Test of time

Note: Audio blog. Press play to start the read-along audio clip.

Dedicated to a friend Sushil who had once said something similar to the message of this blog.



"Hi!"

"Uhh..hi... you back to India?"

"Ya, here for a month..."

"Cool.. so, shopping today, eh?"

"That's what people come here for!" Anita rolled her eyes.

"Chalo, take care!" Sukanya hugged her and they parted ways.

Sukanya was lost in thoughts. Anita, her best friend from school was in Mumbai but hadn't even tried to get in touch with her. Are friendships so weak that they cannot sustain a year of being physically away from each other? Around two years ago, Sukanya and Anita had shopped at the same mall for Anita's brother's wedding. Anita had told her mom clearly that she wouldn't buy anything without Sukanya's approval. Talking about approval, Sukanya had approved Shashank before Anita introduced him to her family. Sukanya had however always wondered why Anita never kept in touch after she went abroad.

Anita was now at the billing counter of the store thinking of the unexpected encounter she had just had. She sighed as she remembered the day Sukanya told her boyfriend about Shashank. She thought Sukanya would keep that a secret. After the episode, each time Anita looked at Sukanya, she could only remember that Sukanya had wronged her.

Anita never told Sukanya how she felt. She simply seemed to have lost trust in her friend. Anita nearly heaved a sigh of relief when she went to the US. She wouldn't have to talk to Sukanya now. Soon, they weren't talking to each other at all.


The friendship that was important to both of them dissolved in the all-consuming poison of lack of communication. Sukanya kept wondering what had happened - Anita did not seem to want to tell her what actually had happened. She thought she was too hurt to allow this friend of hers an entry in her life again.

And where were they today? Looking at each others' pictures on facebook feeling happy that the other person was happy. Yet not having the courage to tell each other that they cared. The block that had been created had choked out their friendship.


Relationships are indeed like plants that need to be watered. Weeds of misunderstanding must be pruned before their roots rape the soil and deprive the plant of relationships of nutrition. Talking out the issues at the moment they arise is indeed a key to friendships that survive the test of time.