A friendship so quick, yet so long………..

They ask me a simple question, ‘What does it take to build a lasting friendship?’

‘I have no single formula.’ I quickly retort, ‘But Ah! Yes, it just requires a few people and a lot of dialogue among them.’

Yes, it is that simple! A few days back, some 50 odd people were subjected to such a seemingly Herculean yet simple task. They were to brush up and sharpen their communication skills. They were taught few tasks and they had a few ‘activities’ too. But one thing that nobody told them was that, they were to meet and cultivate relations with 49 other people and were also expected to maintain them – networking was the sine qua non – a prerequisite in today’s world; they were told later.

Oh! I almost forgot! It was the GMCS 2 batch held in Pune; or maybe you could say it was any GMCS batch held anywhere in India (with more or less the same consequences). (GMCS is a 15-day mandatory training programme for Chartered Accountants). It was Day 1 and grossly 46-47 faces barged one by one in the classroom. I was too early, some were late, some just utterly bewildered, others confused, few of them anxious, and just a handful of us (like me, luckily) who had already been a part of a similar GMCS 1 course, who obviously shared a proud ‘sense of knowing’ what was in store for us!

The best part of this programme is that you simply have to adapt – and that too quickly, to the new faces otherwise you ought to remain chucked away in a solitary corner – and that itself defeats the whole purpose of attending the course. People, initially a tad reluctantly and later more openly began to talk, chat, tease, titter, laugh out and of course to actually interact. The common topics – oh! There are never enough of them. May it be school, the college, or some coaching class, a long lost mutual friend maybe! There is always something or the other that creates intricate bonds between different minded people. That is precisely what I think is the motive behind such gatherings.

These newly found’ or I must say, newly made friends, had great fun. There were lunches, there were brunches, snacks and countless other planned and unplanned journeys, some of which were actually executed and many others just left to the wind. And then there was this change which occurred for most of them, they were pretty different from what they had started with at Day 1 and what they felt at the end of Day 15.

Few of us lost our fears, some gained confidence, few began to talk more, mingle more and many others were just basking in the renewed vigor of profound friendship.

Alas! The fifteen days ended and after bidding farewells for the umpteenth time, we actually parted on our journeys yet to come; but with the assurance that each will be remembered and each will be cherished to eternity….. And never will anybody be forgotten or lost with time…..

Lastly I found myself saying – “The journeys and destinations may be different, but the paths; either they intersect some day or they run parallel, just about touching each other…………”