They Came...and Never Left.

Good things happen when you meet strangers. 

And I'm a living, breathing testimony to that fact. We find people everywhere. Down the lane, on the main road, in a supermarket, at a mall, school, college...just everywhere.
And out of the multitude of people that we come across, a very tiny fraction just strikes a chord. Soon enough, there are friends, best friends, 4 a.m. friends, soul sisters...FAMILY. 


                   Now as I look back to reflect, I'm in awe. Luck, destiny, fate, kismet..call it just anything. I have bumped into complete strangers. I have seen that initial hesitant strangeness fade away, i have experienced the familiarity set in, and I have been bound to those relations with cords that can never fray away.
          With that, time has come to mention a few chosen ones. Friends that I have proudly cherished for one decade, and still going strong!
Neha Sultana, Mehvish Razvi, Syeda Arshiya. I have no clue how I should even begin about them. Besties for 10 long and amazing years. Where so much was understood without a word being exchanged. Where one began a sentence, and the other ended it. Where no formality existed. Where we stuck on like glue while the world tried incessantly to pull us apart. Definitely a friendship whose trumpets I should like to blow. We hung on like the Great Wall of China, blew away anybody who bothered. Yes there were cracks, huge ones at that. They just did us stronger. :)


           Ten years, ten months, ten weeks, ten days or ten minutes. Time, is not the measure of a timeless friendship. Sheema Safana Ali, although I consider myself extremely blessed to have met you, I lament not having met you earlier. Even more so because, aaargh, we were classmates...BENCHMATES!!
Pondering over it, I cant help but feel sheepish. The last term at school saw just so much...bonds broke, people broke, and yet, friendship blossomed. Ours definitely did. In a way that seems so stupid, and yet, here we are, self proclaimed Soul Sisters. I love you. :D
            People come together in a crisis, they say. I say, a crisis isn't a crisis anymore, when people come together. Naila Iqbal, I say that keeping you in mind. Lotuses bloom in muck. We, bloomed in college. Not much difference, is there? ;) I frankly never expected a friend in college. Life, as always, packed a surprise in the form of that tiny girl with a golden heart and matching scarves. Seven months down, and we know enough about each other to pen down each others Biographies. The people we hate, the people we adore, the things we like, the things we detest. I wouldn't have shared these similarities with my own sisters! Naila Iqbal, my tombstone would have read "Nida Fatima: 1st July 1994-10th June 2010," had it not been for you. Thank you. :D


       Sometimes, God just smiles down upon a chosen few. He did on me too. And indeed, he presented me with a gift I would never like to depart with. Nishi "Khan", Iam, undoubtedly, the luckiest person ever to have you in my life. You make me feel special. Your presence strengthens me, delights me, gives me a reason to smile. I still cannot believe that we ended up like we did. Against all odds, against all hurdles, we still made it, didn't we? It gives me immense satisfaction to think about what each of us have been through. School, wasn't really kind to us in that aspect. Neither was college. However, we decided to never let go. A decision I shall never regret. If there is one person who knows even the microscopic details of my life, its got to be you. We've endured. Escaped unscathed. And now there is no looking back. Thank you for taking that one bold step. Thank you for always being there. Thank you for being just the way you are. You mean the world. :D


      Pheew, there is so much that needs to be said about those people mentioned above! Yet, words fail me. These "strangers" are the ones that complete my life. Without them, It would have been like being lost on an island without a map. Would've been like drowning in the Atlantic without a beacon light in sight. Simply put- it would mean death.
As words begin to desert me, I would simply borrow Kishore Kumar's words:

                                            "Ye dosti, hum nahi chodenge,

                                                      Todenge dum magar,
            
                                                      Tera saath na chodenge."
                                      
                                  
              
          

Past Tense

Yet another year wrapping up and one just cannot help but feel nostalgic. As I see myself crossing the threshold of the most tumultuous year of my life, I cant help but feel apprehensive. The year that was, was nothing short of a roller coaster ride- minus the seat belts.
    
2010 had kicked off with some real serious resolution making. Topping that list was the strong urge to make my mom proud with my 10th Board results. Following closely was the desire to bag Golds in Long Jump, High Jump, Basketball and any other sport/activity/competition I could associate myself with.
Most achieved successfully, and the pursuit for the others will continue through the new year as well.


2010 meant just SO MUCH to me. The year when I appeared for my 10th Boards. No words to describe the frenzy, the stress, the strained laughter, the tears, the emotional upheavals, the hugs, the cheer, the joy, the ecstasy that my final year at school gave me.
YES- the FINAL YEAR. Even 8 months after passing out of Nasr, I can still close my eyes and be transported into this whole new world- my second home. School is one part of my existence that just cannot be separated from my soul. I'm a part of it, and it, mine.
Nasr gave me the people that now form my life support systems. The friends, the omg-why-didn't-i-meet-you-befores and the two faced pennies. Every single one of them has contributed so much to my life, that without them, this Nida wouldn't have been the Nida she is today.


     There has been so much that I've been through this decade. The decade saw a lil me jump from being a teenie meenie into a senior wearing important badges, organising and putting together things with so much responsibility that made my mother's eyes pop right out! Turning around I see the trail that I have left and it brings an instant smile to my face.


   That was about the "highs." What came next was a deep, bottomless valley. The vacuum, the depression, the void. Call it just anything. My little happy world was torn apart with what my college had in store for me. Life just tumbled into this huge void that did not seem to end. Sr Chaitanya might just be the most inhuman place I've ever come across. The Azkaban of the Muggle World. Mudbloods, truly.


        As the end of the decade advanced, my depression began to fade bit by bit. The fog was now beginning to clear. What brought it about was the timely realisation that no one could possibly hold up a candle for me and light up my life. That light was to be extracted from within...the illumination that was lost somewhere in the struggle for marks, positions and ranks.


   So now here Iam, waiting with child-like excitement to greet 2011. With hopes renewed, with ambitions strengthened and life being brought back into focus. So with a tingle of apprehension, Iam greeting this New Year, all geared up to take on ANYTHING that life will strew in my path. Armed with the experience of 16 years I will tackle every hurdle with absolute grit and make sure that each new day finds me a better person. InshAllah.