Best Friends Forever

A Short Story By: Satarupa Mishra

Image: Internet Source

When Priyasi and Garima met for the first time in college, they took each other to be the dumbest girls alive. Call it confidence or escapism girls never fancy the possibility of their own dumbness whatsoever. Anyway, be it for their common dumbness or intelligence Priyasi and Garima became good friends in just a couple of months. And by good friends, I mean friends who went to the restaurants together whenever they flanked the class test or whenever they chanced upon a conversation with that cute guy in college.

Food was their common interest; and so was that cute guy. Unfortunately, their cute guy was in love with the hottest girl in college. And both Priyasi and Garima knew very well that they stood nowhere in the race. In fact, the day they came to know about his love interest, they spent a thousand bucks on chicken burgers, doughnuts, and chocolate coffee in a restaurant, consoling themselves. And how successfully they consoled! Chocolates aren’t called anti-depressants just like that.

“I tell you, he has no idea what he has missed on. She might be hot, but not as cute as us,” said Garima with a voice full of pride.

“Yes of course. Had he been with us, we’d have paid our own coffee bills and the park entry fees too. He missed on a better deal,” replied Priyasi.

However, the fact that the guy had a an unimaginably pretty girl in his life didn't stop the two friends from romanticizing. Both friends would take turns to pose as him and innocently enact a romantic scene, whenever they visited each other’s place. That’s the way both friends gradually discovered their next common interest—acting and film-making. So after college, both took to small show hosting and public announcements for getting a better feel of mass media.

Although most people prefer permanent jobs after college, it wasn't so with the two friends. Priyasi and Garima loved their freedom and didn’t wish to give it away to some fat arrogant Boss. What they didn’t know is that even freedom comes with a price. Their price was struggle, failure, fruitless hard-work, financial constraints and those little scoffs from relatives for being such jerks. And whatever little they earned from hosting stage shows, they spent on paying restaurant bills in order to get rid of their mounting depression. It’s a different thing that probably depression was also amazed by the way both the girls ate and laughed away their failures.

“Do you know why God has made us like this?” asked Garima once sitting in a cafeteria, after they failed to draw sponsors for a documentary.

“Why?” asked Priyasi while taking a big bite from her favourite cheese puff.

“Because He wants us to make those sad, insecure morons feel a little happy and secure about themselves. Poor fellows,” Garima said, taking a sip from her glass of cold coffee.

“Poor fellows with fat wallets. But don’t worry. We are noble people. We help these morons laugh at our own cost. God won’t leave us helpless,” Priyasi replied; her face beaming with a child-like quality.

“You are absolutely right. I’m sure we will manage something or other,” said Garima with a bright smile.

The world was amazingly fine and fightable when both of them were together. And that made them the envy of a few eligible bachelors in town.

At the age of twenty four, a girl is expected to find such comfort and solace in a special man rather than in her best friend. Yes, Priyasi and Garima were now the best of friends.

Like-minded people become friends. When they start hanging out in restaurants and at each other’s place, they become good friends. When they start sharing small and big secrets with each other, they become close friends. And when they start fighting over the pettiest of issues and then reconcile in no time with a big hug and some gallons of tears, they become best friends.

Men came and men went; but Priyasi and Garima’s friendship remained unscratched, until the time Garima got engaged to a man by her parents’ choice.

Though Priyasi tried her best to express her pleasure over her best friend’s engagement, Garima knew her best friend too well to get convinced.

“So you aren’t happy?” Garima asked Priyasi while traveling in a local bus.

“About what?” Priyasi asked back, surprised.

“About my engagement, what else!” Garima replied a bit annoyed.

“Of course I’m happy. Why wouldn’t I? You know I can’t express well when I’m overwhelmed, don’t you?” Priyasi tried to sound abnormally sprightly.

“Hmm… I know.” Garima started looking outside the bus window; silence falling between them.  

Garima was hurt. And so was Priyasi when she had to share her best friend with her fiancé even on her birthday. Garima reached late on Priyasi’s birthday because she was with her fiancé the whole morning. What Priyasi didn’t know was that Garima rode on her fiancé’s bike the entire morning under the scorching summer sun only to buy the DVD of “Brides War”, which Garima thought was the perfect movie to gift to her best friend.

Garima, on the other hand, thought Priyasi couldn’t take her engagement well because she was missing a man in her life too. What she failed to understand was that Priyasi had already begun to miss her in anticipation of being left alone.

Unfortunately, this time, they didn’t complain; they didn’t fight; they didn’t cry; both of them just kept quiet.

Four months went by. The documentary was finally made and sold at a decent price to a local TV channel. And Garima’s wedding was now just three days away.

All of us are familiar with the pomp and splendor of Indian weddings that can possibly amaze even the Birmingham Palace. When Priyasi entered Garima’s house with her small luggage, she saw the house buzzing with a few familiar and many unfamiliar faces. She was directed into Garima’s room by her mother. That was the room where both the friends had laughed their livers out, cried over broken relationships, imagined themselves being the femme fatales, danced, meditated, ate like pigs and then finally snuggled under the blankets into happy sleeps. But that evening, everything of the past seemed like a dream to Priyasi as she watched her best friend’s little podgy hands being tattooed with elaborate mehendi designs. As Garima saw her brooding friend, she towed closer to hug her.

“So finally you are here,” she said, genuinely relieved by Priyasi’s presence.

“Ah! I had to. How could you have got married without me, you bloody witch?” Priyasi tried her best to sound sanguine and fight those stupid tears.

“Well, now that you are here, don’t expect any hospitality from me. Have dinner, get some sleep and get set to work from tomorrow. Understood?” Garima said playfully.

“Of course, what better could I have expected from the ‘Bridezilla’? Priyasi made a harmless mockery.

The following morning, she got all set for the wedding preparations. Christmas being hardly a week away, the town looked unusually beautiful. Priyasi remembered how much she and her best friend used to enjoy the Christmas Eve, making wishes under the stars and looking for magic in the night sky. Brushing off those memories, Priyasi resumed decorating the house with jasmine and rose; and also arranged the things required for the wedding rituals.

Finally, after a tiring but satisfying day, Priyasi sat by Garima in front of an electric room heater, living the last few hours of their old phase of friendship.

“Tomorrow she will get married, and then shall begin a new phase, and a new struggle of our friendship.” Priyasi contemplated.

As it got darker, everyone in the room began to retire to their respective rooms in the neighboring Guest House. Even Priyasi was about to leave when she was suddenly pulled back by Garima.

“Can I talk to you for a while?” Garima asked.

“Yes, of course,” Priyasi replied and sat down comfortably on the bed facing her friend.

“So tell me, how many butterflies are running in your stomach right now?” she winked.

“Uncountable. And I know only you can catch those butterflies,” Garima said.

A death-like silence followed.

Swallowing hard, Garima resumed: “Tomorrow I’m getting married; and I’m going to step into a completely new life. I don’t know what to expect and what not to expect. And in that unexpected new life, I will need you all the more.”

No sooner Garima said this Priyasi took her best friend’s right hand into her left and caressed it. Tears were almost failing her this time.

Meanwhile Garima continued: “After marriage there will be many things I won’t be able to tell my family. So when I have a fight with my husband, I will need to complain to you about him because I know you won’t form an opinion. I will need to tell you about my first night with him because I know you won’t tell anyone. I will need you to hold my baby while I tell you how it felt to give birth to my own child because I know how scared you are of pain. I will need you to indulge my kids because you know how strict a Mom I’m going to be. And then when our husbands get busy watching cricket matches and our kids are out on dates, I will need you to laze with a mug of coffee in hand, recalling our own crazy lives. But before all that, I will need to find a good husband for you because I know you are not getting one on your own.”

Priyasi could say nothing except to hug her best friend who was also in tears just like her. After a lot of struggle, Priyasi finally managed to speak with a smile: “So when did you write this speech?”

“O just shut up. You know what a spontaneous actor I’m,” Garima replied with a smile. She caught hold of a beautifully decorated box full of chocolates and dry fruits lying on the table next to the bed. And as one would have expected, both of them started eating from it and laughing once again.

Overlooking the windows, by which both the girls sat, lit a bright golden star far away under the pergola of an unknown beautiful house. Christmas was round the corner; and a magic was waiting to unfurl.

Image: Internet Source