I miss my best friend

That first taste of freedom in college where we would arrive by 9:30, and leave at 4, regardless of whether we have a class or not. Just sitting on the pavement because we didn’t want to go home. The phone calls to each other when we get back home. Saturdays when I would trek up to her house, and Sundays when she would come to mine. Lying to our parents so that we can take a trip to Shillong. Lying for each other, period.

That silent walk back home when we both had new boyfriends at the same time. The goofy grins on both our faces. The way she tried to make me cry when I broke up with mine because she insisted that one should always cry at break-ups. Me helplessly watching her silent tears when she had her first heart break. Laughing at her ex-boyfriend’s love letter to her. Walking from Sikulpuikawn to Zarkawt at 6 in the evening, just so she can catch a glimpse of her crush. Keeping the first of many secrets that would bind us together irrevocably.

Laughing at her when a bus conductor kicked her ass from a moving bus. She laughing at me when I fell face down in front of a crowd of eve-teasing taxi drivers. It was not that we were unsympathetic towards each other. The thing was, between us, we managed to turn the tragic and the embarrassing into something to laugh about.

She had these attacks where she would be short of breath, and sometimes she would pass out. There were so many times she would pass out on the streets and I had to leave her there to search for help. The one time I choked on Kuhva and couldn’t breathe, and there were no houses nearby, she didn’t know what to do, so she crawled on the street with me. That time when she had an attack in the examination hall, and the teachers gave her lemon tea, and knowing my penchant for them, she let me drink it all up.. Ahh, friendship.

When I finally had my first heart break, I went to her place. We bought what we thought was grape wine, but it turned out to be this vile black concoction that blackened our teeth and gave us diarrhea. I went there to cry but had never laughed so much in my life. The greatest anomaly about her is that she hates music! So she probably wouldn’t see that it’s such an honour for her that I’m even thinking of her while OD-ing on John Mayer.

That time she tried to teach me how to drive the scooty and the way we both screamed when the scooty insisted on trying to run off the road. I gave up on it, and became her official back-seat driver. Driving on the University roads singing at the top of our voices. Driving through heavy rains because we thought wet hair was sexy… Nah, we just loved driving in the rain. Violating traffic rules together and turning on the charm when we were reprimanded.

Copying off each other’s papers during tests. Frantic signals when one of us got stuck on a class presentation. Our friendly academic competitions, where we both came out winners. Her guide sent her to this God-forsaken place where there is no internet and phone calls are dodgy. So I won’t be able to see her for about two months. I miss her. But I won’t tell her that because she would gloat. We’re very unsentimental towards each other. A pat on the back for us signifies a thousand affectionate words. Not that I need to tell her that I miss her anyway, because she already knows that I do.....