Friendship at Grihastha Ashram

According to the Hindu philosophy, life is divided into four ashramas: Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa. And according to me, we have friends according to these ashramas. During Brahmacharya (school days) before even realising the meaning and value of friendship, we make our very first friends and most probably the friends for life. During Grihastha Ashram, we get a new set of friends, now we understand the meaning of true friendship but hardly we get any true friend. During Vanprastha, one is desperately in need of a friend and the lucky ones have their life partners sitting right next to them. During Sanyasa, your grand kids are your friends but the chances of you not getting into the Sanyasa ashram are higher.

Now I am into Grihastha Ashram, and having a friend in this stage has altogether a different meaning. I have a husband (marketing job) and two kids, and my schedule solely depends on their schedule. I can’t afford to have friends who would come at odd hours to see me or would plan a road trip randomly. At this stage I desperately need some responsible friends who would understand my situation. Basically I need friends who are moms, only they can understand my situation better.

And finally I met them, the other two IDIOTS of the Three Idiots. No we are not that dumb to call ourselves idiots, its our whatsapp group name. And what bonded us instantly was that we all are mothers. So its not only us who got friends but our kids also, now the three idiots were actually eight (3+5 kids). All three of us were in that stage of motherhood, where we needed someone to help us with the kids. And voila! We got a jackpot. Now those parlour trips were worry free as one of us was with the kids. Shopping was fun because now I was not the alone with a cranky kid. Husband out of town was not any problem anymore, it was time to celebrate. Evenings became synonym for the tea time and chit chats, late night gossips, movies, beach visits, breakfast to dinner, be it any occasion when we were free we were all together. The time we spent together was best and we felt the same teenage girl inside once again.

And then as it happens in every sweet story, it was the time to depart. It was me who shifted to another city. The last month which I spent with my friends was of some other level, we did everything that was on the list. And then came the D day, with heavy hearts and buckets of tears waved Goodbye to each other.

Its been two years in this city, and I don’t have any special friends. I miss them badly, in smiles and tears. They say the friends you have in your childhood are the truest ones, but I realised true friendship is something you find get at any age. Its not your age which makes you enjoy the special moments but its your friends who makes the moments special.

Happy Friendship Day Idiots…

Wishing that everyone in life must have at least one Idiot (friend)…

This is the poem which I wrote for my friends…