The Good Agony

"Hey, Aditi! Do you know what I found today ?"

Remarked an excited Rohan as soon as he put down his laptop bag on the shelf.

"Tell me."

Replied Aditi smilingly, as she went closer to him and clasped her fingers with his.

With a voice filled with love and concern, she added "Was it a long day for you ?"

"It was okay actually. But I found something really surprising. Remember your friend Kriti from college. The one who attended our wedding. I discovered her article in New York times. She's become some celebrity Agony Aunt of sorts. ..."

Rohan grasped for breath for a moment and then continued.

"She has millions of followers at Quora, Twitter and Instagram. She's doing a column called 'The Good Agony' in one of the leading dailies. People seek her advice.

And ......what's more, in this interview of hers, she mentions YOU as her inspiration ! "

Rohan smiled somewhat in daze, still holding Aditi near him.

Aditi was at loss of words for a few moments. She gazed into Rohan eyes and said thoughtfully "It's great to know that she remembers me, but calling me an inspiration is too far-fetched….

Well, Now you sit down and relax. You got me a great news.

I will get you your chamomile tea."

Over the dinner that day Aditi, went on a trip down the memory lane and related to Rohan quite few a stories about her and Kriti's college days.

"This Kriti of yours is a philosopher of sorts. Isn't it? I didn't even know that you guys were in touch over these years."

"I talked to her last year when she lost her mother. Tell you what, We may not be talking on daily basis but we are together in spirit ".

"Wow, 'together in spirit', Madam you sound like some philosopher yourself."

That night, Aditi couldn't catch sleep and kept tossing in bed. She decided to get up and make her favorite cup of masala tea laced loads of with dried ginger powder. Coincidentally such was Kriti's favorite cup of tea too. In the aromatic waft of the tea , she sifted through the years of togetherness with Kriti. 

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"Aditi, you do not understand me at all now. You have a new life. You are marrying your love. You love your work. Life is all set for you. But me? I do not know what to do with my life. I don’t know what I want. I don’t know what I love. I don’t know what I seek. You were my guide dear Aditi. I am lost without you."

 

"Kriti, you have so much in you . You simply do not realize your worth. You are passion personified. You read books like crazy. You formulate philosophies. You are so… so..Deep. You don’t need support. You are support."

 

"Aditi. I need a mentor. I need someone who can guide me in a balanced manner. Not my parents or sister. They are biased towards me. They look at me in a different way. I want someone who can listen to me without judging me. Someone who can reprimand me for my own good. Someone who can look at the big picture and tell me what I SHOULD do and not what is EASY for me to do. Someone who likes me and yet, is not afraid of saying something which would me like them less. Someone who can guide me about the right way to live. "

 

The two friends were silent for sometime. There were tears in their eyes. The tears which were washing away the layers of fear, helplessness, anxiety and let the purity of love shine in their eyes.

Aditi said with some effort. "Kriti, …all of this which you are seeking in someone. Can you do it for others ?"

 

"What do you mean ?"

 

"Can you listen to others without judging them? Can you guide them by looking at their big picture? Can you work on their Questions ?

For some strange reason, sometimes all our answers lie in Questions."

Aditi then added as an afterthought. "Kriti, talk to the editor our university magazine, tell him that from now on, apart from covering the college events , you would do an 'Agony Aunt' column as well. Students would write to you about their issues and you would help them."

 

"It does not make any sense. Me , an Agony Aunt?"

 

"Trust me on this my dear. Just like you have trusted me on everything else ." said Aditi with confidence in her eyes.

 

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A month after her marriage , Kriti moved to States for to carry on her M.Phil. Aditi and received a note from her in her mailbox.

 

"Dearest Aditi,

 

Hope you are doing and basking in marital bliss

May God shower you with love and happiness.

 

I am doing good too and treading the very path directed by you. And yes, I have been able to find myself. Not only do I like what I am doing, I have found a purpose and meaning in what I am doing.

Listening to other's problems, sometimes objectively, sometimes subjectively, has helped me understand life and its nuances better.

I also understand I am not the one in greatest agony, there are people in much greater agony. I realize how lucky I am to have good life, family and friends. I also understand that it is infact good to have some pain , some agony in life. This pain, this agony, pushes us to move forward and bring progress and change. It is this pain that transforms us. It is pain that makes us look deep within and find ourselves.

 

Thanks for being there for me.

Love you always.

 

Your truly

Kriti."

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An app notification sound popped up in Aditi's phone, bringing her back to the present. She took a comforting sip from her cup and checked her phone.

It was an answer to her question "Do friends last a lifetime ?" at an Advise App, by 'Good Agony'.