To my best friend Oviya

Sometimes in life, a certain incident occurs

Something that is set to change its entire course

At times, the outcome of best laid plans

But once in a while, just whimsical

Impulsive apparently or perhaps God drives the wheels from behind.

I vividly remember The Day when I was barely six

Just desiring a change, may be

Or to make a difference, whatever that meant

I trotted up to a new class.

Destined to reach out to you,

My little heart seeking to be encompassed by your love

Centring my world around you,

That one Day defined my life as it now is.

Two little kids we were, two of five

We fought, we reconciled, we made up names

We vowed eternal friendship with a ring apiece

And we loved – at an age which hardly knows what that meant.

Years later, it was Another Day, another place, another age

But remarkably, the action was the same

Once again, my heart sought yours,

The difference being the insight of the pursuit.

We ran into the same fights and the not-so-different reconciliations

Somehow, in essence, they were unlike their former counterparts

The difference was easily perceived in their profoundness

For it was then that Comprehension had dawned.

Differences arose, from women’s rights to reaching great heights

What’s worse, they were rooted at the very core

When i wondered why the hell i was born a girl

You were contemplating your previous-birth-virtues to be born a girl..

New people entered our lives, some leading us apart

And some, who I am eternally indebted to, bonding us back

In spite of all disparity, we were together

We were there for each other when it counted.

Then, after years of solid togetherness

It was fate’s turn to take over

Where differences and people failed,

Fate won for it forced miles between us..

A shared world split into two and mutual friends became a rarity

Weeks flew past without hearing a word from you

Months elapsed without a mere glimpse to withhold

For the first time, i truly meant “i miss you”.

On silent nights, on a solitary terrace,

As the slumbering world grew darker and colder

With a lonely tear trickling down

How desperately i wished you were close!

Fate may have extended the distance

Separation it probably achieved

But the deep-rooted bond invariably strengthened

Not men or fate could move a bead of our relationship

With a friendship glorifying a decade and a half

What would i call you – My youngest friend or my oldest?

But no, I’ll settle for ‘Friendest’

For the word friend means YOU.