Oh my Lord, I've awakened from the dead! Well, feels like it anyway, when I look at the date I last posted.
A dear friend of mine chided me recently, telling me I ought to write more often, for "fans" like her. Well, fair enough. I'm a huge fan of hers too, in more ways than one. [Yes, Princess, I'm talking about you :) ]
A long time ago (17 years, to be precise), in a land far far away (it's actually not all that far away, but I love a little poetic license now and then), is where and when I first encountered the princess. Ours wasn't the type of meeting that legends are made of, but I've often found that the greatest stories... journeys... friendships, all start remarkably unobtrusively. Back then we were just two little girls in our frilly pink frocks, trotting about the merry-go-rounds. Turns out we weren't even very close (so she tells me, I must confess to having the worst memory regarding most of my childhood). And as was commonplace with our people, we never got to know each other too well either. My journey took me to distant lands, leaving behind friends and memories alike.
Many, many moons later, when technology opened magical portals of communication across the globe, is when the real magic started. Along came a message one day, from a name that tickled my memory, yet stopped short of ringing a bell. I knew the name, I thought. Yet couldn't find a face to connect to it, nor memories to associate with it. I admit, extremely regretfully, that it took a lot of help from common friends for me to finally realize that I had received a scroll from none other than the little princess I once played with, so many years ago.
Murphy's Law rang true yet again, and in stark contrast to my sketchy memories of her, she remembered events and details with astounding clarity (including the fact that my mother used to load my lips with Vaseline!). Lucky for me though, she never grudged me my amnesia (bless her!).
But the real surprise was yet to come.
Turns out the little princess I once knew was on a conquering spree. Since the last time I had met her, she had made herself a household name in the entertainment industry, and it was only getting better. TV shows, movies, awards... it was all happening. And the irony of it all is, I had to hear of it from friends. Never from her. Not once did she blow the royal trumpet about all that she has achieved, or all that she is clearly capable of doing.
And you would expect a media darling to be rather deficient in the cerebral region, right? Wrong again. The princess juggled her career and her academics better than the court jester with his plates... and topped her university! And it wasn't just textbook smarts. She's arguably one of the smartest women I have the privilege of knowing, and our multiple conversations on the most inane topics have cemented her position.
But the real icing on the cake... This smart, beautiful, successful young woman is a remarkable friend. It has been barely over a year since I received that fateful scroll, and already she's one of my dearest and closest allies. She's high on my list of In-Case-of-Emergency contacts, and a true 4 a.m. friend. And we haven't seen each other since we were 7 years old! She's been my shoulder to cry on, and my guardian angel, and a partner-in-crime.
She doesn't need to be, with the fame that she's achieved. It would've been a smooth move to leave all us lesser mortals behind while she made her way into the limelight. I've seen it happen. And I've seen her fan club websites. There's no dearth of people who would be only too glad to "make fraandsheep" with her. ;) Yet she understood one of the most basic dogmata of life - "You'll never get where you're going, if you forget where you're coming from". I don't know whether she made that decision consciously or not, but I know this... All of us who know and love her, still know her as the girl we grew up with (excluding myself, for as I explained earlier, I was denied the opportunity to actually grow up with her). She's not a star when she's with us. Not even close. She's as mortal and insane as the rest of us, and believe me, that's a tall order!
She says she's a fan of my writing. I'm humbled. For I am a fan of her determination, her ambition, her intelligence, her personality... I could go on.
But beyond being another in her long list of fans, I'm her friend. And I say that with the utmost pride.
Although I cannot name her for sake of anonymity, I dedicate this post to the absolutely amazing girl whom I call "Princess". And to friendship.
A dear friend of mine chided me recently, telling me I ought to write more often, for "fans" like her. Well, fair enough. I'm a huge fan of hers too, in more ways than one. [Yes, Princess, I'm talking about you :) ]
A long time ago (17 years, to be precise), in a land far far away (it's actually not all that far away, but I love a little poetic license now and then), is where and when I first encountered the princess. Ours wasn't the type of meeting that legends are made of, but I've often found that the greatest stories... journeys... friendships, all start remarkably unobtrusively. Back then we were just two little girls in our frilly pink frocks, trotting about the merry-go-rounds. Turns out we weren't even very close (so she tells me, I must confess to having the worst memory regarding most of my childhood). And as was commonplace with our people, we never got to know each other too well either. My journey took me to distant lands, leaving behind friends and memories alike.
Many, many moons later, when technology opened magical portals of communication across the globe, is when the real magic started. Along came a message one day, from a name that tickled my memory, yet stopped short of ringing a bell. I knew the name, I thought. Yet couldn't find a face to connect to it, nor memories to associate with it. I admit, extremely regretfully, that it took a lot of help from common friends for me to finally realize that I had received a scroll from none other than the little princess I once played with, so many years ago.
Murphy's Law rang true yet again, and in stark contrast to my sketchy memories of her, she remembered events and details with astounding clarity (including the fact that my mother used to load my lips with Vaseline!). Lucky for me though, she never grudged me my amnesia (bless her!).
But the real surprise was yet to come.
Turns out the little princess I once knew was on a conquering spree. Since the last time I had met her, she had made herself a household name in the entertainment industry, and it was only getting better. TV shows, movies, awards... it was all happening. And the irony of it all is, I had to hear of it from friends. Never from her. Not once did she blow the royal trumpet about all that she has achieved, or all that she is clearly capable of doing.
And you would expect a media darling to be rather deficient in the cerebral region, right? Wrong again. The princess juggled her career and her academics better than the court jester with his plates... and topped her university! And it wasn't just textbook smarts. She's arguably one of the smartest women I have the privilege of knowing, and our multiple conversations on the most inane topics have cemented her position.
But the real icing on the cake... This smart, beautiful, successful young woman is a remarkable friend. It has been barely over a year since I received that fateful scroll, and already she's one of my dearest and closest allies. She's high on my list of In-Case-of-Emergency contacts, and a true 4 a.m. friend. And we haven't seen each other since we were 7 years old! She's been my shoulder to cry on, and my guardian angel, and a partner-in-crime.
She doesn't need to be, with the fame that she's achieved. It would've been a smooth move to leave all us lesser mortals behind while she made her way into the limelight. I've seen it happen. And I've seen her fan club websites. There's no dearth of people who would be only too glad to "make fraandsheep" with her. ;) Yet she understood one of the most basic dogmata of life - "You'll never get where you're going, if you forget where you're coming from". I don't know whether she made that decision consciously or not, but I know this... All of us who know and love her, still know her as the girl we grew up with (excluding myself, for as I explained earlier, I was denied the opportunity to actually grow up with her). She's not a star when she's with us. Not even close. She's as mortal and insane as the rest of us, and believe me, that's a tall order!
She says she's a fan of my writing. I'm humbled. For I am a fan of her determination, her ambition, her intelligence, her personality... I could go on.
But beyond being another in her long list of fans, I'm her friend. And I say that with the utmost pride.
Although I cannot name her for sake of anonymity, I dedicate this post to the absolutely amazing girl whom I call "Princess". And to friendship.
