In Folds Of Smile

 The above post literally describes how me and E met. We were introduced to each other by my cousin and a friend who told me – I think you both will get along really well. Indeed we did! We met and instantly clicked and became friends in like 2 mins. I still remember how she walked with me to chipotle that night because there was no vegetarian food at the bar, and ended up making me feel belonged. 

I always thought love at first sight happens only in romance and bollywood but here this crazy girl not only changed my perspective about love and friendship, but also my life.There were days when people literally mistook us to be lesbians because we constantly talked about how much we love each on social media and in person.

I am a big believer that by expanding our contacts and making friends we enrich our life and find our happiness. Growing up, I had always desired female friends like in the movies. In school days, I never had a lot of friends and was always in search of it.  Anyway this post is about E. Her birthday was few days ago and all i could do is wish her. So i decided to write about all the wonderful things she does for me. Don’t misunderstand, we do have our share of fights and arguments where we don’t talk to each other for days but one minor inconvenience and she is always just a call/ text away. We are also never afraid of calling each other out on our bullshit and we made long distance friendship work. So E, this one is for you (dramatic Bollywood music in the background)

• Friendship is easy, low maintenance with her. Despite being in the same university, there were days when we could not meet frequently. But she was always there right before my important presentation holding food or making food in her dormitory because she knows how anxiously hungry I get when stressed. 
• She is messy or was, (now that she grew up, lol) and she knew how much of a cleanliness freak i was (i am messy now) , always made sure her dorm room was clean when i used to visit. Or would just be honest and just tell me to meet her elsewhere.
• I love that she always picks her words with care. She knows the right things to say to the right people. She can be sassy badass and then instantly turn into a loving sensitive emotional support in a minute. 
• She always keeps yogurt in her house because she knows how much i love it. I can randomly drop by and she will always have fruits or yogurt and ask me to take it away because she will not finish it. 
• Every-time i was conscious about being too loud, too over dressed, too weird or too fat. She always told me the truth. She helped me fix things. She always calls me beautiful and helped me embrace my body dysphoria. 
• Fun fact, she set me up on my first blind date. If she finds a vegetarian, respectable, kind, north Indian single guy, she has an elevator pitch ready as to why should that guy date me. And if I find a liberal intelligent engineer man, I have a pitch on why he should date my best friend. Lol, yes we both are crazy. 
• Masters was bearable because of her. I remember we used to go to house parties and spilt up, she would find some amazing connections and chill with them, i would usually be near the dance floor and we would eventually meet near the food section.
• Right before exams, every single time, we would sit the entire night in the library with her teaching me concepts on the common classes we had, or else just sitting with me, making sure i am studying my things while she works on her assignments. 
• I would always be her favorite muse to try her new makeup skill on. She pushing me out of my comfort zone and taking me to places where i would not go otherwise. 
• When she moved away to Canada and the lockdown happened. She would watch SRK movies with me on zoom and listen to me cry about his amazing acting skills, whereas I would always tell her Ranbir Kapoor is not a good actor. 😛
• We learnt how to make long distance friendship work. We write long emails, messages and send memes that describe us to stay connected. And if ever one of us is low, the other is always there no matter what the time and place is. We learnt to laugh and cry on video calls. We become each other’s parent, best friend, technology advisor, sister, fellow weirdo, etc accordingly.
• Sometimes I wonder how we are friends because I am an extrovert and she being an introvert have such major differences. But you know sometimes, when you know someone who is so nice and rekindles your faith, makes you hopeful and shows your that there is enough goodness around and just have a warmth about themselves that makes you easily feel comfortable like a blanket wrapped around you on a hopeful Christmas night. This is what best describes us.
• There are videos and photos that she keeps taking always and I used to get annoyed but today I look at them with delight and happiness.
• Thank you E for just being you. For helping me embrace myself unapologetic-ally and holding on. I’ll always be here and i know you will be there. Love you. Also, happy birthday and welcome to the 30 club. hehe.  

We might have plenty of crappy fights but we will always be cheering in the same team. I am grateful that you were always there checking on me from time to time even during the pandemic and watching movies together, playing ludo or some other online game. I know there are days when we both feel we are growing old apart but I promise you we will meet and travel far away and listen to songs and star gaze someday soon.  

Happy Birthday Eishu! Keep growing and glowing! Love you!