To My Best Friend

Whenever things went wrong and I was feeling down,
There was this friend, whom I could always count on;
Gone, he is not around anymore, though,
He meant a lot to me, I do miss him so!

I miss the laughter, the jokes, the tears,
The confidant who’d always erase my fears.
I miss the yells, the scolds, the fights,
And of all, the ‘lowe you’ good nights!

I miss all the planning and the pep talks,
Crushes, guilt, mistakes and other secrets, locked...
I miss the long hours of aimless chatter,
All the teasing and the friendly banter.

I miss the car rides, bumpy and racy,
The “Psst! check him/her out” over a cuppa coffee.
I miss the advices and the criticisms; true,
I miss everything, and I truly miss you!

For the days and months and years shall pass
But memories of times with you will always last;
You gave me some times that’d be, forever indelible,
And you’ll always remain one person, never substitutable.

Conclusions about Men

Men...*sigh* Till some time back, it used to be 'boys', but then, hey, how school girlish!But its not always *sigh*..now, for instance, its *screw 'em*. Sometimes it goes *what WOULD I do without them!!!* and other times I go, *No More Boys..leave me alone!!* 21 years of co existence, friendships, crushes, falling in, and out of love, fights, apprehensions, laughter, tears, and today the conclusion, reverses to, 'men-can't live with them. Can't live without them either!' So here goes, 21 years worth gyan about them:

• I trust most of my guy friends more with 'secrets' than the gals. Super trustworthy.
• Can fall back on them. When I haven't prepared for a difficult test and Ram or Badri says 'kavalaipadathe, will hold a place for you next to me..naan irukkaen ille!!' I know I'll clear it.
• Caring. Considerate. I don't just get blasted for skipping lunch, but get treated to something even better than whatever they serve in the mess.
• No backstabbing. In fact, they stand up for you.
• Genuinely protective. ' You're not going out wearing THAT!' is my brother's favourite one liner.
• They go out of their way to set things right. When I was into some deep shit, Arjun said 'I ll take care' and he did.
• They do whatever is within their means to help you. Hari and Kailash would patiently text back solutions to the dumbest doubts I asked, days before my TANCET entrance exam.I scored a rank in that eventually.
• They never discourage you. Saran let me ride his Splendour when I suggested I give it a try, and I eventually did, in second gear that too!! ;)

So much about the chocolately stuff. Here goes the other side of the coin:

• Ego maniacs they are. 'So you're my side or his??????'
• Unpredictable. One moment you would be laughing with them, the next, you would be wondering what on earth you said wrong for them to go,'how could you say THAT?????'
• Possessive!! Nothing to explain in that!
• Communication gaps. Suggested follow up reading :Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, John Gray.
• You never get to know whats running on their minds. Only when they start snapping at you, you realise, 'Omg..somethings wrong!'
• Sometimes, out comes the chauvanist. 'YOU play football????'
• This is the best: after two days of connaisance, 'I think I like you'...RUN!!!!!

hahaha.But what ever said and done, boys-men, what ever would we do without them!!! To all the boys in my life, people..you rock!Lowe you :)

Of Canines and Felines

Cats are supposed to be the least friendly and most unresponsive of all domestic animals. I would add one more adjective to that list: Street smart! I have had many pets;pups, fishes, parrots, and have adopted all the dogs in my street, and have always been rather partial to the canines. Now it is common knowledge that dog lovers don’t particularly like cats. The ‘cats or dogs’ debate has been going on for ages and will continue for ages to come. The canine supporters argue that dogs are ‘man’s best friend’, and are the most faithful animal on earth. They have this emotional bonding with their masters and express unconditional love. There have been cases of dogs sacrificing their lives for their masters.
The feline lovers are not far behind though! Cats may not show affection like dogs, they argue, but they are nevertheless amiable. They are easily satisfied, you don’t need to take a cat for a walk, and best of all, you are not required to give them a bath! They mind their own work, they rub against you occasionally to show that they care, and that’s about it. Till last weekend, I considered this whole idea extremely silly.
Last weekend my brother and I ‘rescued’ a kitten from the ‘murderous weather’ as we put it to mother, who, for reasons best known to her, has an anti-‘animal of any kind in my house’ attitude. It was a tiny, ‘starved’ kitten, barely two months old, dripping wet, wailing so mournfully it would have wrenched anybody’s heart! Soon enough, my mother came with some raw chicken that she was shredding, and nonchalantly asked nobody in particular, ‘So, do cats eat chicken?’ The poor baby did, right out of my hand! Then it lay on me, and as I kept stroking it, watching the television, it fell asleep! Watching it sleep, we named it Sammy. The rains had stopped now, and my mother was getting back to her normal self. ‘The cat has to go’. Reluctantly, I took it out. The moment Sammy came to comprehend the reality of the situation, right there, in the threshold, it started wailing loud, piteous meows that made me drop it down. It then walked back into the house like royalty, making me think, ‘Gosh, now that is attitude! No wonder it’s called CAT WALK’! So in went Sammy, making itself comfortable in a rug under the bed, and fell asleep again. It woke up in the evening and had some milk, looked around with beady eyes, and settled in front of the television. I was thinking, what a spoilt prat of a cat, when my neighbour came home. ‘Akka, have you seen a small grey cat anywhere?’ I mutely point out to Sammy, reposing on the carpet, appearing to understand every word that Bharka Dutt was speaking into her microphone. My neighbour squealed and carried Sammy away, and my mother heaved a sigh of relief. As for me, I’d prefer dogs any day to cats, and this incident just served to cement it!