Coffee To Cocktails

Hi there, once again! I’m so glad that you’re reading my second post. I was secretly grudging that after reading my first one, the chances of the same reader reading this now would be quite less? Laughing out loud, I do admit that there were some harsh suggestions and pessimistic thoughts there. But you see, writing encourages me to pour myself into it – whether they are good or bad. I write whatever comes across my mind at that moment and I’m sure most writers do the same.

So if words give me the power to set my mind free, why speak words of only sugar and honey? That’s only expected from me in the real world, so that I always show my bright side to everyone. That way, not a single soul would resent me, right? But only very few of the whole lot of people know about my dark side. These special people have always stood by my side and supported me by giving love, care and company. I am not only referring to my family but also my friends, the ones who truly know me inside out. This post is especially dedicated to those friends: I cannot imagine myself getting to the point where I am today if you would not have been a part of my life and if you wouldn’t have been there for me on those dreadful days. Thank you so much for everything you ever did for me.

Now, the chances are that we both know each other or we don’t. Dear reader, whether you are my friend-in-life (a schoolmate/ex-schoolmate) or friend-in-blog (a curious reader who follows my blog in spite of never knowing me), I’d like to know what you thought this post would be about when you saw the title ‘Coffee to Cocktails’. Drop your thoughts in the comment box and I’d love to read them!

So, who is the first person that comes to your mind when you come across the word ‘friend’? It’s most likely to be the person whom you love for their company, words, hugs, roast sessions and because they feel like home. They have your ugliest and funniest pictures that hold the happiest and best memories. They make you laugh when you don’t even want to smile, no matter how long it takes. They understand you. They defend you. They turn the world’s-most-boring place into the favourite-hangout place. They make your life worth living again. They are family, in a way that only you both can understand. You can always count on them.

Do you remember the song “Count On Me” by Bruno Mars? No matter how old you and your friends grow, this song never grows old. If you haven’t heard it before, you should.

Dear reader, always remember the people who helped you, in the smallest or biggest ways. Try to let them know what they mean to you and how you really feel about them. These are little things that often escape one’s notice but can have quite a big impact in your life.

You see, when the time comes when distance plays its part and they’re beyond your reach of contact, you are left only with a hope to meet them again but you never know when. Or you have to live with the regret that you never got a chance to thank them. As for me, I too lost contact with all my schoolmates and the reason was not only that I changed my school for the first time in eleven years. There are other reasons (if you’re my close friend-in-life, you would know) but let’s not get into that right now. I spent almost two years trying to reach out to these people that I literally grew up with, but tough luck, I was bound to wait. Depression, frustration, loneliness, you name it, I had it all. It had felt like the sky had fallen on me. You might think I was overreacting but I was only fifteen back then, and I needed my friends, more than anything else. I soon got into a private junior college for taking up Science since my future career was the only thing I had control over. As a result, I found myself amidst a room of people I never knew existed before. The first few days went by without much conversation but eventually, I made new friends. Before I knew it, I was happy again and the dreadful days bugged me only sometimes. Of course I missed my old buddies every day. But I had hope. I had a hope to reach out to them in the future, one way or another. In the end I realized how important friends are in one’s life. If you take your friends for granted, think again.

When life becomes too boring and exams take their toll on you, these people are the ones who are most likely to bring you back to life. Let’s face it; the present scenario of a student’s life is not about learning things but about scoring above-average grades. Competition prevails in this world and marks are equivalent to money for us. Memorizing – it is my old enemy. I seem to be learning things fine by understanding it, which also helps me to memorize it (isn’t that supposed to be how you learn something?) but during exams, my memory betrays me. It doesn’t completely but I forget the formulae or trivial data, which makes me mad because I know I learnt it but just can’t remember. My teacher thinks I suffer from exam fear but I don’t, actually. I’m trying to work on it and hopefully, I won’t end up forgetting my name.

Anyways, when boredom strikes you and you feel like you’re simply dragging yourself around or just going with the flow of life in black and white, your friends become your knights in shining armour! They’d rescue you and take you to the best café for the best coffee and ice-cream, just to make you feel better. You might even end up paying for it when you realise your friend deliberately left his wallet at home, or vice versa. They’d rescue you by calling you up and telling you the lamest jokes of human history, the ones that only you and your friend understand exclusively. They’d put on the loudest rock songs and have pillow fights with you. They’d drag you out of the class before the History or Art teacher shows up and spend the next two hours roaming in the school corridors, checking out your crush or other attractive people. They’d write the countdown of those last 5 minutes of class left on your table along with some ridiculously funny comments about someone’s shoes in the class. They’d send you flying notebooks from halfway across the classroom with secret messages on the pages inside that after reading either make you smile like an idiot or salute their sense of humour or just make you feel lucky to have them. A day or two without them makes you feel empty. No matter how bad your day goes, how upset you are, or even if you’re sick, their hugs are the best medicines. When they hold your hand or hang their arm over your shoulder, you feel proud and blessed. They’re the ones who keep you awake all night by texting you and sending poop emojis because that’s how they feel when you’re gone. In other words, they’re like an energy drink or a strongly caffeinated coffee that brings tons of positive vibes to you.

But it’s not only the good times that they’re there for you but most importantly, the bad times too. When everything goes south on you and you’re on the edge of losing hope on yourself completely, they’re the ones who pull you up and give you the strength to fight. When you need something desperately, they try to fill that up by managing to bring it to you, by any means. When you lose a loved one and you feel like love is not real, they show you what love is all about. When you start thinking that you’ll never fall in love again, they give you reasons to make that happen. They make you believe in things you lost your belief in. Even if you destroy their school notebooks by filling the pages with your thoughts and then you apologize, they tell you that it’s okay because those things make them feel alive, instead. When your teacher catches you for bunking classes, they make up the most ridiculous but realistic excuses to save you. Your teacher even buys them! In other words, they’re like a pain-killer tablet or a cocktail that sobers you up when you’re falling apart.

Dear reader, they are your friends and they love you. You are my friend too and I love you. With all my heart and soul, I. Love. You.

Thank you for everything, friend. May you get what you deserve, the best.