To Touch Thy Heart!

Jan 18, ‘07


I’m a messed-up batter

My phone hasn’t rung in ages... As in, aside from the frequent calls from mum, dad, and sis asking me where I am or whether I’m going to get home on time, there hasn’t been any messages or calls from outsiders for a while now. I’m not really a phone person (read, I don’t call anyone, THEY call me < grin >). But on a more serious note, I realized that I’ve been slipping away from keeping in touch with my friends since July last.


Am I a pie or a cake?

Last night though, I made an effort and called up a friend in Bangalore. It was after 8:30 in the evening and I was unsure if he might be at work or if he had landed home yet. Nevertheless, minutes later, I found myself listening to the steady tring tring for what seemed to be hours. I finally realized he was never going to answer it and when I was ready to give up, I heard an unmistakable “Heeelloooooo” in that nice singing-humming kinda way.

Instantaneously I realized, “oh! I couldn’t possibly have called the wrong person.” A lot of my friends do that to me; sing away the good ‘ol “hello” as though they are ready to talk to a kid, you know, like when they look down at 1 year olds and go “hiiiiiiiieeeee, sweeeetiiiieeee piiiiieee.” Get what I’m saying?

Anyway, back to the call I made, I gave out a whoop back at him with a “heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy” in that loud shriek of a voice, grinning from ear to ear, glad that he answered the call finally.

He had been riding the bike and was heading home, the reason why it took a long time for him to answer the call. I told him I’ll call him back and he suggested I call in 10 minutes.

I let a full 20 minutes drift by before I called him again. It had barely started to ring and he answered at once. I could almost SEE him smile while he answered with his trademark “heeellloooooo” once again! This was what happened after:


Me: hiieee

Him: hey

Me: You home yet?

Him: of course, a long time ago (in a “what took you so long to call back” tone)

Him: you wouldn’t believe it, but incidentally, I was gonna call you tonight.

Me: yeah right!

(Some background here: he recently shifted his job and the new company doesn’t allow instant messengers to be used at work. And if you knew him well, you’d think that it’s a capital punishment on him! He can eat, drink, and sleep on instant messengers.)

Him: I told you, you won’t believe it! Anyway, since I haven’t been chatting in a long time, I was thinking about the good ‘ol days and the person that came to my mind, was you!

Me: really? (blushing and continuing to grin from ear to ear)

Me: (now that he confessed that he wanted to call me too) actually, I didn’t have a reason either, I was thinking about my previous employment and you were the only one that came to my mind too!

Him: hehehe (by now he had hit the ceiling and was back on the ground again)


We then talked about some idhar-udhar ki baten, and some bakwaas about some of the people we know in common. Then, he tells me about his absolutely rocking life right now, with parties and night-outs almost every other evening!

He says he’s coming to Chennai soon on a biking trip. We hang up, and I feel glad I called. Moments later, he sends me a message saying that as always, it was good talking to me and that he hadn’t spoken so much in a long while (that is when he’s not drinking or smoking grass.)


Frosting on my cake

Miraculously, while I was writing this post, another friend of mine Charlie called. We spoke for 28 minutes! And even while I’m talking to Charlie, I receive a call on the second line, and another friend from my former employment calls; not only does he call, he surprises me by saying that he’s right outside my office waiting to see me.

I’ve never had any misgivings about calling or talking to my friends, but apparently, I just don’t feel the absolute need or urge to talk to anyone at that moment. As in, I may have something important to tell someone about. But since I procrastinate the actual “calling” part, in time, the subject becomes unimportant and stale.

I know that leaving a workplace or moving cities cannot be an excuse to stop being in touch. But oh well! Gemini’s are excellent manipulators, they love giving their own excuses. < grin >

Besides, I think I have another reasonable excuse. After I’ve started blogging, I start to get the feeling that I don’t really care about anyone else’s opinions but mine. Oh God Gosh! Is that really true? :-/

I almost started to think that may be I’m insignificant. No one wants to talk to me? Isn’t anyone missing me at all? But lo, how lucky can I be; when I know that I’m on the top of the minds of at least three people (in one day), it sure does lift my spirits all the same!

Now, what makes me NOT keep in touch with my friends, I really don’t know and I don’t think the purpose is to answer that either. But yes, I know for sure there’ll be a handful of friends at least, that will cry on my grave after I depart. It’s a much better feeling than having a yummy chocolate frosting (with cake underneath it!)

And believe me, there is nothing that beats the feeling of reaching out and touching the hearts of as many people as possible in the smallest conceivable way.


Although right now, I’m trying mighty hard NOT to think about that cake! :-/