What constitutes a friend? My mum thinks that every single person I know is my friend. I certainly don’t think so. I mean, none of them are my enemies, but not all of them are friends. Some are just acquaintances. People you meet, get acquainted with, who no longer visit my mind after they are gone from my life. People to whom I give a polite smile, a ‘Good Day!’, or a wave. These are like shooting stars, sometimes they lighten up the sky, sometimes they aren’t even seen. To me, a friend is something else. A friend is like the stars, or, better still, like the planets. They are always there, even if you don’t see them. Someone you can trust to be there when the time comes. A friend is someone I trust, I respect, I admire. Someone you can open your soul to, someone you can let in to the deepest parts of your mind.

Like some of my friends from school, Vinay or Mehmood. Or Trivs. They’re like planets. I see them or think of them regularly. Then there’s people like Annie, the girl I had my first crush on. They light up the sky like brilliant shooting stars. But they don’t remain long. And then there’s the one you fall in love with. They light it up like the sun. I haven’t met my sun yet. Hope I do, someday, sometime.

When I watch FRIENDS, the tv show, I wonder, ten years down the line, will I still be in touch with my friends from my school years Roshan, or Shripad, or Jyoti, or friends from the predegree time, Triveni or Ashish or Pallavi, or from college, Santosh, Nashedi or Arjun. I wish I will, I know I will not lose them. I can’t lose them. They’re part of my mind, part of who I am. They are my friends. To my friends, I hope I will always have you all!