An ode to friendship. Or maybe something more.

June 1st 1994 saw a little girl in a navy blue frock stand in the foyer of The Frank Anthony Public School and look all around her. This is where she was going to study now on. It as a strange feeling. She had left behind her best friends in Roxbourne First School and brought with her only her strong British accent. She entered a classroom which was full of faces and uniforms. But there was one exception. Another girl in a frock and two long plaits. She seemed more comfortable. 

This was how I met Janani.

Its been twenty years since we first met. Twenty years of being best friends. Maybe BFF isn't such a cliche after all.  From bonding over our foreign accents (only she could match my speed of talking and understand my accent. And oh, she had, has an American accent), to arguing over which guy in our class was the cutest for that day (cuteness really did not last more than a day or two tops. It changed a lot). We've fought. (Nobody really knows that). I've mercilessly joined her sister in teasing her about her need to match jeans and tee shirts, and her accent that never went away (Now its back with a vengeance). I've hated the guys she has liked (We've never fought over a guy). We've shopped together. I did her makeup for her wedding and a photoshoot? (Gosh do you remember that). We've written each others names as "best friend" in every slam book that we ever wrote. She always made the best friendship bands and a killer grilled cheese. She has baked pizzas for my birthdays and given me her shoulder when I have needed to cry. From birthday cards that are so artistic they should be framed, to hand made gifts and even a gift box with 26 gifts (for me 26th Birthday) she has done it all. 

Through breakups and heart breaks (I would still like those guys who did that to her), we've lasted. We've seen been to the beach and the mall and tons of restaurants (that may never let our gang in again). She is our reunion planner. There is no way we would find a place to meet without her.  (and I would never have had a surprise 18th birthday party)

She sings, I dance. She is the smart one. I am the hard working one. I am the girly girl and she is the boyish one. She has a need for speed (even when she was riding just a cycle). She's about experimenting. I am a creature of habit. She is logical and me, emotional.

After all this time, we are still as different as chalk and cheese. 

So its not just birds of a feather who flock together. Opposites truly do attract.
A best friend. A sister. My biggest fan. My nemesis. After all love manifests in different forms.

So look around you. Your best friend hasn't gone anywhere. And before you know it, 20 years would have gone back.

Cheers

krupa

P.S this was supposed to have gone up on June1st. Oh well!! better late than never.