People can be with you till the penultimate, but you have to walk alone to the ultimate.
Every person walks their journey alone, as everyone's path is chalked out uniquely. Roads converge, diverge, turn a U-turn, dead end sometimes, or end as a seashore and then you swim. Or row a boat. But cross the river you must.
When in class two, I dreamt that I and two other kids are at the ocean. We're playing and walking on the water. We run till the point where the blue sky touches the surface of water, and then probably we fall out of earth. I had fallen out of the bed, almost.
I would play with five-six friends in school and with two of my neighbours at home, but as far as I remember, I was always alone. Not someone who went out of her way to make friends. In the new school, I automatically became close to other two new kids. It was convenient and thankfully, they were fun. Both loved the Harry Potter series, one of them introduced me to the world of cartoon strips and the other remains my friend till date. Then I switched to yet another school and this place was a culture shock. I didn't think I fit in. But once again my friends were the other new kids, one who followed me to college as my junior , and the other with whom I sometimes go on long walks around the city. A third friend from the third school also went to the college with me, and with her gregarious nature, found many many friends. I, on my part, stuck to my convenient strategy, and my first friends at college were my room-mates. We were inseparable, for two semesters. After which I and my one room-mate had a fallout with the third. Then we had to shift to the new hostel, where the occupancy was two people. I and my room-mate naturally continued our room-mate-ship. We became very close, like best friends. I also found a science geek, an athletic girl, a new kid who joined the hostel to live the hostel life and two more ladies who were my neighbours in the new place. Being in the hostel committee brought more proximity to more people. College fest is where I met crazy seniors and a short-lived crush. Some foreign students who were in my room-mate's class, the good-looking talented lads in our college bands, the CAT prep and towards the end, the last days of sentiyappa also added some people to my Facebook friend list.
New college. A girl walked up to me and asked, "Will you be my room-mate?" As I had absolutely no idea about anyone here, and since this saved me from asking the same question to others, I smiled and said yes. She introduced me to two other girls, a singer and a dancer. We met at the Pond. Newness was the binding factor for all. For a management game, I, my room-mate, the dancer and two other girls teamed up. We sat, brainstormed, laughed and won. In class I met many people, guys and girls from different worlds. I easily made many friends there. By the end of that year, I had my own gang, another group- 'book-o-holics', some committee friends, some more from the senior batch. The gang goes everywhere. We have faced so many things together, spent all waking hours with each other, helped each other for everything, and being the youngest I've been taken care of. So much so that in the start, I would wonder how come the friend-less me became a confidante for so many? Now, they all aren't just my go-to but my be-with people.
Friendship is a drug. It is. They have gone to their roads ahead, and today I sit alone on my bed, as each has to fight their battle alone. I know I have them just a phone call or a WhatsApp ping and an FB/Twitter DM away. Despite the emptiness in and around the hostel, I know they are there. With this knowledge, I'll cross my river.
