Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I Am

"What am I supposed to do yaar?" cried Smruthi, indignantly. Smruthi is my best friend. She and I have been inseparable since class 5 when we first met. Our friendship has thrived through the years and now in class 9 we are still going strong. Anyway back to Smruthi wailing. This particular outburst was a result of a problem she was sharing with me. We often play shrink to each other and I am amazed each time we get off the phone. How could the weight from my shoulders disappear so miraculously once I narrated my problem to her? How were her words so soothing that they calmed my frayed nerves? How was her advice the godsend to me at the time?


Anyway she was moaning to me about how her colony friends were pigs and always got into gossiping rather than just playing in the evenings. I was nodding and offering suggestions when she burst out,  " They don't seem to accept me for who I am!" I nodded and plunged into how she could tone down herself a bit and mind her manners a bit. You see, Smruthi is the type of girl who always speaks her mind, no matter what. She can be boisterous and fun - loving, calm and caring, funny and irritating all at the same time. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her as long as the people who matter to her really know who she is. And I love this quality of hers, she takes all types of criticism positively and doesn't seem to mind being ridiculed.


She always stands up for what she feels is right and doesn't tolerate anyone badmouthing her friends. So anyways when I was going through my speech, she interrupted me and said something that shocked me beyond words, she said, "Listen, this is who I am, and if they don't like what they see, well its their loss! There will be people out there who like me just the way I am and I'll know that they are the right one's for me" The power of her words struck me to my core. How right she was! Why should we compromise ourselves just to be liked? Is social acceptance that necessary? It's not like I'm a sucker for peer pressure but I have seen a few friends of mine change the basic foundations of their character just to be liked.


After a few seconds of baffled silence I nodded and moved on to another topic. I mean what could I say? Out of the two of us I consider myself the more 'mature' one, Smruthi is often childlike and innocent, another quality of hers which I adore. But many a time she has shown maturity that surpasses her age, which makes me rethink my presumption. My friend is like an orange both tangy yet sweet (Yeah, one hell of a comparison right? But it suits her) . She reminds me of my maternal grandfather, he too is like her in many ways. A hard exterior, a soft interior. She had taught me many things in life and I often feel privileged to have her as my friend.


I once voiced my doubts to her as to how long our friendship would last. She hmm-ed for a minute and then said, "At least until we both get married, I hope" I laughed at her, amazed. I had expected it to last only till we finished school. Call me a pessimist but I had seen friends drift away from me before. But Smruthi apparently believes in the strength of our friendship to see it stretch that far and her hope makes me want to believe as well. I know I'm not the easiest person to stay friends with but somehow she manages to read me like an open book and some times I feel she knows me better than I know myself! She is a tough nut, Smruthi and I'm sure she'll go many places being her extreme, adorable self.