DAY 97 -2 AM FRIEND

Every one should have a 2 am friend.

It is as important as drinking 3 liters of water every day, which is necessary for the proper functioning of your system. So is a 2 am friend.

The 2 am friend is not your husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend or even your regular friend. This friend is special. You only have one of them in your life and they usually walk with you till the end.

The 2 am friend is the one who sees your soul and if you tell him/her that he/she will laugh you out of the room calling you "insane". But this is the friend you think of when you are in danger, when you are confused, when you are in love, when you are out of love, when you are frustrated, when you are scared, when you want to die or when you want to live.

The 2 am friend is the one you might call one night and say, "I think we are meant to be together, lets get married" and then you hear him/her laugh you out of the room for the umpteenth time; you call him/her all the bad words in all the languages you know before you bang the phone down. And as you bang the phone down you will hear at the other end a voice saying, "Sleep tight" and a smile creeps upon your face even though you are livid with the voice at the other end. And then you wake up in the morning and call the friend and say, "This guy has asked me out on a date, what should I wear?" and he/she says, "How about that dress....."

The gender of the 2 am friend is not important. In fact after a certain age it doesn't matter whether he is a he or a she; or she is a he or a she or neither or all. All that matters is the friend who will wake up for you at 2 am and listen to your raving and ranting because he/she cares.

It really does not matter whether you are physically intimate with your 2 am friend. After a certain age even that does not matter. Either you are not interested or you have journeyed enough in life to compartmentalize different aspects of your life.But what is important is that you can discuss anything and everything under the sun, from your ovaries to your in-growths, without flinching.

What matters is the `Connect'. Every time I use that word my 2 a.m friend laughs in my face - literally. That is important. Your 2 am friend should be able to call your bluff, tell you like it is, lift you up when you are down and bring you down when you are soaring high and in the wrong direction. And he does it with utmost respect and love.

If there is one thing that I am sure of my 2 am friend, as sure as the sun rising every day, it is the fact that he loves me and cares a great deal about me. There is a difference between "he is in love with me" and "he loves me dearly" - the former comes with no guarantees...the latter usually comes with a lifetime warranty.

It takes many years to find that one 2 am friend. Some don't find one at all. But when you find one you better keep him/her for life. They are precious.

That's my friend (or a part of him) in the picture. It best describes him and our friendship. Strong and tender.