FRIENDSHIP DAY

Standing in the ticket line at PVR(Priya, as it was called 25 years back)I became the custodian of civic propriety and was adroitly fending off queue-jumpers with remarks that weren’t entirely polite. Then along came this hulk. A man of sinister appearance who spoke from the northwest corner of his mouth. Obviously, I didn’t at all take offence to him jumping the queue. Ajju sniggered. Then to drive home the point even further, he asked me with feigned innocence “yeh pehelwaan aisa kya karey ki tu bura maan jaaye?”
That phrase went on to achieve folklore status.

Remembering Ajju this friendship day, I find his words ringing true in another, more profound, manner. As I grow older clinging to the friendships of my youth, I see myself getting more and more tolerant of them. And I realise that this magnanimity is for my own sake, not theirs. I guess I’m too lazy to start afresh. I’d rather spend my emotional energies rationalising acts that don’t meet expectations.
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Bhailog, Ajju theek hi kehta tha – tum aisa kuchh nahi karr sakte ki mein bura maan jaun.