Virtual Friendship Day

Note:
I am not satisfied with the way I have composed myself in this Blog, yet I decided to post it because I am in no mood to recompose myself.

Blog:

"Adi, it’s already past 5.45am, pour that coffee down your throat and run...” yelled my dad as I had to board the Indrayani Express for Pune at 6.30am from Mumbai and I was behind schedule. My favorite beverage coffee didn't seem that interesting to me this Monday morning because I was still in the hangover of the Sunday evening.

The mails I had received last week were still fresh in my mind.

In 1935 USA government had killed a man on 1st Saturday of august, next day his friend died committing suicide in his memory.

USA government had declared 1st Sunday of every August as friendship day.

On this 73rd friendship day (August 2nd) I wish you to send this story to all our friends.


I had received this e-mail from a friend in Bangalore. Internet is genius and computers are superb. Friends who are physically miles away seem emotionally so close and can stay in touch.

Being an emotional fool, Friendship Day is always very special for me. This mail reminded me of the Friendship Day celebrations of college days. My celebrations used to begin at least a week in advance. White bands for boys, pink for girls and red colored ones for special people. I also used to carry assignment sheets to take autographs of friends so that they stay with me forever instead of the autographs on hands that wash away with the next bath.

During those days, I was so excited about Friendship Day that when the year began, I used to note the date of first Sunday of August. And here I was now; I realized that Friendship's Day is only five days away only after I received this mail.

As the day came closer, my inbox was flooded with Friendship Day mails and the plans for celebrating Friendship Day were on a high. As the clock struck 11.55 on Saturday night, my cell phone began ringing which continued to ring till Sunday afternoon. I felt lucky to have so many friends who were wishing me a Happy Friendship Day.

Through messenger we had decided to visit the youthful Phadke Road in Dombivli on the evening of Friendship Day. Though I was at my cousin’s place at Dadar for a family function, I ensured that I reach Dombivli by 7.30pm so that if not the entire Friendship Day, may be I can try to spend at least some quality time with my friends this Friendship Day.

As I rushed from Dadar to Dombivli, at our meeting place, I could see only three of them – Prachint, Randheer and Chaitanya. Not expecting such a small group, I enquired about the presence of others. Not to my surprise, most of our friends didn’t want to come out of their homes on Sunday so that they preserve their energy for the hectic week ahead. And some were busy attending their respective boyfriends and girlfriends as they were high priority interruptions that occur anytime. Smitesh came in late as usual and began explaining us his busy schedule as we were planning for an outing the next weekend. One of our friends gave us a call to invite us at a mall as she had already reached there with another set of friends. But then it didn’t seem pragmatic to travel to another town so late because logically we would get time only to say Hi which would immediately be followed by a good-bye.

Bitching against the absentees, five of us entered Phadke Road. As expected, it was overcrowded with youngsters who were enjoying the company of their friends. Boys appeared in casual wear while girls were looking (at least trying to look) prettier than they actually were. I wish I ran a beauty parlor in Dombivli that day for a day’s earning of a beautician that day must have crossed my month’s salary. Most of the girls had purchased new outfits for this occasion. And some of them had emptied perfume bottles to have an attractive odor to maintain equilibrium with their face that gave an equally repellent feeling. As the monsoon offered little showers at frequent intervals, girls were the first ones to run beneath the shelters of roadside shops as they were afraid that the paint from their face would wash away.

Though Phadke Road is my favorite destination in my hometown, this year on the evening of Friendship Day, it didn’t excite me much. The usually happening-crowd seemed like the local train rush to me that day. The sexy sleeveless tops of girls appeared like my innerwear. That day we walked out in thirty minutes from the place where I generally do not mind walking for hours. By 8.30pm I was back home.

As I reached home, I was counting the number of SMS and e-mails I had received for Friendship Day. If there were so many wishes, why were there so less friends to celebrate the day. It’s true that the physical presence of friends doesn't matter but their absence on such occasions does! I took out the papers autographed by my friends during college days – so many messages and promises that didn’t end. I had a look at my friend list in orkut – it has crossed two centuries. The count of wishes crossed a century! Then why there were so few friends to celebrate this occasion?

As dad yelled even louder, I emptied the coffee in my throat pushing these thoughts down from my mind into my abdomen thinking they would flush out with my next visit to the toilet. But it doesn't seem to have happened so.

On Monday morning I was thinking if it should really be entitled a Friendship Day or just a Virtual Friendship Day? Today, on Wednesday evening, I still have the same thought...

Disclaimer:
This Blog is written out of sheer frustration, irritation and anger. Offences found, if any, are meant to be taken personally.