THE CHANCE BRIDGE

On the first Sunday in August every year, we observe a very special day in honor of those idiots who stay with us throughout our lives. Those idiots are such an important part of our lives that many a times it becomes impossible to function without them. During this COVID-19 pandemic we realized few things, and one of them was the importance of our friends. This pandemic has taken its toll on every one of us; all of us got to live with our miseries, deepest fears and insecurities, that too, all by ourselves which made us realize that we need a safe place to leave out those demons which haunt us, a safe place to find peace and salvation. Usually our workplaces help us to forget those dreaded thoughts and thus make us happy. But now staying at home the whole day made us face the show. Thus, when this day we fondly call as “Friendship Day” arrives we see the younger generation glued to their devices calling their friends and wishing them a very happy friendship, while we don’t know what to do except being stuck at home and face palming ourselves for being able to lose contact of our only lifelines a long ago. This pandemic gave all of us another chance to restart our life, reminiscence about our past mistakes and make amends. It’s human nature to crave for something that we don’t have. And once we get it, we forget how much dearly we wanted it, rather we don’t care about it, and again when we lose it, we start craving for it.

At the mere age of two or three, our parents made us talk to them and then our teachers made us partners in the journey of education. The person whom once we never knew became our reason to go to school. All of us share lunch and other stuff with those idiots. Our friends have taught us so many important things about ourselves and our life that nobody else will ever teach. We have shared ups and downs, fights, arguments etc. In friendship, giving up is never an option. We work in sync thus we all have to put in equally. In my school days, the week before this auspicious occasion the whole market used to be flooded with kids and youngsters finding the perfect band: cheap one for everyone in class and costly one for my idiot. We were born in the era when mobile phones were a treasure that only man of the house possessed therefore landlines were our only resort. We all  remembered few phone numbers, of which one was our friend’s landline.

Today we all have our own mobiles, so talking and calling is not an issue, lines are free no permission is needed. But now we don’t try to call them we all have Instagram accounts, Facebook accounts, and WhatsApp accounts. But still to have a conversation with them we need an occasion. Forgetting them was never an option. Many of us may have lost contact with their friends because of numerous reasons but finding them today is quite possible, you can’t just say it’s impossible “the word impossible itself says I’m possible “.

Maybe there were some differences; maybe something bad happened between us. I have always heard forgiving and forgetting is bigger than holding onto the grudge. Have you ever tried doing so, it definitely is very hard to forgive, but once done, it will take you on a beautiful journey. 

Nearly 30% of the suicide cases are related to depression of ‘being alone’. We are born alone but it’s on us how we live and die. Maybe your one phone call will make your ‘once a friend now a distant’ stop from doing something drastic. The only thing Sushant Singh Rajput’s death taught me was to live my life to the fullest. He was a man with such a big fan following but still he felt lonely in his battle against depression and took this step which shook everyone all around the world. Films like Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara, 3 Idiots, Kai Poe Che, Chhichore give us the message that there are always some people ready to fight with you ; fight for you. Except your family members, these friends are always there with you. They are the only people who know how crazy you are and how crazy you can be.

Just think in a simple way. How did you choose your friend at the age of two or three when what your parents said was the only right thing for you? It seemed to be the right thing to do. But by the time you reached twenty, even after thinking a lot day and night, we doubt our friends. Strange, isn’t it? If we look around, we can find the idiot anywhere. Sometimes your maid can also be the person you can talk to, or maybe, the old aunty that you see every day at the park, maybe you could find your distant fool on Instagram or on Facebook. Do look out for them. Everybody needs somebody. Be someone’s that somebody. In this era of cut throat competition, showbiz, hypocrisy, narcissistic attitude, become someone’s Nostalgia, bring out the forgotten child in you and go for this hunt to find your fool. You guys may have forgotten each other’s name but you will always remember the instances that took place between you. Creating new memories is what life is meant for, lamenting will never help.

I hope on this Friendship day we all find our lost idiots and become someone’s idiot too!!  Friendship is like a crayon; it brings beauty to our drawing but in return we all keep on using it and one fine day we damage it, break it or lose it. We should remember we only live once but it’s on us how colorful and beautiful we can make our life. To bring out the colors all of us need crayons and somewhere in our hurry some of those crayons have rolled out and some are crushed whereas others got dirty, please do go find your crayons to fill this picture of a beautiful life; repair them, clean them and now keep them safe forever.