A True Friend Like Me!

The first time I met Sowju was on Friendship day, it was coincidental or accidental I didn't know then but I am fortunate for having her in my life. Youth is one of the most memorable times to spend with friends and enjoy thoroughly at the same time, it is one of the fast-growing ages where we tend to learn many things and get subtle things to explore in life with new challenges, fresh thoughts and of course, it is also said that the great love stories even begin here right from this age which actually didn't happen to me. In my case, I found something different or exceptional called the lifeline. Yes, it is none other than my sweetheart Sowju.

This story tells our journey and how passionate we are about our interest and innate talent "writing". After my intermediate, I was so busy learning a lot of new stuff like playing Piano, experimenting with pencil art, dance classes, etc. as there were a few months left to get admitted into my Under graduation course. A few of my friends had planned to meet on Friendship day at St.Ann's my inter college. So as planned, I was the one who came to college first. Then, after a while, Lavanya and Vijju reached there. We were waiting for Sushu's arrival at the entrance gate of our college. Later, Agnes came along with her father. Sush came by scotty along with her sister. We all met after our exams for the first time, so it was all exciting and I am a bit weird always and on that day it was no different, I bought some Red Roses and Kitkat Chocolates for the four of them.

We were walking down the street and talking about our next plans, then we thought of going to an ice-cream parlour. We went inside a food court named "hangouts". We ordered different ice-cream flavors and there was a new one "Mississippi Mud" which I liked the most. We planned to meet on other occasions and spend some time with our teachers as well. Reminiscences of your past give a feeling of fun and nostalgia too. It was a bright day for me and I felt like I can never change in my life as Sushmitha always says I am never going to change in being the weirdly awesome person, one of the reasons why she likes me so much is I am different from others and I love all the barbie colors(pink, blue, white,&voilet). Whenever we meet, she keeps on pointing out that I wear at least one of those four colors because I like them.

We became so close in the second year of our intermediate and she is the coolest person I have ever met. I like her for the honesty and love she shows for her family, I know this sounds like a traditional Indian girl but it is true. Each one of us was unique and genuine in our friendship. The time came where everyone has to leave for their respective homes, as we were leaving Sushu got a call from her school friend who was waiting at the bus stop, so she wanted to meet her. As we came out of Hangouts, there was qa girl waiting. Sushu went and hugged her, they both greeted in a warm manner. The girl looked tall, thin and wearing red shirt with a pony tail and spects.

She was filled with energy and her smile was so lively. Sushu introduced her school friend and junior Sowjanya to me. Sowju said," Hi, Jaanu!" Just like she is familiar to me. I was delighted by meeting her and gave a tight shake hand. She had to leave soon as there was little time to meet her other friends as well and an auto was already waiting for her. She waived at me and So did I but there was missing feeling from within and I did not think of it much. A few months later, sowju and I started texting each other on Instagram. Everytime we had a conversation, it was so deep and meaningful indeed. Our thought process matches so well and we have an understanding that made our bond stronger and affectionate. She had a blog called "Peacesoul" at the beginning which is now titled as "Beeathfree" where she posts varied content in the form of quotes, messages, greetings, warnings, views, etc. I used to contribute my part Whenever I had free time.

She really likes to extract more inspiration from me because she has a trust that I am a sensible writer. And I feel so confident getting boosted by her to make my best efforts. Our journey began from there and we became very special to each other. I think this bond is something beyond neither just a mere mutual friendship nor a strange relation. Soon, I realised there must a good reason for our bond to exist. I felt we need to create something original for us. Though we met a couple of times unplanned, coincidentally or occasionally. The time we spent together had a fruitful purpose to discuss all our thoughts, emotions, ideas and actions. It was a wholesome knowledge of pure writing that satisfied our inner strengths. As days passed, we became busier with our respective college timings, academics, and other works.

But if I had some haunting nights, I used to write a few poems or quotes and send them to Sowju who she would edit and post them on our blog after proofreading. Aslo, we share a genuine feedback of our phases and scope for the improvement in our passion called writing. Even Sowju was busy with her exams, projects, etc. and still write and post the stuff that she pens down anytime. In this hectic living of our age, we had no time to converse like before from heart-to-heart. I thought I need to give her some space which she requires at that moment so that she can focus on her present well. After a while, it was so boring for me after my under graduation. I was in a confused state of mind for every aspect of my life, I still do not understand why I had to pass that dark phase with a pressure, tension and nervousness.

I never shared it with anyone. The most loyal ones turned to be the pretenders that I could never imagine. Not only stagnating at my achievement but also the fear the of losing myself(my original self). It was the time where I was unable to cope up with myself as I didn't know what was I going through. I thought I need to give a break for myself so that I can settle down things and solve my own issues. It is not always the matter of physical growth but Mentally being stable is far more important. I felt the need for joining the Vipassana Meditation Centre, the Buddhist meditation technique was taught in 10 days. There were strict rules that no one is allowed to talk for 10 days and follow all the conditions like no usage of mobile phones, other contact with social world.

It was a deep and intensive mode of holostic living. I got to realise that I had to bring an inspiring output in the form of a book. And I wanted Sowju and me to co-author a book in our coming future especially, on the theme called feminism. I thought I was alright after coming back to my daily routine but I did not know the pain remained in some corner of my heart again to annoy and remind me that I am a worthless person being treated with no value, no concern and no love. I always wished only for a peace of mind all my life. I discovered the more desperate I got over it, the more distant it became to my mind. I wondered, is it like a magic or what, the peace is all I want but all except it made me drive crazy many times. Still I had a hope someday it might come to me, and stay till I get rid of it. This was the darkest phase I had to pass with a huge difficulty.

So much was running in my mind, the horrible depression. I had gone through a stage where I became so sick without having proper food on time, insomniac almost every night. Severe migraine headaches and seasonal sinusitis were my frequent complaints. This definitely worried my parents, they had to take extra care of me. It took a long time to recover and when I finally did, I had to admit that life is not easy, but whatever happens in life we have to take it easy. The positive mentality of me that I never overlooked gave a comfortable feeling. I was safe and good inside and out. I was a little angry on Sowju because she did not even have the concern to inquire about me. I don't know if this is ego or something like that but I was sulky sometimes.

I understand that I might not be a school friend as old as Sushu but I am sure I have a special place in Sowju's heart and she can not just ignore me. I tried calling her but most of the times, she was busy with her work and job that gave her no content and added extra burden. I know she was capable of something better in fact the best of all but out of the circumstances and hard times, she had to opt an odd job where she was completely restricted from being herself(peace soul). I told her so many times that the job is not her worth but she had no other option to get the work experince certificate. One night, I messaged her in a flirty way that I need her appointment for talking and she called me the next moment, I was busy at that time with some other work at home and texted her to talk later but my heart was racing along with time and I had to finish that work immediately and called Sowju. She lifted for the first time after so many days but I figured out there was some dullness in her tone. She was explaining what she was going through at that time and to my surprise, it was exactly like what I had to face in those dark phases of my life.

She went through that depression and told me everything, and I had no words but tears were rolling down my cheeks as she was talking from her heart and I could sense her pain and visualize that horrible situation. I never shared my worst experience with her. I was grateful and happy for one thing that we came out of it. We did not escape from it but we faced it with all the courage and proved that nothing can come in our way to lead this wonderful life in an inspiring way. As I recovered from my so called fear of leading this life filled with black and white experinced, I realised that accepting the truth is prevention of all the problems.

And I did it with all my love for this nature that ignited my mind. Peace can never be found somewhere, you need to make it everywhere. One fine day, sowju shared an idea of posting the content in video form through our blog and she also has other thoughts of opening a channel on YouTube. I was running similar thoughts like this since a very long time. We discussed everything in detail over our lengthy phone conversation. I still like our commitment that we are never bothered of what others think, we always give the best and leave the rest for our relation is as beautiful as a red rose and as crunchy as a Kitkat chocolate. I love Sowju always for being my true friend. Hopefully, someday we will create great miracles through our inspiring output and creative potential.