The year I had it all

The year I had it all

2011 was the year when I had it all. I had a good job, was in an interesting city, had made great friends and was in a complicated yet meaningful relationship. I had money to burn, time to spend, places to visit, city to explore and people to do it all with. During 2011 I went on shopping sprees, drinking sprees, reading sprees, riding my bike sprees and exploring places in and around Pune sprees. I experimented with my senses, my taste in food, in cloths, in books, in TV shows, in hobbies, and in habits. You get the picture of what I was doing in 2011 and why it was so awesome. And awesome it was! When I come to think of it now, I was the happy most person I knew in 2011. I remember feeling alive all the time. My friends and I (mostly I) were up for everything anytime.

I think we had it all because we wanted it all. We wanted to tryout every good restaurant, exhibition and festival in Pune, to shop at every good outlet, to try all the different cuisines, to cook all that we could, to read all the good books, to trek to all the beautiful places around here, to party every night and WE DID!!. We did it all. Well all we could in that year.  There was no single moment of boredom in that entire year and not of peace as well….J what we did most was communicate. We all talked for hours, laughed for even longer. We fought with each other and others. We went out to eat and drank more. We talked to each other while in office and at home. There was a plan after work everyday and most of time it was more than work. There was no time to rest. And trust me there were times when we all needed rest.

We were a group of five, three girls and two boys; young and carefree. We were good friends and I think most of us watched the series F.R.I.E.N.D.S. again sometime or the other during that year. And during that time we could relate to it so much. One of the guys was married so he got to be Ross. We had a control freak Monica and a sarcasm king Chandler. We had someone who was simplest of all and always happy. She got be Joey, not so much for what I said earlier, but because like Joey she would never waste food. (Unlike Joey she could share food) and I was the self obsessed girly Rachel…. :)

The five of us were so different, poles apart from each other and yet like F.R.I.E.N.D.S. were always there and wanted to be there for each other. And with set of five I understood life, love, hatred, passion, irritation, charm and sarcasm. I do not remember being so aware of myself and the world before. I learnt more about myself in that one year than I had since childhood. I learnt more about the world in that one year than I had in my entire life. Such is the discerning world of friendship.

We were all so different and yet somehow we brought out the best in each other. Our Monica was our designated chef and my protector against bullies, ironic that I learnt bullying from her. She was so passionate about things. A thing that rubbed off on me in a big way. We were both the self obsessed types (constant source of friction between us :( and fun for others :)…..  Obviously har ek friend kamina hota hai…and they are not good friends if they are not), but her love for herself is disarming. She is her own favorite which makes her a favorite for a lot of other people too. And I realized that you need to love yourself and pamper yourself to love this life and others.

Our Joey was our ceasefire entity. She is the most calm and simple person that I have ever known. No pretence, no malice, not self obsessed and extremely grounded. I learnt the importance of family from her. Initially I was intrigued by her calmness and love for nature, but when I met her family and cousins and went to Kerala for her engagement, that mystery was solved. She is so close to her family that she could share everything with them, they were her safety net. After all, if you have some people to share your happiness and sorrows with, who listen to you and support you in all your endeavors, would you not be calm. It is like owning a personal brand of stress busters and happiness. Friends are our safety net but she had one more, even before friends, her family. And I learnt the significance of family for her. Family is your safety net. It nurtures you as a person and if you nurture it back, you can both flourish.

OurRoss was like Ross, always in perspective and everything in moderation and discipline. He was the only married guy so we excused from most of the events. But his being there was a pleasure. He always offered sound advice and an optimal dose of fun and humor to keep us all going. Moderation and balance is what I made fun of him for and are virtues that I ended up learning from him. And yes, as boring and out of the ‘fun world’ as it might seem to you; moderation and balance actually help you maximize on fun and all crazy stuff and prevent the wagon completely going off rails. (That can be disastrous and takes a lot of time to regain momentum). Therefore, being enthusiastic about life, doing some things in moderation and staying disciplined is the key to a fun filled, happy and successful life.  

Our Chandler was awesome. He was a stock of humor and sarcasm. Unlike chandler, he was not socially impaired; quite the opposite actually. Food and humor is the lifeline of any group and he had both in abundance always. Some people are like catalysts, they enhance your life just by being there. So Chandler inspired us, made us question our beliefs/lives, questioned us, reasoned with us, made us laugh by his humor and cry using sarcasm (I cannot forgive the bad PJ’s….note the double negation… so I will include them in the list of made us cry things). He brought us all together and changed our beliefs. I from him I learnt the value of humor. I learnt the significance of focus and hard work. So, find people who inspire you by both appreciation and criticism. Someone who encourages you to challenge yourself and your beliefs is a true friend and guide. Friends that inspire you are a treasure, hold on to them.

This was about my set of friends. We did not have a Phoebe then, she came later. And yes like everything good it ended creating a big void in life. We split up; changed jobs, cities and marital status. It took me a couple of years to get my life back on track after this. But, I realized that being with these people enriched my life for ever; we are no longer in 2011 but we all carry a part of it with us till date and will do so forever. I realized that friendship is a journey to finding yourself. I also realized that even if money cant buy happiness, friends sure can help you spend a lot searching for it……. :):):) Jokes apart, friendship enriches lives. Friends make our lives easy/heaven. They are like a support system, just like a family. Their being can make even bad situations turn around; boring job, a fun place to be and any challenge surmountable (while constantly piling up new ones). Making good friends and holding on to them is my recipe for everlasting happiness, what is yours?