My Friendship Day

Happy friendship day to everyone.

I am sure we all have few very close friends in life, for which we are definitely thankful to lord. And on os.me I have really made good friends with few people , all due to the grace of Swami.

We all know friends walk beside us no matter what the circumstances are and how rough the path is. They know us better than others do.

I feel having a close and genuine friend makes our life complete. Friendship is one of the most honest and trustworthy relations that help us live a meaningful life.

It is an investment that improves your bond with the other person and it grows with time. The more you care for it, the happier you will be.

Though I have many friends and I know I am a close friend for them , but I am not sure if I can say the same about others. As I am not open to many and even my closest friends don’t know much about me or my thinking.

Today, however, I want to talk about a special friendship bond that I have created over few years. This bond is between the kids of my building and me.

It has two parts-

FIRST:

There are 8 kids, including my daughter, in our building and I am their best friend. These kids are from various age groups- from 2 years to 17 years.

I have always loved kids and love to spend time with them, except my daughter as being a mom drains me out sometimes😆. But I am always available to these kids. They confide in me. They discuss every issue with me be it their classmate’s birthday celebration or bullying by senior mates or having a crush on someone.

I have made such a comfort level with them that they can talk about just anything with me. They play with me, jump on my back, swing in my arms, make me dance and sing and do all crazy activities.

In the process I try to teach them some values, make them aware about the world issues, practice yoga, and teach them their subjects too. Their mothers send them every day to my home with their home works too. I also prepare them for their debates, assignments and school competitions. 

Also every day from 5 pm till 8 pm I am busy with them. The best part is I cook for them every evening. Snacks include cheesy pasta, sandwiches, omelettes, macaroni, soup and sometimes if someone’s parents are out for shopping then their dinner too.

Neighbors are so comfortable that they even leave their kids with me till 11pm and go out for movie dates.

And all this I do happily.

Then on one friendship day I received one of the best gifts. A friendship band and a handmade card from one of my kids. He is 10 years old and my daughter absolutely loves his Vedu Bhaiya (Yes Vedant Ranadive, you remind of this Vedu and i cry every time you call me Maa)

He wrote that i tell him and his friends never to lie and care for them. 

Here is the card:

I felt so overwhelmed with this gesture that I could not sleep that night. I sent this image to all my family members and also put this as a whatsapp status.

All these evening activities with these kids continued for three years.

Yes every day, every evening I had same routine. Even if I had to go out on dinner date with my husband I will ensure that I have made snacks and fed these friends well and played with them.

My house was called” shalini aunty ka dhaba”.🙂

SECOND:

All these activities were however time consuming  and making me less energetic . I was now looking for an escape but because I loved my lil friends so much that I was not able to part with them. However nature had planned it in a very tough way.

Due to some serious misunderstanding between me and one neighbour, all kids were asked by their respective mothers not to visit my place ever, as part of revenge.

This was a shock for me. I was devastated as I could have never imagined that people can use kids as weapon to win a personal disagreement.

Buy my kid friends loved me too. They disobeyed their mother and visited me many times. Then one day I asked them not to do this as their mothers will feel hurt. Just for that reason, they stopped coming to my place.

This all happened an year ago but still whenever these kids see me even now they smile, talk  check upon me and my daughter and silently walk away.

In fact the eldest kid even recently sent me messages when she got infected with covid and instead of trusting her mom’s wisdom, she asked me for advice and treatments.

I feel pain and still have tears while writing this for what all happened, but may be somewhere I believe everything happens for a reason.

I was then directed to os.me and I feel I got more time for myself. Also I stay out of Delhi now so things would have changed automatically. May be I was getting prepared for it.

Also I realised that, had these kids got that comfort with their respective mothers, they would have not come so close to me. As their mothers are busy in their social and family commitments, they take their kids and their curious mind as burden.

Once I am out of their lives, these women have found another lady’s house and send their kids to her, but my lil friends are not happy and excited there and I see that in their eyes. The other lady doesn’t entertain kids and doesn’t cook even. Slowly these kids are now confined to their homes.

I now know my role in their life is over. On this friendship day I was missing good old days so thought of sharing this post.

Featured image- my kids (lil friends) enjoying cake baked by me

Jai Sri Hari