"Best friend" is the one living or non-living thing in one's life that is the most amazing thing one can ever have.I have had very less number of friends in my life and a lot of circumstances led to me being an extreme introvert and not sharing anything with anyone usually, that made things worse by me almost not being able to call any human being 'my best friend' and I doubt if anyone could call me as theirs. I feel sad about this but when I think, I find that I did (and do) have three best friends <in the order I got/found them>:
1. Transistor:
We spent some years schooling at my grandparents' place in Vizianagaram. Vizianagaram is a very small town, the district headquarters that houses many good schools and colleges. There was a phase during that stay when we did not have a television at home. We had a very old transistor that was in a pretty bad shape, almost dead. But it used to play, with a lot of disturbance. Every evening, I used to wait longingly to play it, all my Maths homework and anything related to Maths used to happen during the 1.5 hours between 7:00PM and 8:30PM (which included dinner of about 20 mins also). 7:00PM was time for Hindi news for 10 mins, "Fauji bhaiyon ka karykram Jaimala" of Hindi songs used to start at 7:10PM, go on till 7:50PM. There used to be a break for 10 mins and at 8:00PM, another program of Hindi songs used to start, go on till 8:30PM. In between there used to be another channel from 7:50 to 8:10 that used to play some Hindi songs, I used to switch between channels very patiently and used to hear all the songs without a miss even with all the disturbance on the channels. And then used to start the boring time, I remember at 9:00PM, there used to be English news by someone called Vijay Danielle, I can't find this name now on the internet :) I used to sleep early and wake up early so there was just about 30 mins of time for me to get bored, during which I used to usually hear to my grandmother's stories and chats. I (we) could hear her for hours together. That 1.5 hours of time used to be so crucial in my life, radio was the device that made me familiar with most of the old Hindi songs. Normally the anchor used to say 'aaaiye sunte hain fauji bhaiyon (she used to read out the entire list of fauji bhais who made the farmaaish) ki pasand ka gaana x (male singer) aur y (female singer) ki aawaaz mein film z se'...I could tell from the names of the playback singers on which song was going to come. There were days when none of the channels played good songs, and that day I used to go into depression, very bad sleep, very low enthusiasm for school the next morning but followed by an exciting wait for the clock to tick 7:00PM again, to hear good songs. Almost all the singers I knew only through the radio, that's why I think I know the films and songs and singers but I don't know the videos and the picturizations of many, many. There are songs like 'muskuraata hua dil churaata hua mera yaar' from the movie Lahoo ke do rang starring Vinod Khanna and Shabana Azmi, it is a beautiful songs with very good lyrics but the picturization is extremely hillarious (not meant to be :)). Another such song is 'chalte chalte mere yeh geet yaad rakhna'. And many more.
I used to come home for the radio, I used to finish homework other than Maths fast for the radio so that I can do Maths during the radio time, I used to keep the radio attached to myself throughout the evening and sometimes a bit later in the night too when I wasn't sleepy, it used to be my life! I could not have existed without that device. It was indeed my best friend, till the time it existed at home and the time it became extinct, I miss it so much! Even now, I love to hear good Hindi songs, mostly slow and not too loud ones unless the song has really good beats and there are many more avenues available for the same, but that fascination is irreplaceable.
2. Book(s):
My mother was a very intelligent girl/woman and for various reasons, could not pursue her studies & career the way she wanted to. She was an introvert, not liking many people around her and always appreciated being in touch with books and always used to tell us to make a book our best friend. She used to make us 'read' (apart from 'studying') books as a part of our daily routine. My elder sister enjoyed it more than me, for me it was a bit boring at times and irritating too when my mother forced me a lot to read when I didn't want to. We were forced to read all sorts of things - essays, lives of great people, bed-time stories and what not! The first time I read some sort of a short story was in my 12th standard's English subject book of short stories. The first short story I completed I felt really good, I realized I was engrossed in the story so much that it was a surprise for me to find out where I was after I completed the story. I developed the habit of reading gradually but never actually took proper time out to read regularly. After I met my husband, I picked up the habit from him again and developed quite a bit as he reads a lot. Quite a few years now, I feel my mother was right in many ways, books are and can be actually very good friends of ours. It feels very nice and refreshing to meet them often. It is good to take time out for them. These are the friends always there with you, they will always have time for you and give you knowledge and information that become amazing tools to build all sorts of conversations. I truly admire people who write and every time I see any book stall or a depot or a big shop, I am left dumbfounded by the massive amounts of information/knowledge/recreation/entertainment that lies inside those infinite number of books. Hats-off to all the writers in this world!
3. Dog:
Read I as We (my husband and me)
What do I say after the universal saying about this best friend! I have this friend of mine with me for over 6 years now. And it is not that my parents got it home and I am just another member of the family. I got him myself, into my family and I take care of him myself. Long back I learnt speaking English standing the conversing in front of a mirror. I did study in English medium throughout and while I was theoretically perfect, I did lack in speaking skills. Wherever there was a mirror and I found some time with it alone, I used to whisper in front of that in English randomly. Now, it is not for practice that I do, but I think this friend of mine has replaced the mirror now :) No matter how much I speak, he listens to me. I was an extreme introvert who hardly uttered a word with anyone around. After getting him home, I have started speaking to people much more than I used to do earlier. He sleeps when I sleep, he runs around the house when he knows I am home and he can't find me around, he waits for me at the door when I go out in odd unusual hours (they recognize patterns somehow), he waits for me to talk to him, he waits for me to make something for him as he likes food cooked by me more than his regular food, the clock ticks 6:30PM and he starts waiting for me when he is left at his day care thinking I would come and pick him up any time (again a pattern he has recognized and concluded something logically). Emotional blackmail :) but I come home running from wherever I am because I know he is waiting for me. I give up dinners and any outings in the evenings to stay with him because I know he likes to be with me, I avoid as much as possible to keep him alone at home during the evenings because I know he doesn't like me going out leaving him alone at home in the evenings. I need not do all this, he doesn't demand anything nor does he create any damage when alone at home any time, but I don't know why I still do, with no pain or force. My best(est) friend indeed!
1. Transistor:
We spent some years schooling at my grandparents' place in Vizianagaram. Vizianagaram is a very small town, the district headquarters that houses many good schools and colleges. There was a phase during that stay when we did not have a television at home. We had a very old transistor that was in a pretty bad shape, almost dead. But it used to play, with a lot of disturbance. Every evening, I used to wait longingly to play it, all my Maths homework and anything related to Maths used to happen during the 1.5 hours between 7:00PM and 8:30PM (which included dinner of about 20 mins also). 7:00PM was time for Hindi news for 10 mins, "Fauji bhaiyon ka karykram Jaimala" of Hindi songs used to start at 7:10PM, go on till 7:50PM. There used to be a break for 10 mins and at 8:00PM, another program of Hindi songs used to start, go on till 8:30PM. In between there used to be another channel from 7:50 to 8:10 that used to play some Hindi songs, I used to switch between channels very patiently and used to hear all the songs without a miss even with all the disturbance on the channels. And then used to start the boring time, I remember at 9:00PM, there used to be English news by someone called Vijay Danielle, I can't find this name now on the internet :) I used to sleep early and wake up early so there was just about 30 mins of time for me to get bored, during which I used to usually hear to my grandmother's stories and chats. I (we) could hear her for hours together. That 1.5 hours of time used to be so crucial in my life, radio was the device that made me familiar with most of the old Hindi songs. Normally the anchor used to say 'aaaiye sunte hain fauji bhaiyon (she used to read out the entire list of fauji bhais who made the farmaaish) ki pasand ka gaana x (male singer) aur y (female singer) ki aawaaz mein film z se'...I could tell from the names of the playback singers on which song was going to come. There were days when none of the channels played good songs, and that day I used to go into depression, very bad sleep, very low enthusiasm for school the next morning but followed by an exciting wait for the clock to tick 7:00PM again, to hear good songs. Almost all the singers I knew only through the radio, that's why I think I know the films and songs and singers but I don't know the videos and the picturizations of many, many. There are songs like 'muskuraata hua dil churaata hua mera yaar' from the movie Lahoo ke do rang starring Vinod Khanna and Shabana Azmi, it is a beautiful songs with very good lyrics but the picturization is extremely hillarious (not meant to be :)). Another such song is 'chalte chalte mere yeh geet yaad rakhna'. And many more.
I used to come home for the radio, I used to finish homework other than Maths fast for the radio so that I can do Maths during the radio time, I used to keep the radio attached to myself throughout the evening and sometimes a bit later in the night too when I wasn't sleepy, it used to be my life! I could not have existed without that device. It was indeed my best friend, till the time it existed at home and the time it became extinct, I miss it so much! Even now, I love to hear good Hindi songs, mostly slow and not too loud ones unless the song has really good beats and there are many more avenues available for the same, but that fascination is irreplaceable.
2. Book(s):
My mother was a very intelligent girl/woman and for various reasons, could not pursue her studies & career the way she wanted to. She was an introvert, not liking many people around her and always appreciated being in touch with books and always used to tell us to make a book our best friend. She used to make us 'read' (apart from 'studying') books as a part of our daily routine. My elder sister enjoyed it more than me, for me it was a bit boring at times and irritating too when my mother forced me a lot to read when I didn't want to. We were forced to read all sorts of things - essays, lives of great people, bed-time stories and what not! The first time I read some sort of a short story was in my 12th standard's English subject book of short stories. The first short story I completed I felt really good, I realized I was engrossed in the story so much that it was a surprise for me to find out where I was after I completed the story. I developed the habit of reading gradually but never actually took proper time out to read regularly. After I met my husband, I picked up the habit from him again and developed quite a bit as he reads a lot. Quite a few years now, I feel my mother was right in many ways, books are and can be actually very good friends of ours. It feels very nice and refreshing to meet them often. It is good to take time out for them. These are the friends always there with you, they will always have time for you and give you knowledge and information that become amazing tools to build all sorts of conversations. I truly admire people who write and every time I see any book stall or a depot or a big shop, I am left dumbfounded by the massive amounts of information/knowledge/recreation/entertainment that lies inside those infinite number of books. Hats-off to all the writers in this world!
3. Dog:
Read I as We (my husband and me)
What do I say after the universal saying about this best friend! I have this friend of mine with me for over 6 years now. And it is not that my parents got it home and I am just another member of the family. I got him myself, into my family and I take care of him myself. Long back I learnt speaking English standing the conversing in front of a mirror. I did study in English medium throughout and while I was theoretically perfect, I did lack in speaking skills. Wherever there was a mirror and I found some time with it alone, I used to whisper in front of that in English randomly. Now, it is not for practice that I do, but I think this friend of mine has replaced the mirror now :) No matter how much I speak, he listens to me. I was an extreme introvert who hardly uttered a word with anyone around. After getting him home, I have started speaking to people much more than I used to do earlier. He sleeps when I sleep, he runs around the house when he knows I am home and he can't find me around, he waits for me at the door when I go out in odd unusual hours (they recognize patterns somehow), he waits for me to talk to him, he waits for me to make something for him as he likes food cooked by me more than his regular food, the clock ticks 6:30PM and he starts waiting for me when he is left at his day care thinking I would come and pick him up any time (again a pattern he has recognized and concluded something logically). Emotional blackmail :) but I come home running from wherever I am because I know he is waiting for me. I give up dinners and any outings in the evenings to stay with him because I know he likes to be with me, I avoid as much as possible to keep him alone at home during the evenings because I know he doesn't like me going out leaving him alone at home in the evenings. I need not do all this, he doesn't demand anything nor does he create any damage when alone at home any time, but I don't know why I still do, with no pain or force. My best(est) friend indeed!
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