Friendship happens.......

“You are a ‘Bheetarghagh’- a deceiver”. It was almost dusk.The hostel room was overflowing with boys-my batchmates.

“Fourth question was out of course.”

”Nah! it was given in the last chapter.”

“Oh fish! How could i do such a silly mistake?”

“Next time i’ll start studying atleast one week before the examination.”

 The voices were loud. In this stampede of words and expressions, I sent out some of my own.”I did very bad , I think I might fail.” I never expected my words to survive and neither did i want them to. I had no emotional attachment with them. I didn’t care. But someone did , someone did care for them and not because he loved them but because he hated them . Then I heard, “you shut up! You are a bheetarghagh . You always deceive people. You are a liar. I know you have done very well in the examination and so do you but you won’t admit it.” There was silence. What happened to the chaos? Had the security arrived? Oh! Yes. But why were my words caught? They were not the culprit. They didn’t start the stampede. There was something conspicuous in them. The roar continued, ”you better change your attitude or you will suffer”.

“Change? Why should I change? This is what I am. I won’t change for anybody.”

“Try it once buddy, you will feel good.”

Sleep eluded me that night. The very same stampede was now in my mind.”Was he right? Will I suffer? Nah! How can that little fellow who luckily has had a narrow escape from dwarfism, tell me to change? This is what I have always been. I have never suffered. I have always loved my friends during school days and they have loved me back equally. But wait, have they really loved me back? ‘The concepts of Physics’ , ‘Mathematics for IIT-JEE’ , ‘Organic chemistry made easy’ etc. Have they ever loved me back as much as I have loved them? No, they have not. So, what does it take to make friends who can love you back? Why wasn’t I able to make such friends? I think I have the answer. So, should  I change?”

“No, I shouldn’t change.” I concluded this not because I didn’t have such friends but because I felt that I didn’t need them. It didn’t bother me that what others thought about me.

“Don’t you think he is a bheetarghagh?” Days went by and suddenly this question was raised before a person I had become acquainted with. “Yes”, was the reply. Surprisingly, it hurt and I had never anticipated this. But that word had bruised me everywhere with scars. The scars which only I could see. I realised that it was not the “yes” but it was the person who had said it. I realised what others(the person who had said “yes”) think of me had started bothering me. It was the time to change myself. It was my first taste of friendship. It just happened.