Friends

She was this happy-go-lucky, sweet, ‘ambiverted’, friends to many, enemy-to-none, levelheaded, intelligent, pragmatic girl next door. He was enigmatic, a closed book, hard to get, friendly, straight-forward, good friends with handpicked few, intelligent, sweet and moody. In spite having known each other since childhood, every meeting made them unleash new mysteries about each other. They enjoyed each other's company immensely, irrespective of whether they were across continents or a matter of meters apart. They talked about school, college, happiness’s, sorrows, gossips, music, movies, how difficult was her first attempt to wear the sari, how funny was the booze-party in his hostel, how her best friend’s marriage alliance experience had been, how his mobile phone fell into water, how she had a mad fight with her mum, how he lost his temper over his boss, how the music festival was getting along in her school, what books he's been reading, who her latest crush at work was, how hot his Salma-Hayek-lookalike colleague was, how she felt on top of the world when wind kissed her cheeks and clouds caressed her feet during her trek trips, how elated he was when he bought his first car...

They talked about everything and they talked more about nothing at all. They would lose touch for months and when back together, they'd hit it off from where they left. Neither missed each other during the hiatuses nor had a pulse-racing exhilaration on hearing from the other. Both parents took pride at their fond friendship.

One fine day, she announced that she was getting married to one NRI dude her parents chose for her. He was most happy for her. And they continued their banter as always. But when they met a month before her wedding, an unexplained tension overwhelmed them. Neither of them spoke much but the uneasy silence said it all.

Today she is married and he, we hear, is engaged. And their tête-à-tête continues unabated.