Friendship day

                    Thanks to the mobile communication media and their 'cartalised' tariff plans, now-a-days I dont forget any important marketable events and days. Friendship day is about to be celebrated this week and no wonder the social media is and would be replete with too many wishes and shares regarding this event for a week atleast. There are even pictures and statuses celebrating the completion of a year of friendship and so on. Friendship is something special. Friends are the first choice I have made myself-on my own- I believe. While I was thinking about my friends and the time-span of such friendships, these guys however struck my mind.

                     I have heard that the President of US calls our nation a ‘natural ally’ although he appears to be behaving the opposite particularly when it comes to matters of regional importance. However in my private discourse, when it comes to matters of friendship I can comfortably use the same ‘natural ally’ when I think about my two close-distant friends. They are the one with whom I have been sharing my life for over 27 years. Though I did not have a role in selecting them we became natural allies from the period since we started sharing our mother’s womb non-concurrently. From then started our journey of being together and thus evolved our friendship. The senior-junior respect was never a limiting factor in our friendship and in fact the lack of it was the unifying one.

                             We shared our dresses, the foot-wears, our books, our mistakes, our mischief etc. Can I ever forget about the adulthood immoralities we had perpetuated in those period? From sharing CDs to beedis, from correcting post man to ensure that the college internal marks-sheet doesn’t reach our parents to our collaborative efforts in correcting our classmates or colleagues. I believe both my brothers introduced their lover-turned-spouses to each other before introducing them to me or my parents. We sat together in college ‘kutty-suvars’, attended college symposiums together and yes you are right, you know the reason.

                               Of late I have seen some short films where-in some acquaintance would act as father of students when they are summoned by the college management. But my eldest brother had performed the role of an emotional-elder brother in our college when my other brother was summoned to bring our parents for want of attendance. The ease with which had performed that role was simply magnificent and he would pretend to be assaulting the other in front of the department HOD, hearing that there was a lack of sufficient attendance. The HOD ostensibly was so emotionally upset and had even advised my eldest brother to control his anger as he is a younger fellow. However that was not the first time my eldest bro had capped such a role for he had been doing this for our friends too back home and was a well-sought brother hence.

                             The comfort with which we have been living together is so extra-ordinary. I don’t believe that anyone would be able to differentiate even our friends for any one’s friend is totally a friend of all. Though our friends would call my brother as ‘anna’ that would not be a distancing friendship at any means. We are bonded together. With growing years the love and care we have for each other is growing miles as so is our understanding of one another.

                           I can think about a scene in Tamil film ‘Anandam’-sorry, I am least exposed to the highly marketable Hollywood movies- wherein the main protagonist would look at the face of his younger brother and both would understand and hence try to console each other through their facial expressions, and I can proudly admit that we have such understandings some times. However the post marriage untoward events are not that much evident in our life so far, thanks to our sister-in-laws. In fact there are attempts made by our sister-in-law to present ourselves in a uniform in some events and she had even succeeded twice.

                      That doesn’t mean that we brothers haven’t have fought for any reason, for we had fought for even the simplest things, for snacks, for control over TV remote, for bowling so faster while playing cricket etc. It’s a different story that the snacks had become a unifying factor when it turned as a side-dish now. There were comparisons of each other’s academic performance by our parents and hence ensuing fights. Such comparisons prevail even now. While it was academic profile then it is spouse’s accommodation now. But our understanding have matured to another level that nothing could simplistically ostracize us. I simply admire my eldest one for his never-ever reaction when his daughter appears to be too attached to me than to him although she is too close to him by heart. My nieces are now playing the role of a 'unifier' and three family-joined-families is the result.

                                I havent have addressed them as annas and neither do they call me as thambi. But I understand their strength, actually it is their common strength. “Itsshhh me..”.  Haven’t you heard about “thambi udaiyaan padaikku anjaan”?

                          ‘Love you bro’ would be a restrictive Westernised expression of the friendship and love that we have for each other and Tamil comes handy here 

“நண்பர்கள் நான் தேட வாய்ப்பு தராத நண்பர்கள் " 

Dei annangala,

Happy friendship day ….Cheers…