Behind the Blog # 3! [Childhood friends]..

Behind the Blog is a meme to help bloggers connect their life and interests to the content showcased on their blog. The co-hosts, Faye, Kathe, and Melissa will provide a different topic, idea, or question every week that bloggers can relate to themselves and the books, films, or other media they find interesting!

This week we’re diving into our past and talking about our childhood friends! Everyone has a friend or two in one’s childhood who are impossible to forget and who may have set the trend for coming friends (or who was the one exception). Who was your childhood best friend? How did he/she change your life? Regarding books/films: Which pairs or groups of childhood friends do you love? What do you particularly enjoy about them?

The best thing I like about childhood is the ease with which we would make and keep friends, without any feelings of jealousy or some kind of negative intent. Looking back, I realized I’ve always had a ‘best friend’ in every different kind of phase in my life, which is funny. I mean, a best friend when I was very young, then one in junior school, then in middle school, changing all the way till college, till now. It seems I’ve had a special friend for every different phase, for every place I’ve been and I still love most of them! Most of them because one of them turned out to be a scheming one, pretending friendship while thinking of ways to hurt my reputation, that too over the marks we scored! Which reminds me of another whom I considered my “best friend”, who turned into a jealous girl with the same motive. What’s up with people like that anyway? I’m usually the forgiving kind, but I can’t just think of these two in any positive way, they had my trust!

Anyway, I’m not going to spoil it and I really feel like talking about the wonderful ones! :D Our neighbourhood was a quiet place when we were little, so there were never many kids at a time. I spent most of my time playing with my younger brother and dad, so yeah, I was into cricket and basketball! We did a lot of cycling and skating too, making use of whatever plain surfaces we could find! Then I remember once I was so bored, I was roaming around the house and the park just like that, when I noticed there were new people coming to stay in one of the empty houses! That was when I was small, I don’t remember the age (maybe, 7 or 8 or even younger) and I was very happy because I recognized the kid! She was two years younger to me and in my own school! I knew her by face! Being the ‘hungry-for-friendship’ soul that I was, I quickly went over and made friends with her! Her name’s Nishtha. We were friends for a long long time.... we practically did everything together, every day. She had a hundred or something toys and I was mostly at her place during vacations! We played in the evenings, shared bicycles, cuddled her little sister together, ran to save ourselves from an angry cow-with-a-horn once (Yikes! That was a close call) and even took up fights with the other obnoxious kids from the other street! Combined with my brother and more kids from the neighbourhood, we had a lot of fun! When she moved, I had a lot of lone time, though we still met from time to time and on birthdays. Now it’s little communication (thank god for phones!) and whenever I get her text, it reminds me of a great time in the past. :)

Pic from Google

While I’m talking about that time, I remember a girl elder to us, who taught me to ride the bicycle without any support! That’s the most I remember about her (and her name, of course: Timsy!), since they moved very soon, but I think I would have liked her a lot back then. :)

 Fast forwarding to high school, Kanika, who remains one of my best friends till now and the only one with whom I can be my best, my funniest, my weirdest, my worst and she’ll still love me like always! We were opposites while in school, she the naughty one, I the nerd and the serious one, terrified of getting into trouble (though that doesn’t rule out the times we did get in trouble :P) and still we were inseparable, learning so much from each other! We even sat together in class for three years straight! We’re in different colleges and now the sides have turned a bit.. I’m the naughty one and she’s been kind of serious in studies (at least, serious for her!), but underneath all that, we’re still the same. :)

Then in college, from the first day till the last, I’ve been with Apoorva. In our case, the closeness was not because of being different, but being similar. She knows the worst I can do and still sticks with me, sometimes defending my side and always making sure I’m in whatever our group does! I really admire her for her fashion sense (and mine’s improved, thanks to her) and being practical in situations that require us to think logically. I’m usually the one rambling and ranting, thinking emotionally, while she’s got the sight to see the ‘greater picture’ and think like a sane person. So, we balance each other out. I don’t know how I would have had any fun in college without her! Now, as we graduate, I opt for higher studies and she’ll be in a job. Different paths, but connected hearts and I hope to remain the same with her, forever! :)

All the people I talked about are very special to me, in their own way. There were more friends, but these are those who know me, my choices, my personality and I love them for being that way!

Pic from Google

Coming to books, I feel all characters in Eva Ibbotson’s children’s books have a way of displaying childhood friendships at their best! Take The Star of Kazan, for example. Annika, Stefan, Pauline, Zed and the wonderful feelings of happiness, love and care they seem to emit when they’re together! And of course, the friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione, right from the beginning of their first year at Hogwarts till they live, is some kind of a benchmark friendship. Like the way it should be; standing with your friends come-what-may. Which reminds me about the time when Harry and Ron are supposed to follow spiders in the Forbidden Forest and Ron sticks with Harry, whimpering and cursing because he hated spiders! It’s fiction, but still.