Friends

"Some friends are like precious and some friendships don't have a maturity with age. Be a child and enjoy your life. Life is short, live it! Never bring in your egos and judge each other."

" Life is worth of enjoyment. All human beings are born with ups and downs. We all have problems but never take friendship for granted. Shoulder your worries but don't laugh on others. You don't know what others are going through?"

The three friends had met on a school reunion group after 15 long years. Ravi, Preet and Margaret behaved like kids while eating their juicy popsicle. They were class 8 friends but the friendship of that class was memorable and unforgettable.

They had decided to meet at their favourite Ram Temple and relive their memories in their late '30's.

"The temple was a serene place where they prayed after every exam to get pass marks in their school days. Yet they failed in exams. Their parents called them useless, yet they were carefree in their school days. Ravi always had a 100 rupee note with him and the girls were not rich to have Rs. 5 in their pockets. Ravi would treat them occasionally and they loved it."

Life had changed a lot. School life was not good with the teacher's remarks and frustrated parents. College life was smooth and in career, the trio had seen leaps and downs. Preet was divorced. Ravi seemed to be a happily married guy. Margaret was an independent girl, with some hidden complications in life. But the best part was that they believed in destiny and were happy that they were alive, meeting each other after 15 years. Margaret and Preet were connected but Ravi coming into their life was like a blessing. They had almost forgotten him, but now he was back in their life with a bang.

Preet and Margaret had decided to make Ravi feel special. It was Nov 3 and his birthday. Though Margaret was working with him, it was just online. She was excited to see meet him and see - did he look the same? He was her crush as he looked like Ronit Roy - The Jaan Tere Naam Hero in his teenage. The meeting was fixed to celebrate with Ravi.

"They all had their own stories we all have ours. When we live, we play a role in those stories and when we leave the World, we become stories. " 

Preet's story:

Preet Singh had lost her parents in her childhood. She stayed with her sister and her brother in law. She realized there was no love between her sister and BIL. It was a forced marriage. She was heartbroken and prayed hard for their union . It did happen and they were happy with two kids.

Preet was a fast forward girl as she had a lover in class 8 and she ditched him later with the news that he was suffering from a type of Cancer. She had the guilt of leaving him and but she thought marrying Vikas was her right choice. She was happy with Vikas but the entry of her mother in law from the USA ruined her life. She saw another side of Vikas and he started abusing her with his mother's influence. Their marriage ended in a divorce and Preet just wanted to live for her daughter Sai.

Ravi Bajaj :

Ravi is the only son of a small scale industry businessman in Mumbai. He was not interested in studies but he completed his BA and later helped his dad in business. He went to Dubai to met a friend and with his friend's PR agency, he worked for 3 years. Ravi's parents had a love marriage but Ravi was not lucky to have a girlfriend for life. Prakriti or lovingly called as Pankurri, his dad's assistant walked out of his life when he went to Dubai. He always wanted to marry a simple girl and he married Pooja as per his parent's wish. He was happy in marriage but one day his wife overheard his conversation with his subordinate Archana. He called her Sweetheart and giggled was his mistake. This made Pooja jealous and she started picking up fights with him. He quit his job in Dubai and came back to his hometown. At Mumbai, he struggled to get new competitive work in the media field. He started taking small-time projects and Margaret who had lost her job due to recession helped him in his projects. Ravi paid her 60 % money from what he earned as he had his dad's richness to get what he wanted?

Margaret Abraham:

She had a lot of troubles but she always smiled. She was the youngest daughter of Abraham, a small-time vendor who had huge dreams for his daughters. He forced her to do a diploma course in Mass Communication when her interest was in law. She was not gaining success as she never took credit about her hard work. Her colleagues have climbed the success ladder with their sweet talks and Margaret could not be a sugar-coated tablet. She wrote an international test and she got a high profile job in the Indian Branch of an American Company. Her days were nights and nights were days, media life was never a 9-6 job. She enjoyed her work but the new Government policies and taxes snatched her job. She had seen an immediate company shut down. She did not want to compromise but now even she was not getting what she wanted? She was always troubled by wrong choices. Her health issues like PCOD kept her troubled. She was in a distance relationship but was not sure if she has to continue the relationship. Her soul mate was her lifeline but he at times he had his complexes. She was in a phase where she realised he was not her dream man. She did not intend to cheat him and she was in a dilemma. The time would heal her was her staunch belief.

Present time:

Preet, Ravi and Margaret decided the Aarti time for their meeting but as usual, Ravi was late. He had to lie to his wife and leave the house.

The temple bell chimed and Ravi entered wearing a Yellow shirt and Blue jeans. He was indeed handsome but not as charming as in his Teenage. Yellow was always his favourite. He could immediately recognise the girls and he smiled looking at Preet standing near the Shrine. She looked the same with little dark circles, here and there. Margaret has turned in to a baby Elephant, she was standing below the magnificent dome. The girls quickly folded their hands and took the prasad and Aarti. Ravi followed them and they exited the temple gate.

"Thank God we met." Ravi hugged his both friends.

"Stop hitting on me," Preet said sternly.

"I am just being good you shitty face," Ravi replied in arrogance.

Margaret laughed hard and there was no bitterness among Ravi and Preet. They walked on the streets carefree...

They decided to chat but no personal talks. He gave the girls branded lipsticks as a token of friendship. Preet had given Ravi a musical card as his birthday gift and that reminded him of school days. Margaret had got perfume for him and they both started discussing likes and dislikes. They both loved the web series, 'Kehne ko Humsafar hein' and Margaret even wrote fan fiction on it. Ravi did not know Margaret was the same Jennie 12 whom he read on a mobile app for stories.

"That day was the best. They ate Indian Burgers, Popsicles and ice- creams. They made a group on Whatsapp and often playing Antakshari at night till sleep touched them. Ravi had saved his friends' number with a men name to keep Pooja aloof about his beautiful girlfriends. Margaret always put a Ronit Roy DP that saved him. Preet did not have a dp. Her image just looked like a white hole.

"The beautiful friendship continued and whenever they met, they would be the same Teenagers.

Age was just a number."