"Why the hell is your number not working? I was trying to call you but tera number nahi lag raha tha yaar" Pankaj said over the phone. He was one of those annoying best friends that God has blessed me 12 years ago. And the only excuse he made for not calling me over 3 months is that 'tera number nahi lag raha tha'- the most pretentious yet simple substitute for 'i don't give a fuck to what you have been up to'.
"Well, it is working for others" i replied, with a lot of causticness in my voice, he didn't sensed any of it. I was not surprised. Me and Pankaj were like that from the beginning. We do not regularly talk...hell, we don't talk for so long that we sometimes doubt that the other one is dead or alive. But nothing becomes awkward even if we talk after a year or 2- We still managed to start with 'haraami and asshole' as words of courtesy.
"Are leave that, you are coming to Haldwani for get together right?" He asked me. Now every year, our group comes to our hometown for sometime and organize a get together party, in which we have to basically show off about our college life and how it is so awesome and all that stuff. It was turning into a bore for me now so i thought i will pass this year.
"I am not sure about that" I tried to reject his invitation periphrastically.
"Now don't you dare to screw up the whole thing, It's been two years since we all have met together...This time i won't let it happen again. You are coming and that's it" He replied with lot of frustration in his voice.
"Last time was not my fault" I said and clarified the situation. The get together of 2014 was a nightmare. It was the time when everyone had finished something- some finished their first year, some even graduated by that time and i was still trying to get into a college. I was frustrated then, and therefore may have said something in a little high tone (actually i shouted at all of them in the middle of a road) regarding their college life.
"Leave all that, you are coming and that is final" He said and disconnected the call. Its strange how, in a matter of a year or two, some of your friends becomes almost strangers after you pass out from school. Similar was the situation for me. Except for Pankaj, Nidhi, Sanjana and Vidhi, all of the other guys in our so called 'group' started to disappear from my life. It started with forgetting birthdays and finished with 'unfriending' from Facebook. I think it happens with everyone of us...We all start with making many friends but ultimately some of them gets too busy to have time for us, and with some the situation gets complicated (Crushes, love and all that). In short, our friend circle is like an unpolished diamond- It is bigger when unpolished, but when it comes under the blades of stress, complications and time, it gets smaller and smaller. but ultimately what we get is priceless.
'Ticket confirmed, thank you' I was reading this text and staring at my laptop screen for the past few minutes. Sure my diamond has become small by the time, and it may get smaller in future. But it is up to me to understand its worth and price...and having a boring 'get together' again with my few diamonds isn't that much of a big deal.
"DEDICATED TO ALL MY FRIENDS IN HALDWANI...YOU ALL ARE REAL GEMS OF MY LIFE"
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