Friendship

We have had a handful of movies in Tamil which celebrate friendship.Unusual theme and message considering their staple diet of 'love'!Otherwise friends are usually sidekicks of heros and heroines who do not have any originality or character.At best they may act as sounding boards.But if the hero as much as gives them importance, then it detracts from the larger than life image of the heros, so it is a definite no - no.Long and short of it, is that friends are eminently forgettable characters in Tamil cinema genre.
In real life, we see two divergent groups of people.One group which staunchly believes that friends are what make ones life livable and worthwhile.The other group staunchly believe that friends are for fun only and not for any commitment for long time, leave alone lifetime.
It can be no secret, to which group i belong!
Friends are fun yes, friends are also for keeps; for the long haul. I can say that friends i made when in college and immediately thereafter, in the early years of work usually stay that way. It is okay during the intervening years, and sometimes over a decade or two, there would have been only sporadic contact.The early years of career, marriage, family, kids, all arrive in quick succession and before one realises one has lost touch with ones friends.Add company transfers and relocations to add a touch of drama.
Then children move away for higher studies and you take a breather and look at life afresh.You feel strongly the need to bond with your friends again. You meet up with one and get updated on many others in just one phone call. The beauty of friends is that years that have flown by seem to have stood still as far as they are concerned. You could pick up the thread and feel comfortable and at ease with them as you used to.Chasm of time is quickly bridged.
It has happened that the last one week has been hectic with establishing contact with many friends and i am on a perpetual high!With each one of them, you are able to relate in different emotional zones and it does enrich your life.
Suddenly i feel alive!
I do accept that friends do cause pain at times, as one expects them to be there for you.It is also likely that they are not willing to commit as much to the friendship as you think you are committing. But over time these look small compared to the joy and bonding that takes place when you are together. In fact even when you are not together, you feel at ease reaching out to them , without having to do any explanations.
To say in a nutshell, it is worth all the effort and time and energy that friends demand and get!!!