Birds of a feather flock together on a virtual tree

COVID 19 changed the way we lived all along and opened a whole new virtual world for us. Though we had been using various virtual ways of connecting for official purposes for a long time but on a personal level, we still relied on either physical meetings or good old phone calls. But now with the advent of a whole new range of free platforms during the lockdown and the restriction of being physically away from friends and families, we all came closer in a niche way. Our social instincts forced us to find the connections in ways, like never before.

I completed my schooling around 27 years back and since then though I met some of the friends on and off, we all could never plan a get together we wanted due to the way we were spread across the various cities. Moreover, women tend to get engrossed with families and careers and largely don’t pay attention towards their own simple needs of catching up with friends which could be a soul-satisfying experience for them, unlike men who just walk out on a weekend to catch up with friends over drinks. If insisted, we women also tag along happily with our menfolk in their social circles without thinking about our convenience. But when it comes to meeting our very own friends, we think it is not necessary coz we are all groomed in a manner where are made to put up our own needs above the needs of the ones we love.

Nonetheless, after a gap of 27 years, with some well-targeted nudging, all my school friends finally came together on a virtual video call. The smiles spreading from ear to ear and the urge to converse at a pace where no one was able to hear the other, spoke volumes about the level of excitement. We inquired about each other’s families, talked about our work, shared juicy details about our spouses to let the ball rolling. From there we went back to school days, where life was innocent and the biggest pleasure was to be able to cycle around town with friends, celebrate birthdays, dancing, singing, and chatting in an uninhibited manner. We lost that naiveté and now even a five-star meal could not match flavors of those shared plates of dosas and chhole-bhature, but we still have the memories to cherish and calls to celebrate those times.

So, friends just stay in touch to laud our adolescence with these calls, messages, sweet smiles and hopefully a physical meeting in our hometown soon, coz our friendship is no less than our first love.