Dear,

There is something fascinating about catching up with old friends. It feels like meeting an old forgotten version of yourself, that you somewhere, somehow lost track of, along the way. It brings back many old memories and long forgotten jokes. You end up laughing over silly things like school kids all over again.

I was thinking the other day – the whole of last year has been a big episode of friendships for me. I caught up with many old friends after a real long time. We picked up from where we left off and it felt like it was just yesterday that we last spoke.

One particular friend deserves a special mention here. I met her first when I was all of sixteen. She was a shy, reserved and thoughtful girl. She looked like she was unsure about some things and certain about others. We had a hilarious time back then. After college, the conversations were few and distantly spaced in time. But, we somehow, managed to stay in touch, still giggling over the same jokes and discussing everything possible under the sun. I always admired her sense of the written word. I actually read Harry Potter after she yapped about it for several hours. Her heightened interest in literature managed to evoke a curiousity within me, a loyal non-fiction advocate, to browse through the works of Browning, Rowling and Tolkien for starters.

Years later, I met her again at the airport, while she was all set to leave this country, spent 10 odd minutes with her, laughed again over the most dumb things possible and walked back to the car realising that hers was the only friendship of mine, which was more or less consistent all through these years. I walked back realising that I cherished her friendship more than I thought I did. I walked back realising that I was going to miss her more than I thought I would. I guess it sometimes takes a goodbye to make one realise the importance of few people in life. She was one such person.

We still remain in touch. We both swoon at the mention of the name "Hrithik Roshan", read similar kind of stuff (though am more inclined towards non-fiction), get mesmerized by similar poems, we drive each other crazy by trying to outbeat each other at dumb jokes. I cherish her friendship more with each passing day. She always says that I was there for her through some very confusing times, but I think, it mostly was the other way round - she was there for me in many ways than she ever realised and I ever acknowledged.

She was a good friend then. She is an irreplaceable friend now. She will always remain a special and cherished friend. Its true- some friendships are like wine - they keep getting better with time.