Tale of a coffe shop, a long lost friend and uncertainties

A table in the rightmost corner of a small coffee shop , with comfortable bamboo chairs, clear skies, pleasant wind carrying the aroma of coffee beans being roasted, amongst a few people who sat by chitchatting with their pals, some lost in a book, and few others glued to their laptop screens with their headphones on, and one who sat a little uncomfortable, fingers drumming on the wooden table, glancing nervously at the entrance, and eyes flicking back to the face of the watch every five minutes in the rightmost corner. She was fifteen minutes earlier than planned, and it had already been ten minutes past the agreed time. With the minute passing, anxiety grew, with only a pinch of nervousness imbibed. Why the anxiety? After all the wait was only for the best friend! One who had promised to be in touch forever, one with whom the first exhibition exhibit was shared, one who screamed her lungs out to run only a little bit faster to win gold in those sports days, one with whom the tears of farewell were shed in the airport, and with the one “forever friends” was promised. But it had been four years, save for the birthday and other festival wishes, and the likes and shares on Facebook, there was no contact. They had been busy, they said to their sorry souls, only to convince that all knowing heart, that there could still be a chance we were right.

In the moments that passed, life re-winded, and many memories played, and the whole fact that there were so many people who were promised “forever in touch” were forgotten, and this sent an unsettling thought into the head. Why were people ,who once seemed around whom, the world revolved suddenly become nothing more than a count on the number of friends you have? How is that, when you couldn't pass a minute without that one, become the reason for so much anxiety in a relaxed coffee shop?

The fact is, the ephemerality of life is the law of nature. There is nothing in life which is permanent and to stay. The rainbow always vanishes after the rain. In life, we are meant to meet, and we do so too, people who promise things which are not in their hands, some who do so, because at that moment, nothing else is more important. Some who come into our lives so abruptly, and apparently without any reason, and some who are slowly introduced in our lives, who crawl inside to establish their place in your lives, and leave their marks so deep and clear. And yet life moves on, and you move on, promises of “forever” are always made, and they are more often than not broken too.

The gates opened and she entered, carrying a chocolate in her hands, with the same anxiety and a pinch of nervousness mirrored in her face, she scanned the floor only once, when she spotted the table to the rightmost corner of the coffee shop, there i was, feeling anxitement, and in the moments it took for her to walk to me, i realized ,i understood, and i knew, that i would go through this process of impermanence a hundred times if it meant looking at this person you knew would make you feel this level of happiness , that which cannot be put into simple words, that only which can be felt by someone who shares the same happiness, and someone who believes in the wicked games the universe plays with you, only to give you this moment- this moment of immense of happiness, that you are quite radiating with it and enclosing all around you in that happy bubble of yours.

I want to make peace with the idea of impermanence, of the flow of people in and out of my life, and accept my existence for what is really means, and enjoy these moments,this uncertainty and impermanence presents. And as the cliche goes, nothing in life, save you, is permanent.

And she hugged her old dear friend so tight, and as she remembered to bend down to my five feet figure to hug me tighter, it almost came naturally to me to stand on my tippy toes. She lifeted the chocolate, and all she had to say was “for old times sake” ...... :D