Universal change

We met eight years ago in our PU College. I had all the awkwardness of a girl-who-just-completed-school, while she had the poise to carry anything off. To a very gauche person like me, she seemed different. Later, on our way back home, she accompanied us to the bus-stop and that’s how we got talking – and this became the focal point of our friendship.

She went on to complete her engineering, work for a few months and then move to US for her Masters. Fast-forward and here I am, attending her marriage with a person whom she has chosen to share her love and life with. As I saw her going through the motion of rituals, the unease, which I had been feeling since she had invited me to her marriage, re-surfaced. One of my close friends is getting married. Shouldn’t I feel happy?

This feeling persisted to such an extent that I had to address it. Finally after much soul-searching, I arrived at the conclusion that – I no longer felt that she was my friend! Strange ….. eight years and now……….. sigh. What is it that contributed to this decline in our relationship? I set down the memory lane to recall some of the good times we had shared together – at her home, an informal visit, an outing with friends, noisy chats with her family. Gradually, I think we simply stopped communicating at one point of time. Recently, there were some instances where I found her remarks to be very cutting and arrogant. Was she like this when I first met her? Or was I too faithful a follower-friend to notice this? Or have I changed so drastically that I no longer recognize her?

On the other hand, there are few people (I can even say strangers whom I have not met at all) with whom I have established an instant rapport – within a few minutes of speaking to them, or mailing them and sometimes even hearing them sing (Radio City :)). The way they express themselves makes me feel that I have known them for years. With every interaction, I discover something new about them, and much to my delight, find that we share similar views. To quote a cliché, they were with me during my ups and downs and provided comfort in the most basic sense, even though they were not physically present. And yes, these people have also contributed a lot to my confidence, optimism, and my character.

Yes…. change is definitely the watchword of time. And since time is unending and undying, change too is universal.