A friend in deed is a friend indeed.  This statement cannot make sense to many who do not have a ‘friend’. In these days where relationships are made for mutual convenience, Friendship has become a sinking ship with very few having the luxury of true friendship. Having a true friend, I can confidently say, a friend is one who adds value to your existence, supports you in your endeavors, accepts you as you are and instills in us the confidence that there is someone for us with whom we can be ourselves without being judged.  Many might feel that this is a tall expectation but getting a Friend satisfies all this if you manage to get one.  As we hardly find time to celebrate our parents and siblings who have been part and parcel of our life, friends too fall in the same category because they become our extended family and we start taking them as granted too just like others. When I came across this opportunity to blog on the Zee TV’s Yaaron Ki Baraat celebrating friendships, I found this as a lovely opportunity to write about my friend R who has been part and parcel of my life for more than a decade now. Thanks to Zee TV for thinking about this  concept of celebrating friendships, it helps us relive our moments and cherish  the togetherness we have  enjoyed.

Unlike the teenage friendship stories, we became friends in early 30s – Quite surprising because many of us drop friendships during this time becoming too busy with family and commitments. The beauty of this friendship is that it bloomed without any understanding or commitment towards friendship. R was my sister’s neighbor and friend. We lived in the same apartment and being working women, we hardly met each other but nevertheless when we met, we had some lovely interactions. I loved her innocence and her Food, she is such a lovely cook and her hospitality beats everything. Yes, you can attribute my extra kilos to her food served with tons of love :)   She had the uncanny ability to win hearts and soon, we were family friends. Going by the attachment we had for each other, our children too got attached to each other and my Daughter and her daughter are more like siblings.

Never to say No for anything I ask, her true to heart affection is the core of our relationship. How can I ever forget the arduous effort she took in preparing and delivering food both morning and evening (specific preparation for my daughter and normal food as usual specially prepared for me) when my daughter was hospitalized. By the way, there is also this excitement she gets when preparing food for me.  R’s daughter always wonders about the  quality, taste and the variety of food that gets prepared for me.

R’s world revolves around her family and her knowledge on worldly matters was minimal.

One of our conversation –

Me: Go to Nandanam and Call me, I will lead you to the office

R: Where is Nandanam?

Me: After Saidapet ma

R: How to reach Saidapet?

Me: Reach Guindy and go on the bridge and you reach Little mount and take a left

R: Guindy a?

Me: :-

R is a mother who gets worried about her working daughter/ college going son driving, and being the current generation, the children are more annoyed than happy. It takes a heartwarming friendly chat now and then to remind her that her children have grown up – It was quite painful to see her innocence being taken for granted by some and I took upon the responsibility of educating and guiding her as much as I could without breaking the lines and the best part is her acceptance into understanding what I try to convey to her, I am happy I could add value in her life too.  We support each other during those trying times and she is one I can count on anytime to be with me. We expect our children to develop and find such friendship in their life.

Our friendship proved to us how important it is to have that ‘friend’ as we grow in our life both in terms of family and career. Our friendship is a beautiful amalgamation of respect, trust, care, concern, love, affection and above all, a belonging which cannot be explained by words. We are looking for our (her) daughter to be married and that would spell another Big event in our life.  Our friendship is a best example to prove that friendship can happen any time at any age and what matters is our commitment to give it the best.