Friends---- Mementos of Life!

"Just be you, and don't be afraid to be you"

this is one of those lines which would always make me turn back..... cherish the fact that i was indeed truthful....the results of which is a "friendship by choice"!

Still a month to go home(India).... just done with holidays... was traveling by city bus all alone to go to Antibes.... commuting by a bus which i never took before.... next to me sat a sweet, short lady....lost in thots! i was hesitant to disturb her... but i cant take the risk of touring whole of France just coz i boarded a wrong bus! so i poked her... she smiled and replied something in French! Lol... I was taken aback and asked if she can speak english in French.... she was just too glad to speak in english, which was very fluent and wonderful(something which is very infrequent in France!)

the moment she learnt that i hail from India.... she exclaimed and asked if i know about "chutney"...well, its so peculiar to get such a reply from a European(Croatian)!
though i was baffled, that was one of my fav topics then, Indian food! so the short journey was so damn interesting.... it was for less than 30mins! but i felt solace that evening wen i bid her bye!

Just a week more to go... i was in touch with Mirna(thats her name!) through emails.... and i somehow just thot of meeting her.... n i opened my mail box and surprisingly, found a mail from her! lol... v both planned to attend a conference on Meditterrainean Flora and Fauna ( strange venue!)....

We spoke a lot! she confided a few of her personal stories in me... so did i.... v found a couple of film-makers that evening on our way.... they looked strange.... one of them, the moment he saw me.... wished me "Namastee"....it truly feels good to get such greetings specially when u r outside India! :)

Our conversation included nethn and everythn ..... Politics, religion, race, langauge, culture, etc.... v took our own stances, which were sometimes opp and sometimes otherwise.... well, we are different! but the fact that both us were truthful and we were just what we are!

Well, the conference was in French! lol...she tried to translate at times... bt in the end v both were found sleeping :D
her eating habits.... something i always remember whenever i eat fast-food like pizza... she used this popular abbreviation for such food.... "Biologically Modified Organisms"(BMO)... (its an interesting topic to read for keeping ourselves healthy!)

minutes pass by quickly when u having good time.... meeting Mirna, very much an accident though, was one of the best things happened during my stay in France.... her parting words are so special to me... "Just be you, and don't be afraid to be you"
I was just amazed.. they look so simple.... yet, its tough to do so... we most of the times morphe ourselves so as to please others... thats life! Compromises! but yes... her words act like a ticking clock which rings an alarm within me whenever i try to be someone else... n i feel glad that more than anything else.... i am true to myself!

Sometimes though the time spent is short.... the memories are so vivid and strong that... the journey together feels like an ordeal to make a lasting friendship.... :)