Blessed

I feel blessed to have so many great friends. this isnt just a 'friendship day realization'. i have always been lucky to have the nicest friends and perhaps that is why my life is so beautiful today. my friends are my true lifeline and i just dont know what i'd ever do without them.

i've also been one of the few very lucky ones to have had one best friend since the time i was 7. i know of a lot of people who've had like 10 best friends...each at a different stage of life and then forgotten about! i also know of best friends who used to be close once upon a time but only stay in touch via emails now. there really r very few people like me who have had that one best friend for 19 years, with whom the equation hasnt changed one bit! what i would ever do without her!

while i have one best friend, i have some very very close friends too. they are equally important to me. but at this point i must mention why i feel so blessed today. there are not one, but three people who consider me to be their best friends. a best friend is a prized title and i feel so fortunate to have three of those! the other day someone asked me what my talent was and i said it was being a good friend. i think thats true, for a friend is someone who comforts u and is there for u. and that, i surely am! i am so happy that i can make these wonderful people feel special and love them the way they love me.

so here's to friendship, friends and JOY!

this or that?

while travelling by a bus this morning, i saw a mentally challenged boy. he was sitting with his mother and perhaps travelling to some place which....did he even know where?

i was sitting just opposite to him and hence got to observe him for a long time. and though it was a bit disturbing to see such a cute young boy challenged, it was also a wonderful experience observing him.

he seemed so happy, so carefree. he laughed at everything, smiled at everyone and just did what his heart pleased. it made me wonder if he lived in a better world. while on one hand, he surely has to go through a lot of hardships, he also has been blessed to remain ignorant of the worldly worries that plague the rest of us. he is so oblivious to the stares, the whispers and (unfortunately, or annoyingly so) the taunts that always accompany him. it made me wonder if he was happier than all of us were?

and that was when it struck me...who decides what's good and what's bad? what if we are just accustomed to believing that we are the best. who has ever told us that the mentally challenged world isnt perfect and ours is? what if its the other way round?

i dont have answers to these questions, but just sitting there and looking at the boy and occassionally reciprocating his smiles and waves made my day. it was such a beautiful thing. sad that he is different, but great that he is - it gives him a life that we only read of in fairytales. god bless him forever and ever :)