Friends

Shalini smiled at the picture on the wall. It was the one in which she and Smriti were trying to drive a auto rickshaw, both of them fighting to be on the driver's seat and giggling. They both looked so happy in the photograph. I wonder how Smriti is doing, she thought. It had been seven years since that incident had torn them apart. It had been so silly, she now thought.

They had been the thickest of friends in college and were inseparable. They took the same classes, hung out with the same friends and spent all their spare time together. They even had the same taste and always ended up squabbling over the same clothes when they went shopping. Notorious throughout as the bad bold girls, they had had a very adventurous and memorable time in those college years. Eventually, they had planned to do similar things just so that they could still be together. And then, just before their final exams, they had the fight. It was not even a fight. A misunderstanding of sorts. Smriti discovered that Shalini had applied to another town for a higher degree. Shalini had applied there just for fun and it had just slipped her mind to tell Smriti about it. She didn't even intend to go there. Smriti had been furious when she found out.

It had started with that little incident and suddenly they were not talking to each other anymore. At first it was just ego and then once college ended, they just followed whatever life had in store for each of them. Each expected the other to apologise and seven years had gone by just like that. Shalini had missed Smriti terribly during the last few years. Every time she did something, she would ask herself what Smriti would think of her decision. She had typed out so many emails to Smriti and deleted them before hitting send. She would always stalk her on Facebook through their common friends. She felt happy and proud of her friend whenever she saw Smriti had done something good with her life. Life had gone one, she had made new friends but still, she missed her best friend!

Shalini smiled at the memories of the excursion that they had gone on. They had wanted to travel the world together one day and they had planned to save up for it. Smriti was now travelling the world as a journalist and she saw her pictures frequently. 'I wonder if she ever thinks of me', she thought. The sound of the phone ringing shook her out of her reverie.

" Shalu, I was in town and I just couldn't bring myself to leave without seeing you this time. I've really missed you. Can we please meet? ", said the voice on the other line.

Gratitude

Asmi stared blankly at the wall in the principal's office, tears streaming down her face. She was shocked at what the Principal had just told her. How could she have been so blind, she wondered. It had been so glaringly obvious but she had refused to see it all along!

She had always looked for appreciation from her father. She strived hard to be the best at everything, all the time looking for a pat on the shoulder, a congratulatory note or even a kind word from him. But she had never received any. Her father was always so oblivious to her accolades but always had something nasty to say to her if she did badly at anything or made a mistake. Every time he rebuked her, her resolve to do better got stronger. She always thought he reprimanded her only so that she would do better. She believed that he was quietly proud of her. When she found out that she was the disappointing girl child who was born when her father wanted a son, it broke her heart. Asmi had cried for days before she decided she would be the son that her father never had. She had since strived to excel in sports, studies and every extra curricular activity she could take part in.

When she was enrolled into the "big" school, she was proud that her father had finally seen the potential in her. She was now certain that he was secretly proud of her but was too proud to admit it. She continued to do well. Her illusion had just broken now. The Principal had called her into his office to let her know that she had just been chosen for the "best student of the year" award. He had also told her that her mother would be so proud of her. He mentioned in passing about how hard her mother worked to make sure she could pay for her school fees. In that moment it all came to her. It started to make sense now, all the fights that her parents had before she was admitted into this school and how her mother had started to work late, soon after.

She stared at the window and could see her mother approaching, her face suddenly older than her years. In her quest to please her father, she had taken for granted all the love that she got from her mother. She had never stopped for a minute to admire or thank her silent pillar of strength and support.

"I'm sorry, ma", she said as she ran to her mother encompassing her in a hug. "I'm so sorry. In all my efforts to be the son that my father never had, I have failed to be the daughter that you deserve!"