Dil Dosti Etc.,

To start with, no, this is not a review of the recent Prakash Jha movie. It's about the changes we bring in ourselves at different stages of our lives. It's about the connection between our "dil" and our "dosts". There was a time when we used to come back home after school, go out to play games with our friends in the evening, and then back home to finish the homework/watch TV/eat Maggi, etc. As we grow, we make some "serious" pals, hang out with them after college, reach back home late. It's now that frineds have taken the paramount place. Some even go to the extent of saying that friends are "family" now. The real family takes a back-seat. This is a time when everyone in the group is single, and having a good time at it. Then comes the next phase. This is when one of the "gang" members starts going around with that "special" someone. He/she is no onger available to hang out, is too busy at work, then off to meet him/her, would prefer meeting her on weekends, than hang out with the gang n have some beer. This is a time when ceratin amount of distance starts developing in the "family". Everyone gets engrossed in their own lives, moves on, makes new friends, gets busy at work, etc. Then comes the next phase of getting married, the focus shifts again, from friends n girlfriends to the bigger "responsibility". Version WIFE 1.0 enters the scene. Life goes on a different turn altogether, everything's new, life's new, partner's new. Occasional meetings with old pals, missing the old college days etc. After a year of banging, the excitement begins to fade out. Here comes the next stage, "career". "I have to work hard to support my new responsibilities", "I'm doing this for us", again there's a shift in priorities. Then comes the kids. My god, I can't even imagine me or my friends in this stage of our lives. Wake up in the middle of the night to change diapers, buy loadsa toys, be back home on time, n blah blah blah.

What I'm trying to say here is no matter whom you look at, the situations might differ slightly, but not much. The phases remain the same, the situations remain almost the same. What changes are the priorities. In the whole process, one does not realize where he/she lost out on his/her friends, the old hangouts, the crazy nights of staying up n partying. It's times like these that one begins to miss after a certain stage. I'm not saying that this is what it necessarily turns out to be, but more or less, that's everyone's story.

Wouldn't it be nice if one could balance everything: work, friends, family, parents, girlfriends :). But i guess not, as someone rightly pointed out, when one is doing all these, rarely does one realize that they're even doing it. When told, they don't even know what you're talking about.

I'll leave this at this and let you think on your own. Keep visiting this space for more on my views on how things go by. Feel free to leave back your curses, abuses, comments, feedback (sometimes).

Cheers