choose different careers. After school, we were separated by the winds of career choices, colleges, and our professions. But did it weaken our bond ? Absolutely no. Distance did separate us, but voice and video calls, internet kept us connected. In the present moment, we may be in different cities, living our lives with good- paying- jobs in our hands..but we still have a connection with each other. Distance didn't separate us. Instead, it brought us closer, made us realise how important we are in each others' lives.

It feels like yesterday when we met at Karan's wedding. The dick- head finally got a girl after remaining a single ass for years. Even in school, he was always the one to stay away from girls. But oh, the relationship - preacher he was ! Akash, the Mr popular of the batch is enjoying his single life. His bachelorhood.

In the journey of life, I have met a lot of people. Many of them gave me a lesson. Lessons that were bitter and harsh. But in this unfaithful world, I have been blessed with these two fuckers. Whenever I have been in trouble, they have been here with their solutions..though their solutions were as sick as them. We three are safety blankets for each other, go-to persons. They have been like ginger tea in the monotony of my life. One phone call or a video call and all my stress seems to evaporate into thin air. Hearing each others' tantrums, baseless conversations, life dramas..they made me realise that in life, we meet a few insane ones. These insane ones vibe with us, click with us and make us realise that life can indeed be beautiful with the right set of people.

Akash and Karan made me realise how amazing friendship is. What more do we need other than knowing that there is someone out there who cares that we exist? That even in the darkest of times, they will come to you as the light of hope. To assure you and remind you again and again, that as long as they have you and you have them, none of us is going to stumble alone on the floor. Either we save each other or we fall together! Karan and Akash have always been like secret magicians who healed a lot of my problems just by listening to them. We have been real with each other, and we never have to 'win over' each other. They have been here with me to have my back and tap on my shoulders and say ' We are here with and for you.' They have stopped my world from falling apart.

Well, it's almost 1 Am and I guess it's time to bid you a small goodbye for the time being. I surely don't want to be late for tomorrow's presentation. Till the next time !

~ Atharva

Wc - 1345 words