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I can no more call or text you whenever I want, because I know you would either not pick up or say that you are busy.
I stand numb, staring into infinity, waiting for the nothingness to hit me. And when it finally hits, it is devastatingly satisfying, for I lost my friend. A friend I once called mine. I didn’t lose her to the divine supreme, but to the worldly wrongs.
I lost her to all other friends who told her I was not hers.
That goodbye as she said while standing at my doorstep didn’t feel a good one, it felt like a last one. That was the last time she was waving me bye as my best friend, as my dear one because now we were destined to be strangers.
Did we get the pleasure we were searching for in those other people who told us to stay apart? Or was it our own insane decision that we took while being drained of each other? Whatever the reason was that day, that conversation changed everything.
I can no more call or text you whenever I want, because I know you would either not pick up or say that you are busy. I can’t just come over to your house and ask for a cup of coffee because I know you are now sharing that with someone else.
Likewise, I no longer have access to all your secrets and passwords because you changed them when you changed your best friend. We weren’t together as friends for long, but we have been together as strangers longer than that, and it hurts.
It hurts to see you going out with those people you once told me were so unimportant compared to me. It hurts to listen about you and your life from that third person who now boasts about being your best friend.
Not only that, but it hurts to know that now someone else knows you better than me and that I am just a stranger.
Those two years when we were so close, those two years when you shared my mother’s sarcasm and I saved you from your father’s wrath, those two years when we were found always together, when we even skipped school together.
Those two years when we were our teachers’ favourite, those two years when we shared food and made lifelong memories, those two years when we promised to be each other’s bridesmaid and even rock the world while in rocking chairs, do you remember those two years?
Do you reminisce those good old days? Do you see our crazy pictures and wish I was there?
I bear in my mind the day we first met as strangers. You had your school shirt in your hand, and you made people write for you while I waited for you to come to me for my signature and as I hoped and wished you came, but with all other names already on it.
That day I summed that my best friend has actually turned into a stranger, a stranger I would call to wish birthday and new year but not the one I would call to gossip about my family.
The stranger who would want my well-being and I would want hers, but we would no longer share those thoughts, a stranger I would happily have back in my life, but she would no longer be the best friend I adored, rather she would be the stranger who bid me not a goodbye.
Image source: Still from FilterCopy | Things Only Girl Best Friends Do
Just another reader with a will to write a story not to remember but to live. read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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