Friends - A BLESSING

I've seen a lot of world and being son of an army personnel, I literally mean it. I've been to various places and I've learnt some invaluable things that I'll be sharing here.

I feel that lucky are those men/women who have people to take care of them. And I feel I'm very lucky. Here I don't want to speak about family, but friends. Friends.... a gift to most of us without which we are incomplete; a gift that should be most valued but the truth is the otherwise.

Friends...this term brings to mind a lot of names, faces and incidents. Some people that come in your life are no more than just acquaintances, but some turn into great friends. I'm lucky to have a huge circle of friends spread throughout the country. Friends who really care; friends who I can trust; friends who I can rely on. There are some incidents that are really touching that I would like to share with you:

1. One friend gives me refuge for months in his lair without any complaints in an age when children don't even like to have their parents living with them; in a world where privacy is the most important thing to most. The friend doesn't just allow me to stay over but also change his ways to suit me; is ready to leave the bed and sleep on floor and then claim that he prefers the floor to the bed.
His never-say-die attitude and the power to see that there's always a next time has got me over many disasters (referring to bad exams). He is someone I can fall back on (literally, considering that his body would cusion the fall)to find some comfort and motivation after screwing up something badly.

2. Have you ever had a friend who has danced, literally danced, with joy for your success; dancing as if it was his own success, completely forgetting about his own result? Well I'm grateful to say that I have such a friend. A friend, who understands me well; a friend who knows me inside-out; a friend with whom I can share the silliest to the most serious stuff. Both of us think very much alike (at least in some ways) and hence talking to him mostly gives me the comfort of not being a retard. I can discuss almost anything with him, be it studies, my failures/success, far-fetched and superfluous plans about future,etc...

3. Few days ago, I was chatting over the internet with a friend and cribbing about my inability to deliver my best in exams thanks to 'silly mistakes'. After a little,literally, discussion over the internet, he calls me up to console me and discuss the problem, forgetting about his own exam the next day; an exam with course that was driving him crazy. The call was 'not at all expected' and nor were his words, which in some way were comforting.
He also has the patience to hear my weird ideas/dreams, most of which are nearly unattainable now, and also agree to help me with it. He is one of the most considerate people I know, as the incident here shows, and I wish to be one like him.

4. Another 'special friend' of mine possesses the gift of looking deep inside me just through a status update (on facebook) or an article on the blog. And she won't just let me know that she knows, but she'd take the pains to draft long (really long) messages to make me see the brighter side or to make me believe that it wasn't my fault even when no one else can be held responsible for it. Amazingly those messages do the charm (to some extent) and most of my fear/regret/despair is converte to hope/happiness. She has made me feel special; made me feel confident at times I had lost hope; made things seem attainable; made me know myself better.

As I write, many more incidents flood my mind but I'm falling short of appropriate words to describe some incidents that have been engraved into my memory. I wouldn't want to forget them ever in my life as they make me feel lucky to have such great friends.

To conclude I'd like to say the following:

Friends, THANK YOU. Thank you for laughing at my silly jokes, thank you for attending my calls at late nights just to talk randomly, thank you for making me laugh at times I felt low, thank you for being there to share my happiness, thank you for being there for me , thank you for making me feel so special, thank you ...

I've gained a lot from my friends; to such an extent that it would be an understatement to say that they had a crucial role in making me what I'm today. I don't think that I've ever done anything like those mentioned above and this makes me wonder, "what have I done to deserve to know such great people?"
--- "ITS A BLESSING TO HAVE SUCH GREAT FRIENDS"---

NOTE: I'vent used names here because I'm not sure of how many of those referred to here don't mind their names appearing on this page (despite the fact that I have no other readers other than those few readers themselves).