I went to a reunion of old friends a few days ago.
It was one of those occasions where (almost) everyone got a little tipsy, and went slightly maudlin, and told old, old stories, or maybe it was all the smoke, and not the drink.
A lot of people have changed. De wears better fitting clothes now. Bi drinks a little, and Ra drinks a lot. Pu is in love with a girl, and he used to be in love with two other girls, but those didn’t work out, and this was a guy who shied away from girls like he thought he’d get a venereal disease just by thinking about sex. Quiet, shy Lambda, the guy who once accidentally touched this young teacher’s breast, and then actually apologized to her, he was that much of a doofus, he wears Ray-bans now. Even in the evenings.
And Sou has finally sprouted facial hair. Finally. After years and years of being ribbed about it. And Arnie has a girlfriend. And Andoo can dance.
Supro was this really, really carefree guy. Laughed a lot, the kind of guy who never seemed to have any worries. Now he calls himself a misogynist, chain smokes, and is all too ready to talk about all the times this bitch, or that bitch bought movie tickets for him because they wanted to make out with him.
And Ri couldn’t make it. He’s still at Haldia, stoned out of his mind. He uses heroin to put himself to sleep, and cocaine to help wake himself up in the mornings.
A used to be fat. Very fat. He was really smart, and funny, too, but not many people looked past the fat, and the ridiculously thick moustache that he had. Now he’s clean-shaven, thinner than I am, and has hair just the right length, with streaks. He looks very cool. He’s happier, too. Or so he says.
Everybody loves the new, hep A, they were all exclaiming over him.
I wish someone would take this stranger away, and bring me back my fat, bumbling friend.
22 comments:
damn, this post is a time machine. i like the feel of it. it reminds me of my ol' school days. :)
*sniff*
Yes. Change,especially in old friends, can be unnerving. There's the tedium of attempting to "know" the new, changed person, the possibility of not liking him/her as much as the 'original' that you are habituated to, and so fond of.
But its necessary. Sometimes you need a fresh start. Wipe out every scab, lose every extra kilo, colour every lock of hair a different shade. And emerge anew, even unrecognisable. From the ashes of your past foibles. You need to do it. For yourself.
Few feel the need. Fewer manage to execute it. I'm glad A managed it.
argle-bargle the fourth
@ agarwaen: heh heh. You all morph after school: not just into something, but away from what you used to be...
@ primavera: Thats true, but its not just that A has changed. Its that the A I used to know is lost...
@ Spud: cute. really cute.
a reminded me of myself. i'm sure quite a few people think that about me. i was lousier and more lovable.
ah well.
gee!there's always an A who has changed drastically and ceased to be the way he was before.*sigh* kinda reminded me of my "A" friend.
i have my friends too who have sort of transformed from their school days self. only with different names.
in every case, there seems to be a fat guy who becomes thin and fit, a nerd guy who becomes popular and a popular guy who loses interest in girls and smokes pot. :))
yes. they do. in very little time also sometimes.
@ tbc: ah well indeed. You're fah-bulous, and you love it! :)
@ Onnesha: Yeah. The worrying thing is how much these A-s have changed mentally. Its freaky. and sad.
@ The mormegil: hahaha. Oh yeah. The fat to fit, the ex nerd and the stoner... Wow, there you go: a teenybopper movie... :D
@ aarshi: does one detect wistfulness?
Dig deep. I am sure the older A is there. Just asleep maybe. Or gone shopping.
its weird na.
you never know whether to open up as before or remain reserved.
@sen..."or gone shopping"???guys hate that!!!if he is doing that then he has surely lost it!!!im positive!
but what about you? what did they say about you?
or are you writing all of this because your mind thinks you haven't changed in the way you describe them to have been?
@ Sen: I know, but somehow, it is difficult to re-establish what we had. As in, we are still very close friends. On the surface.
@ Merc: Yeah. Exactly. and you're afraid as to what you'll find when and if you DO open up.
@ Onnesha: :)
@ Div: The crux of the matter... I dont know if Ive changed.. I mean mentally. I dont know. But its easy for me to slip into the person I had been. I think.
Maybe im just deluding myself.
You don't know. They might. They didn't tell?
Mine always keep remarking how I was different then in this or that particular way and sometimes it feels nice looking at yourself growing up through their eyes.
Slipping into old shoes is the funnest.
@ div: No, they didnt say. Thing is, I dont like to talk about how I was when I was young! I steer people away from the topic whenever it comes up.
No issues, or anything. :)
I just dont really like it!!!
oh ok. didnt mean to pry.
No, no...
I didnt mnean to imply you were prying...
Oh, look how polite we are!!!
:)
it makes the world go around.
But look at it from A's point of view.He wants to be viewed cool too.Not like "My good ol fatty friend".Albeit A was cool too when he was fat, but did he know that then?
No he didnt. Sigh. I wish he understood he didnt have to be hep to be cool.
But he was. He was pretty cool.
you've changed too.im sure.pwople change, and i will too.everything has to change even though we often wish things wouldn't but its all for the best.otherwise we would be stuck in one one place and we wouldn't move forward.
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