The Ones With the Instant Connections

Have you even felt an instant connection with someone? Ever heard of someone's explanation of some mundane topic and been able to completely relate to it? Ever spoken about heartbreaks and realized you both are confused in the exact same way? Better still, have you ever felt this level of camaraderie with someone you have never even met?

Sounds ludicrous?  Well, I have.

I have been friends with Sunaina for almost three years now. Our interests are so aligned, that we both applied for the same internships. Twice. And since we think alike, neither of us liked the first one, and both of us enjoyed the second one enough to collaborate together, and get to know each other. Work stuff soon gave way to swapping book lists, talking about good food and coffee, and other important and trivial things of life. As we got to know each other better we shared stories of failed relations and budding crushes, and soon she became quite an integral part of my life.

The universe, with its tendency to show off had to introduce me to one of her common friends just to prove how small the world is! 

And so, during the last few months, Sunaina and I just kept thinking how amazing it would be to meet up, and talk, and travel, and drink coffee together. 

And last week, I listened to my heart and traveled to Hyderbad to meet Sunaina for the first time, and visit a very dear school friend after more than a year. And the meeting was magical.

There was no awkwardness, no lack of topics to talk about. She took me to an incredibly amazing breakfast place called Chutneys in Secundrabad and treated me to fantastic South Indian breakfast. We had planned to go shopping at Shilparamam, but the heat had other plans for us.

We ended up spending hours at the nearby mall. We explored this amazing place called "Dialogue in the Dark" which is exactly what it says it is. We were taken to a dark enclosed area, and tried to understand what it feels like to be bereft of sight and depend on the other four senses. It was an incredible experience. And we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

We spent about five hours together. And generally I am bored out of my mind being with most people for five hours. I really am not the outgoing type.

But, I could so relate to this person, whom I was meeting for the first time. And I am so glad I decided to ditch classes and common sense, and visit Hyderabad for just a day, so that I could meet up with people who really matter, who are a part of my everyday life, and who have a special place in my heart.

“I am participating in the #DilKiDealOnSnapdealactivity at BlogAdda in association with SnapDeal.”

40 Hours Travel to Spend 4 hours with a Friend.

I am not exactly a social bee. I hardly ever call my friends. I prefer texts and emails over talking. And although people say that the friendship forged in school lasts forever, except for a few tough nuts who were hard to shake off, I have almost lost touch with most of my school friends.

But this post isn't about how I am a solitude seeker and don't need people. Much.

This post is about one of those tenacious friends who stayed with me, through thick and thin, and having completed the customary 7 years of being friends, I am almost confident we are friends for life.

You know who are, and in case it still isn't clear, read on and you will figure it out!

I decided to go on a solo trip a few months ago. I have wanted to visit friends in South India for quite some time, and once I realized one of my hostel mates was heading that way, I decided to tag along and have a girls' trip. The plan was to visit Bangalore, have a gala time with friends, and then come back.Turns out, a few weeks before the trip, she got an internship elsewhere and my girls' trip unexpectedly turned into a solo one!

Now, I can go on and on about the trip in general, but I want to specifically talk about my friend and why I changed plans to meet up.

Travelling solo gives you the choice to amend your plans. And once I realized that I decided to visit Hyderabad too. Since I am a full time student, and had to be back to Delhi within a week, I could also spare a day for Hyderabad. And everyone who heard of my plans told me I was silly to travel all the way just for a day, that I won't be able to cover even Golconda Fort. And my reply to them was that I am not really going to see Golconda, though I am sure it would have been a great experience.

I am going to Hyderabad to meet my friend, and even if I could have spared only 5 hours, I still would have gone to Hyderabad. And the reason for that, if you could muster your notes and sing along is "I'll be there for you, coz you are there for me too."

It's not just a song for us. He has actually delayed his travel plans so that he could spend just a few extra hours with me. I am talking about our undergrad years when he was in Guwahati and I was studying in Calcutta, and he would book his bus tickets to Calcutta and flight tickets from Calcutta to Guwahati is a way that gave him a few hours of time here. And then he would lug his suitcase all over town, be it to Park Street, or South City Mall or once, due to serious time crunch, even stay at the Howrah station, so that we could just catch up.

So, this time around, when I had the chance to meet him, since I was as close as Bangalore, I decided to fudge the logistics and catch a night bus to Hyderabad anyway, so that we could spend some time together. And is always happens, we kept pushing the time frame. I was supposed to meet another friend at 7pm, but I ended up meeting her at 10, so that we could just talk and talk and talk some more.

Abhinav and Me, Hyderabad, 5 April, 2015

And I am glad I followed my heart, without caring about the time constrains. I didn't even have the time to eat biryani at Hyderbad, and for a foodie like me, that's practically a criminal offense. But I am so happy that I could meet my friend after almost a year, and spend some quality time together that will hopefully be enough till we meet again, in another new city.

“I am participating in the #DilKiDealOnSnapdealactivity at BlogAdda in association with SnapDeal.”