We all have that one person in our lives in whose absence our existence seems utterly

meaningless. For some people, that person is a friend—a family you choose instead of

being forced into liking. No matter how much you argue with your friends over little

things, ultimately you love them for exactly who they are. None of those petty, expensive

gifts or sweet words mean anything if one can’t appreciate the little things that matter.

Rohan was lucky enough to have the best of both: a friend to live for and a love to die

for. A friend who would confidently lie to his parents just to go out with him and a

girlfriend who was slowly and discreetly penetrating his heart and soul.

It was the evening of Rohan’s relationship anniversary. Rohan had left for his

girlfriend Riddhima’s place and his friend Virat, too, was on his way. Rohan had made

all the preparations for a perfect evening. As he took out his mobile phone from his

pocket, he scrolled through Riddhima’s pictures in his gallery for a while, then read the

text message he had received, and started typing a reply:

You will look ravishing covered in my kisses. You always ask me whether you are better

than my ex or not, so let me tell you the truth today—no one can be compared to you, my

love. I love you so much and I wonder to myself why? You know what they say—when you

know why you like someone, it’s a crush and when you can’t think of a reason or

explanation, it’s love.

He read the message once again before pressing the send button. He then thought of

deleting the text message from his phone. After all, it had only been a day since they

started seeing each other. He feared what Riddhima would think about him. But the best

conversations are those that never take place, like the messages that we never send.

Rohan reached Riddhima’s house and knocked on the door. She let him inside, though

something had changed this time; earlier he used to visit her to learn French while now

he was here to teach her how to French kiss, if the stars favoured him. He called Virat to

ask him where he was and how long he’d take to reach.

‘I am on my way. Will reach in half an hour. Extremely sorry, buddy. I am still stuck in

traffic,’ Virat lied.

He was not struck in traffic but caught up in another meeting—one with his best

friend. A girl can be your best friend, your worst enemy, or your worst nightmare. It all

depends upon how you treat her. Virat treated her like a princess but always asked her

when would she start looking for a guy to fall in love with to which she would reply, ‘I

Don’t need someone so mature that I can’t act immaturely around him. What I need is

someone who adores my immaturity and maturely understands me.’ They’d end up

fighting over issues like these and would stop talking to each other for days.

She was supposed to travel back to her hometown that night, all by herself. He never

liked the fact that she travelled alone. But she loved adventures and it was beyond

Virat’s control to win an argument with her.

Virat was about to reach Rohan’s place when suddenly he took a U-turn in high speed.

The other cars came to a halt the moment Virat took the sudden turn and sped away.

While he was waiting for the signal to turn green, he received a message. He

immediately called on the unknown number and before the person on the other end could

explain the whole thing, he ended the call. Suddenly, he felt numb—like his whole world

had come crashing down. He couldn’t believe his ears. It was, by far, the worst news of

his life.

His hands shivered as he accelerated the car. After a few minutes, he got a call from

Rohan again.

‘Where are you? Stop following girls and come here right away.’

‘Rohan, I’m not coming. I am extremely sorry but I need to see someone urgently.

Please don’t take this the wrong way,’ Virat said with a heavy voice.

‘What happened?’ Rohan asked sensing the gravity of the situation.

Without uttering a word, Virat disconnected the call and parked his car. He got out and

started walking when he realized that he’d forgotten to lock the car, yet again.

‘How many times do I need to tell you to check whether the doors have been locked

properly or not? You are so careless, Virat. This is unacceptable.’ He remembered her

chiding him and a tear rolled down his eyes.

All the crazy moments that they had spent together came rushing back like a flashback

in front of his eyes. He remembered their long drives and the way she tickled him sitting

beside him in the car. An empty smile, unspoken words, and a broken heart; it was

killing him. Their relationship did not flourish as intended. Perhaps, it would go

somewhere better. All the good memories and the precious moments they had shared

with each other had been scattered in a fraction of a second.

Sometimes we play with our lives, but when the time comes for us to get serious, life

plays with us. Rohan was expecting Virat to celebrate his newfound happiness with him,

but now even Rohan was worried for Virat. Riddhima was confused by the way Rohan

was acting and wanted to know what had happened.

Whenever he faced a difficult time, she would be the first person to be by his side.

Now he was missing that support of hers. Virat was missing the support of his best

friend, Kavya.

...To be continued......

A Slightly Insane Friendship

Mid July, 2009

‘Kavya, what are you doing here at this hour? You act like my mom. She also had this

habit of waking me up early in the morning for no reason whatsoever. It’s so annoying!’

Virat muttered still half-asleep. Kavya was kicking his butt in an attempt to wake him up.

Virat and Kavya were both students at Biosis College, Pune.

I wanna make up right now, na na…wish we never broke up right now, na na…

The song was playing on repeat on the stereo and Virat slept without a care in the

world. Kavya kept a duplicate key of his room with her precisely for situations like

these.

If it were up to Virat, he would sleep all through the day.

‘You can never get up on your own, can you? You should throw away your alarm

clock. It’s of no use,’ Kavya complained shaking him up.

Kavya was a tomboy, completely extrovert in nature. She made friends easily unlike

Virat and loved playing sports and riding a bike. Although slightly plump, she carried

herself with grace and was always full of energy. She never wore anything that would

make her look like a slut. She was a hardcore foodie at heart and loved to experiment

with her taste buds. Her favourite hobby was teasing boys and she didn’t spare Virat

whenever she got a chance.

Kavya stayed in Kothrud, Pune. She was extremely bold and forthright, and did not

care if people took her the wrong way.

‘How can you kick me in my own house?’ Virat looked annoyingly at Kavya with his

eyes half open.

‘Oh please! This is not your house. This wouldn’t even classify as a “house”. Look at

that dirty underwear of yours hanging on the rope. It’s so old it’s covered in holes! And

those socks of yours? They stink so bad that I need to carry a room freshener with me

every time I come to your house,’ Kavya said with an expression of disgust on her face.

He barely made note of her complaints and went back to sleep, asking her not to

disturb him for another 15 minutes.

Virat was a smart and witty boy, with an extremely good sense of humour. His only

vice was that he was extremely lazy. Kavya would try her best to talk him out of sleeping so late, but he wouldn’t listen. He always wore a stubble on his fair skinned face and the

style helped him woo girls. Like Kavya, he would never bother himself with what

people thought about him and was never ashamed to express what he felt. Though he

would take his time to befriend people, he was never outrightly rude to anyone. He

feared getting into a serious relationship as the early demise of his parents had scarred

him forever. He knew how to charm everyone in his presence and could talk to anyone

with ease. He stayed with his aunt in Mumbai during his school days and later, when he

started going to Boisis College to study Commerce, he took up a flat on rent near his

college

...To be continued.......

He met Kavya in the same college and they hit it off instantly. She tolerated him and

adored him while he had her back, always. All the other girls? Well, they were friends.

Friends with ‘benefits’.

‘Get up, you kumbhkaran. Look at how late it is. I hope you remember we were

supposed to go shopping today,’ Kavya said and went into the kitchen to prepare

breakfast.

By the time she entered the bedroom, Virat had taken a bath and was getting ready.

‘That is so sweet of you. That’s why I call you my best friend,’she said pulling his

cheeks.

‘Stop sugarcoating me. I said I’ll come and I always live up to my promise. So let’s

go,’ he said adjusting the collar of his t-shirt.

‘Wear your pants, at least,’ Kavya said pointing to the towel wrapped around his

waist.

‘Stop instructing me on the proper dress code when you aren’t dressed in salwar

kameez either,’ he laughed looking at the skirt she was wearing.

‘Who do you think you are, a stud?’ Kavya asked.

Virat ignored the question and grabbed a comb from the dressing table, eating his

breakfast simultaneously. This annoyed Kavya. To set him straight, Kavya knew just

what to do. Virat had a few oversized shirts in his wardrobe that he had never worn

before.

‘What are you doing?’ Virat asked her when she picked up one of the oversized shirts

and went to the washroom to change.

‘You’ll see in a minute,’ Kavya replied cheekily as she closed the door of the

bathroom. What excited Kavya was a nightmare to Virat. When she came out, she was

wearing nothing but an XXLsize shirt with a waist belt. The shirt barely covered her

thighs.

‘Have you lost your mind?’ he screamed.

‘If you can wear those tiny boxers of yours and roam around freely in the house, why

can’t I go out shopping like this? Doesn’t it look sexy?’ Kavya asked checking herself

out in the mirror.

‘I am not coming with you if you are going out wearing that. Tell me, you are kidding,

right?’ Virat was completely baffled.

‘Don’t you dare challenge me. If you lose, tonight’s drinks are on you.’

Saying so, Kavya pulled Virat by the hand and took him downstairs. She refused to go

via his car and ignited her scooty. Virat was completely embarrassed. He looked around

to see if anyone was watching them. Kavya was enjoying Virat’s embarrassment and

couldn’t control her laughter. While driving, Kavya’s shirt would slide up a bit, and

Virat would try and pull it down for her, much to Kavya’s amusement. Whenever the

scooty would halt due to heavy traffic, they would become the centre of attraction as all

eyes would be fixed on them. All Virat could do was hide his face under the helmet.

‘Kavya, this is not done. Can’t we just go back to our room?’ Virat pleaded.

Kavya was in no mood to listen and continued to drive until they reached SGS mall on

MG Road. Even the person who handled their parking ticket in the mall took his own

time to check out Kavya.

‘You son of a bitch…’ Virat was unable to control his anger but calmed down when

Kavya pinched his thigh.

He had never witnessed such an embarrassing situation before in his entire life and

decided not to wear his tiny boxers, not even at home. Theirs was a crazy relationship

where nothing was off limits.

‘It’s not over yet. We still have to go shopping inside the mall,’ Kavya winked at

Virat.

...To be continued......