Friends ...

In our lifetime we may come come across a number of friends. For some the 'number' could be a huge one, for some it could be of some smaller value, for some it could be 'zero'. But when people claim "I've no friends", i doubt the statement. According to the English dictionary, friend is an ally, a booster, an acquaintance, but most important of all, a friend is someone who stands by us in ups and downs of our life. Now, the question that crawls in here is 'What do we mean by ups and downs'? Well, the answer is simple. These are certain phases in life that we don't desire. Even the Ups? Yes, even those. When I think of myself as a child I never wanted to study. But the competition was tough. My parents wanted me to rise and shine. So there i sat down with my books turning a blind eye to everything bright and beautiful, anything that I actually wanted to be. So that was the down, and when I managed to score a ton, that was the up. But did I really desire of this so called 'Up'. No I didn't. I had friends, I remember their names and faces, I am in touch with a number of them. I grew older. Lost in touch with most of my childhood friends. They moved on towards their goal and I towards mine. Then passed with time like a rough dash of wind the high school, the college. The number of friends in the social networking database kept increasing. But there were a few more, the closest of the friends who do not feature in the so called friend-list. The school days were good enough, but it wouldn't had been so if the time, the environment had not been beside me. I still remember the first day of my school. I walked in scared, astonished, and i knew "This is not the place I wish to be in". My school had no problem with any of my complains. She embraced me with open arms and soon I was friends with my school. She stood by me during every Ups and Downs, in every good and bad. I hated my books, but no sooner I took them up as my closest friends. Do we ever wonder how does a history graduate manages to survive? Because that person manages to love history. The things I have spoken about this far are friends by choice. But what about a person who doesn't have a choice. Think of a cripple. He took up the stick as his friend. Think of Stephen Hawkings. He also made a friend for himself. Think of a person who hates his government, his job, his partners. In spite of hating all of them, they stay with him during his ups and downs. So according to the dictionary meaning, everything he hates might be termed as his friends. Someone said it correctly, "Kaid huye thhe hum, kaid se yaari ho gayi re"