“She used to drop everything at a moment’s notice and rush to my side whenever I needed her.”, she reminisced staring at the raindrops sliding down on the glass windows .She wondered if friendship can ever be defined in a specific way? At the outset, it is a special bond between two people that belongs solely to them and remains theirs forever to exploit or cherish. Can we set parameters for a person to achieve before they secure that coveted position in our hearts?

But, that becomes impossible because ultimately people are different in their thoughts and their perceptions as what  may be considered a heartfelt gesture by one may be detested by another. We may not necessarily expect a friend to be constantly at our beck and call but knowing that they are always there for us to fall back on does wonders to our confidence. “So, what do I really expect in a friend of mine ?” she questioned f and sighed as she felt herself slipping into another reverie.

We use the word friend too casually these days , don’t we? What happened to the absolute happiness, the carefree attitude and the feeling of freedom that we are supposed to experience only with our friends? I certainly don’t share those emotions with more than half the people I spend my time with. Is it fair for me to say that I have tons of friends when I can’t wait to bid adieu to them and scramble to the safety of my solitude? A friend to me is someone who is able to be on the same page as I am and with whom, I don’t have to make an effort to be comfortable.

Still, we attempt in vain to declare what one person must mean to us in order to be called a friend. If she stays in touch all the time, she’s needy and if she doesn’t talk regularly, she is ignoring us. If she’s jovial, she’s interesting and if she’s soft spoken,  she’s boring. If you have many friends, you are socially acceptable and popular , but if you have a few trustworthy mates, then you are subject to an indescribably surreptitious scrutiny.

She shook her head vigorously as if trying to make sense of the muddle of thoughts running haywire in her brain.

 “ I should really start spending more time with actual humans than these all-consuming thoughts.”, she said to herself. Suddenly, there it was, as clear as day, the evasive answer to her confused thoughts. ‘A friend is someone who makes me want to smile even when all I want to do is cry my eyes out”, she finished with a smile.

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