Shwe & Sid.

If there's one thing I have always marveled at, it is this weird lil thing called friendship. I've never completely understood the dynamics of this beauty nor have I figured out how exactly it works or functions. But if I've learnt something, it is the fact that it works best when you just surrender yourself and let yourself flow with it and it shall go where it has to. Those are the friendships with rock steady foundations.

Just a few hours ago my baby bro, Andu, tagged me in this post which said -

 "Friendship is so weird. You just pick a human you've met & you're like, "Yup, I like this one." and you just do stuff with them."

That struck a chord somewhere. Most of my friendships are such that I can't really comprehend, how, why or when exactly did I become close to that person. Well, therein lies the beauty of it all.

Shwe fell in that category. I'd known who THE SDJ was since FY, simply cause she was this hugely popular chick in college (the Amma of college and rightfully so). Thanks to a lot of things, I was under the misconception that she would be like the other 'faux-popular' chicks - arrogant, wont talk properly and the works. Except for this one-off time when Y introduced me to her, we never spoke.

Then came Moneta 2011, where I ended up co-ordinating with her for a few things, but that was that, it stopped there. I did not even expect it to go somewhere. After Moneta, we were in the throes of wrapping up the remnants of the fest and Bang! I suddenly get a call from Shwe and we begin talking. Random stuff at first & then she asks me if she can confide in me. And yeah yeah yeah! We were on a roll baby :D

We picked it up from there & have never stopped since!! There've been severrrral late night conversations (those are my fav kind), some of which went on all night. And day by day, we knew the other a lil more. We realised what we hated, what we loved. What we wanted & what we deserved.

Conversations led to meetings and meetings led to overnights! Somehow, we've always run to the sea side more often than not. She introduced me to DC, where we just sat quietly, looking at the Bandra Worli Sealink, looking at the sun sink into this endless mass of water, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks and just having a quiet conversation. I've often sat next to her while she drove, and for some reason, the songs we listened to during those drives, have now become some precious, defining moments.

She shouts at me when I leave without eating & knows every trick I would employ to avoid drinking milk. She complains to Mumma that I bathe in cold water & then laughs it off saying I'm a boy. She knows exactly the way my mind functions & reads my mind without having said anything. She grills me crazy when I suggest taking my bike out for a long distance ride but still wants to go for a short ride in the rain with me. She knows from the way I type a message what mood I am in & knows exactly how to cheer me up when no one can. She pushes me to do things on my own & lets me take a fall or two but she rushes to be my side when she knows it's her I need to hold my hand. She's the one who can truly knock sense into my head when I'm being foolish & she's the one who's stood up for me against so many people. She will go to any lengths to embarass me but would hate someone if they did not treat me right. She'll be the first person to point out my negatives (albeit, in a constructive manner) but she'll also be the first person to run up to me and gush over a job well done. She has thrown me out of her house cause she wanted to bake these super cute and yum cup cakes & goes out of her way to do stuff for me, just to make me feel special. Sure as hell, she does a brilliant job of that and it's no wonder she's this friend magnet.

She knows me in and out and better than most and that is exactly the way I would want it.

I know what toppings she dislikes on her Subway sandwich & I know where she's ticklish. I know she's crazy about Iced Tea (Lipton more so) and I know the places she's extremely sentimental about. I know how brilliant a dancer + painter + photographer + poet she can be & that's why I wonder why is she even pursuing CA :P
She's told me about her dreams, she's told me about her thoughts, and I couldn't be happier about it.

I had some pretty rough phases in my final year at college & it would've been a complete disaster had she not been the one who stood by me, believed in me, tolerated me, kept her patience & nudged me to bring me back on track. When I was down & out, it was she who met me evening after evening, guiding me, listening to me and if nothing, just giving me a tight hug, looking at me with those eyes and just being there for me. If there was someone I began looking up to during that time, it was her, hands down. Till then I respected her, loved her and even adored her. But now, I also looked upto her, trusted her and gave her the right to affect me in a way very few people can.

She took things from bad to normal by being there & helping me out. How did she make it awesome? By putting up with me for more than a month :D The days I've stayed at her place are probably the longest I've ever stayed anywhere (apart from my home ofcourse) and those days were puuuure bliss!! Waking up to her, quietly tiptoing out of the house early morning, being soooo close to college, being able to stay late in college and the best of it all, coming home to her, telling her all about the day & just spending some brilliant moments with her! I know how willing I would be to do anything to have a go at it again :D

I've bunked for an impromptu CCD tour with her, treasured that paper where she randomly came and wrote an I Love You in different languages, driven by Marine late at night listening to Pani Da, driven by Worli screaming out songs, gone for a cricket match where we screamed ourselves hoarse and randomly gone to PNG with Tang with her. I've had innumerable amazing days with her, but these little moments mean so much more! She wakes me up at 5:30 a.m on the only day I get to sleep late & laughs out loud cause she managed to annoyed me & then chokes up and narrates this touching, overwhelming poem she wrote for me which makes it a 'couldn't-have-been-better' start to my day. Yes, that's the (wannabe) devil in her.

I dunno what led Shwe to believe that she could take that leap of faith me, but whatever it was, I couldn't have been more thankful for it. Today, the person who I thought I would never even be friendly with, is my Best Friend! And boy! Am I happy! And you know someone is going to be a constant fixture in your life when she says that she's gonna dress you up as a bride on your wedding day. I might not meet or talk to her everyday, but she's someone I think of everyday. The things that I feel her are, in one word, inexplicable. There's so much that I feel, so much that I would want to say, but in a first, words shall fail me. She's everything any person would want in a friend. She puts up with my LMS and I shall need her approval when I do get a BF. In that case, there's absolutely no frigging way I can possibly afford to give up on her :D

She's loving, she's caring, she's protective. She's my best friend, sister, anchor, guide, confidante. All rolled into one. Do you still think you can get someone better than this? Impossible it is :D

This is my dedication to you Shwe, I love you more than I could ever say :)

Mood : Grateful, happy, mushy
Humming : There's Nothing Like You & I by Perishers