Relationships - Part 21 - The "Room mates" people



Those who have lived in hostels, or lived away from family know what I mean by the "Room mates" people. The ones whom you lived  with, cooked with,  shared your bed with, spent almost the whole day in their company. These are the people a different face of them you saw inside and outside of the four walls,  whose habits who picked up unknowingly. These  people are the ones who see the "within the four walls" face of yours that only your family has so far seen.


There are different kinds of such "Roomie" people.


These room mates might be ones whom you knew already but may not have been really close, but someone whom you could call an acquaintance or sometimes even a friend. But having to spend all your time, literally all 24 hours of a day in their presence, seeing the other side of them, getting to know  their tolerance levels when things go wrong, getting to know their attitude towards life , their fears , and generally their adaptability standards has been a shocking experience.  It shocks to see a totally different person from what you see outside of this home, sometimes this is for the better , sometimes for the worse. If it tends to the worse and gets to the extreme like the one I am going to talk about next, then it can get a little awkward given that you have already shared a friendship with them. But , count yourself twice lucky if it tends to be for the better and you guys make great roomies.


These room mates might just be complete strangers to you, whom you just met a couple of hours back. These stranger turned roomies, might get into the category of the people who can get on to your nerves. You can't stand their tantrums, you blow a fuse at every move of theirs, you get annoyed at them sharing your space, you can't tolerate them not sharing the house work with you, you can’t accept the way they manage their finance, you can't put up with their so-called-funny stories, you can't digest their cleanliness standards, you can’t forgive their irresponsibility or their indifference to you as a roomie, in all you just can’t live with them. It is not a very happy thing to be living with these people. You get it out all with cribbing to a far away friend or to a family member of your not-so-fun times with them.


Some of these stranger people, when made roomies , strike an excellent chord of friendship with you.  Though not always greatly similar in thinking or in likes and dislikes, you start liking them a great deal, respecting their differences, discovering your own inner self in the relationship.  You start adapting their likes, dislikes and preferences , do the crazy things they do adding up to your own craziness and rub some of yours onto them as well. You learn a lesson or two from them , probably even pick up a bad habit from them, knowingly or unknowingly. When with them, you never ever feel , they are tending to invade into your private space or time, just because they know what their limits are. You don't mind compromising on your likes and dislikes once in a while, you step out of your comfort zones sometimes to accommodate their preference, but all with happiness and a sense of share and care. The secret of this relationship is not because you are so much like each other, or have the same preferences, it is because you complement and enjoy similarities with each other to just the allowed extent and you respect the dissimilarities with each other with grace. They become more than just buddies, getting to know each other a great deal, knowing each other secrets, fears, threshold levels , you respect and love each other and you have sense of belonging with them.


Whether they took us by surprise , or we loved them or we hated them or we got annoyed by them, one thing is for certain, we got to know them a great deal . They help you see and realize the faces of people within and outside of "4- wall home" premises.  Such relationships are much needed in everyone's life, you ought to live with somebody that is not your family, to appreciate or understand the aspect of relationships in life.


In my world, I have been blessed with some really great roomies and also the not-getting-along-too-well ones. This post is dedicated to one such roomie when I lived aboard who is a great friend till today. 


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Relationships - Part 20 - The "Celebrity" People

These people are the ones whom we looked up to, followed their every move, collected every bit of info about them, longed to see them, we join their fan clubs, we fantasize and eulogize them. We believe that we know the best about them and feel so close to them,  we don't allow even the best of our friends to pass any demeaning comment about them. These people might have been movie stars, singers, sports heroes or writers in the different stages of our lives depending on our liking.


We celebrate their success and walk with a sense of pride publicizing it as if our own. We mourn their failures and feel deeply upset about them more than they themselves do. We feel guilty about their mistakes though we have nothing to control them.


We have no personal relationship with them, they know nothing about even your existence. We tend to even hold them as our role models. We talk about relationships being mutual, but we bar these people from that rule and accept them and respect them though it is just no way mutual.


These are one-kind of people in our lives and thinking about it, there have been some stages in our lives when these people have been the "only" people who occupied our time, friends and family only standing second to them. 


Topic idea suggested by a blog reader. 
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Relationships - Part 19 - The "Deteriorated" relationships

There are some people in our lives whom we spent some really good time with, shared a very healthy relationship, liked them a great deal, held them in high respect, counted them as friends,  but somewhere in the long run, these people drifted away from our everyday lives, slowly tended to not being in touch. For some of these people, their memories remained with us, while for some, though the times with them were some of your best, they even faded from your memory.  You know they existed in your world, but when you happen to get back in touch with them or run into them at any occasion further in life, we feel somewhat awkward into the original groove of things, for no reason whatsoever. They are unlike the "left-to-themselves" relationships.  


In my world, I have a few of these people, I don’t even remember today, how important or how dear they were to me once upon a time, but what I feel right now is that Yes, I feel awkward to renew my happy times with them because trying to do anything superficial with them either on email or any social networking site would only seem a bit too unnatural and might even tarnish some of my fond memories with them. They are what I call the "Deteriorated" relationships.


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Relationships - Part 18 - The "MUTE" relationships


Who said the strength of relationships is about having someone to talk to as a balcony person, or having someone to spend cheer time with, or to be pampered by someone all the time, or to have someone chide you, or to have somebody praise you while you are not around.
Love also exists in forms other than those above, it exists in mute form without having to say or do anything or surprisingly even in the form of saying the negative.

I have seen such relationships and love in impeccable form in them. I have seen them not talk to each other at all, and even if they do occasionally, only snap at each other at every chance, pick up a fight at the drop of a hat. But there is love and care.

I have seen father and son relationship where they don't talk or confront each other unless deemed absolutely unavoidable.
I have seen sibling relationships like this , fighting all the time, not talking to each other for years.

But nevertheless , the love exists in unexpressed form , care exists in silent form . Love does not have exist always in sugary words, lovey-dovey all the time or in tear filled consolations.

In my world, I just find that these relationships take more effort to maintain , the more you make a conscious effort to conceal , the more difficult it is . To have it and yet not to show is way too difficult and painful. The human ego takes control of the heart here.

Just remember that if you have such relationships in your life, it might sometimes be too late before you ever get to show that you truly loved. 

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Relationships - Part 17 - "The made me feel good" people

I have a family member who fought a serious illness a couple of years back. During those times of hospitalization and almost losing hope of recovering, with the suffering she went through, though we all did our bit as family and friends in the form of being around, there is one person whom she still vividly remembers as one of the important people who helped fight her illness and be brave to recover. It was her doctor.


She had never met him before that incident, and while she was fighting for her life in the ICU on ventilation, he sat next to her and gave her the pep talk of her life, he had made her feel good , he talked to her to have faith and told her what is important for her is bottomless optimism for her to get over what she was going through. I am sure, almost everyone who visited her during that time did that to her, but his talk and care touched her in a way which she holds dear.


Years passed by, almost 6 years now, she has not had many interactions with him since, but still would not forget him. She diligently sends him New year wishes and would never allow any patient who consults him to pass any demeaning comment on him. That person did not have to do anything to keep this trust or to earn her well wishes , but it just happened.  It was more than just gratitude.


They are what I call "The made me feel good once upon a time" people.


There are such people in our lives, whom we remember and hold dear just for the way they made us feel good sometime in the past. We may not bee in touch with them or  would not have even seen them later in our lives, but their memories live in us, because we remember the way they made us feel more than anything else. We might be such people in somebody's else lives too.




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Relationships - Part 16 - The "Missed" Relationships



There are many aspects of relationships that are missed, that you are searching for, hoping for and living in your dearest memories.


There are some you miss,
Because they are not near as you would dear them to be.


There are some you miss,
Because they are not the same as it used to be. Things changed for the better or the worse, but those old times are missed.


There are some you miss,
Because some bitter things happened beyond your control.


There are some you miss,
Because the boundaries separating the concentric or intersecting circles of relationships faded or even vanished.


There are some you miss,
Because the circles got closer than they were or because they got further than you intended it to be.


There are some you miss,
Because you just missed the chance and did not make the best of it because you took long to realize.


There are some you miss,
Because you just did not make them at all.


There is joy and pain in missing.


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Relationships - Part 15 - Relationships teach





Along life's way, as we make or break relationships, there is one thing that is inevitable, the lesson they teach us.


They teach you to love,
Not to love just the other, but to love your own self for that same reason.


They teach you to forgive,
Forgive out of love, out of bias, and hold that act of forgiveness not as a temporary act but as a permanent attitude.


They teach you to "say sorry",
To make mistakes is OK, as long as there are people who help you wash your guilt and hear the sorry that you say with your egoless best and accept it whole heartedly.


They teach you to forget,
When things did not work right , when intentions were wrongly interpreted, when care was taken for granted,  pick the lesson up and move on.


They teach you to respect,
Respect each other moods, independence of each other.


They teach you to accept,
Accept each other's differences.


They teach you to care,
Selfless care , feel each other's pain, to wish the world's best for the other.


They teach to depend,
To make you realise that to depend on somebody is a blessing.


They teach to support,
To hand hold and stand together in matters of good and bad withstanding the tests of time.



They teach to let go,
And not hold on too tight , because something that does not come back to you , was never yours.


They teach to wait,
And not be in a hurry for things to mature, take new forms, and still love.


They teach you to sacrifice,
Without you realizing that you are actually making a sacrifice.



They teach you to teach,
And impart the lessons who have learnt from the different forms of relationships you have on to the others.

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Relationships - Part 14 - The "Not Mutual" Relationships


Don't we most often talk about friendships / relationships being mutual, about the love reciprocating in the same form between the two parties? What exactly we mean by mutual here? Well, my take on "mutual and not-so-mutual" relationships and hence this post.

You might have a friend for your "Balcony person" , but you may not the "balcony person" for him/her.
But there is honesty in that relationship.

You might be somebody's cheer buddy, but they may not be yours.
But there is joy and cheer in that relationship.

You "ride the shotgun" for someone, but they don’t do it for you.
But there is care in that relationship.

You may tell your darkest secrets to somebody, but don’t get to hear any of theirs.
But there is trust in that relationship.

You like somebody a great deal and your actions are interpreted in negative way and you are disliked by that somebody.
But there is liking in that relationship, though one way.


You love somebody for a reason and they might love you back for no reason at all. 
But there is love in that relationship. 


The varying forms of love and friendships don’t matter and all that matters most is the Love itself that is mutual and even if not mutual, it is love, anyway and it is love, all the way.


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Relationships - Part 13 - The "Gang" relationships

You and your gang of friends


How did these friendships happen?
They are usually made by some unconscious decision making in our minds, most often, you get introduced to the people of this gang through friends, or you introduce your friends among each other, it might have got built by having lunches together, travelling to work together, working together that kicked started this friendship, or sometimes you don't distinctly remember how they happened. You form a gang, hang out with each other, pull each other's leg, discuss where-abouts of the people in the gang with each other and in one word, just thoroughly enjoy each other's company. These people  if are not near to you physically can tend to be "Left To themselves" people and the meet-up even after years can bring the joy back almost instantly with no effort. If they are near,  they can tend me your "Cheer-Time" buddies or "Time-pass" people.


Coming to think of it, each person in this gang might be a unique personality on their own. You enjoy the times together, you respect each other's differences and varying preferences and yet keep the theme of friendship alive. Among this gang of friends, there might some people with whom you share extra closeness or a special bonding, but whatever be it, the joy doubles and the time is happily spent when the gang is together.
Two is company, Three is crowd, any thing more than three is "Gang of great friends" .


The post was inspired by the group meet up that we did today. The memories of the night outs for the project, the tests after which I scored all your marks before you got them, the Rangaprasad apartment times, the English tutoring sessions for "we know who", the nicknames like "Grandfather and B Sir( we know for whom?)", late night share auto times, the unforgettable "New Year 2004" and the drop back home for Miss AB by the Mr Big AB, my birthday 2004 and the gift teddy bear are still fresh in my mind. 


We are a group of 8 people who met 6 years back at the same workplace and amidst being one's own crazy selves :) struck the chord of friendship,  and despite being spread across the globe in the many corners, still keep in touch with our chain emails and some occasional meeting with each other.
Dedicated  to this 6 years old friendship and Thanks guys for the wonderful time and for having made it today from the different parts of the world amongst the busy schedules. The only one who had the least busy schedule was "Yours truly".


Few others who could not make it from the "We 8" gang, were missed, especially the one who had to work even on a Sunday and the other who was almost "here" and yet not there and the other whom we are going to hear yelling on the phone from across the globe about how unlucky she is for not having made it :). Miss you all.


P.S: How did I forget the chocolate hampers.Thanks both of you for the Ferroro Rocher and Toblerone packs. Absolutely loving it.
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Relationships - Part 12 - "Ride Shotgun for them" people





You watch over them and protect them.
You shield them from the big bad world.
You vet the evil from the good for them.
You avoid telling the hardships you are going through and allow them to see only the good and the rosy.
Your eyes are always watching over these people, you tread the path before they take it to ensure it is danger-free.
You keep them shielded from the suffering, unrest even if it means you going through additional trouble.


You are their "Guardian Angel".  You ride shotgun for them always being on vigilance so that nothing other the safe, and the world's best reaches them. Like the thorns that hurt the hands that mean harm to the rose, you offer cover for these people from the evil things in the world , though you might be hurt in the bargain. They can't get anything less than the best, and you will do anything for that to get to them. Even if it means sacrificing your aspirations, giving up your favorites, stepping out of your comfort zone, anything that you can muster up for their happiness and safety.


In our real lives, we see these traits,


In a father, who tries to conceal his depleting bank balance to buy you that birthday gift.
In a mother, who always never hesitates to stay out of her comfort zone to give you the comfort.
In an elder sibling, whose watchful eyes  and free advice draws some boundary limits for and puts a check on you.
In your "watch-dog" person,  whom you tend to think as "overly concerned" but is doing it for your good.
In a lover, whom you tend to think isn't telling you everything, but is not telling you, only because it might worry or upset you.


Who are the people in your lives, whom you ride shotgun for?


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Relationships - Part 11 - The "Quality Time" people

There are people with whom you can strike a conversation on any topic on the fly with no planned agenda, just get started with them at some odd moment, at any odd place, on any odd topic  be it your outlook towards life, your aspirations, your opinions on people, your "2 pennies" on anything under the sun. Some of them are just casual topics, some thought provoking, some controversial, some complicated but all to the say least, interests both parties.


Sometimes respecting each other's views, sometimes fighting giving the other no chance to talk, but all the time expressing your honest, un biased opinion on the topic , speaking your heart out donning on your mind your best thinking cap . No differing opinion is taken to heart, it is well received and accepted.


Sometimes at your receptive best, accepting the differences in the opinions, yet some other time, at your angry best when overruled or dominated and told to shut up. But, the threshold point is well maintained with these people, and you come back feeling good about having spent "Quality time" with them and the time has been well worth it and you have thoroughly enjoyed your self.


These people may not be your close friends though you might them like them a great deal, they may not even be really your "cheer-time" people though the times you spend with them are cheerful,  but they are what I like to call as "Quality time" people with whom you always end up spending "Quality-time" with.


These kind of talks are very important to get your brain cells simulated and to voice your opinions on things and to lend an ear to what others think, you should need to find the right people for such discussions. It s fun, go find yours and Enjoy. Don't plan them, they are best started by themselves at the right moments when with the right people.


P.S: Relationships are circles, sometimes concentric, sometimes intersecting. Who does your "Quality time" circle intersect with, or encompass? :)




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Relationships - Part 10 - The "no-fear-of-losing-them" relationship

When with the "Basement" people, if we know that they belong to this category, we are at our "Cautious" best.


When with the "Cheer-Time" people, we are at our "Cheerful" best.


When with the "Balcony" people during our most vulnerable point, at our "ego-less" best.


When with the "Watch-dog" people while being watched over and chided, we are at our "genuinely-guilty" best.


When with the "Time-pass" people, we are at our "nonchalant" best.


When with the "Left-to-themselves" people, we are best left-to-ourselves and at our "comfortable-no-pretense" best.


When with the "Not-by-choice" people, we are at our "Self" best.


When with the "Biased relationships" people, we are at "Influenced" best.


But there are some people, with whom we are all our best and our worst too. They are the people to whom we can afford to show our worst. All your best and worst, with no defined intervals while exhibiting them, with no clear definition or line drawn between your best and worst, with no conscious attempt to be either. You can be all of it, only because, you have just "no fear of losing" them even if you have been at your best or worst for any longer or shorter time spans. Best or worst, you don't fear losing them, because they are ONE in you.


They are, what I call the "No-fear-of-losing-them" people, who are a blessing in my life.

When with them, the best and worst boundaries fade and lose meaning.


Impudent selfishness, guileless selflessness,
Patience personified, weak threshold of temper,
Pre-occupied independence, a never busy self,
Genuinely caring self, blithe ignorance,
All in sheer contradiction in limitless bounds.
Leaps and bounds of thoughtlessness when being together and yet a lot of thoughtfulness in the relationship.

All because you don't fear the loss.


P.S:  There probably is no such distinct category, for some of us our balcony people may be one such, for some they might be our cheer-time ones or any other category too.


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Relationships - Part 9 - The "Left to themselves" relationships

This post is about a friend of mine. I’ll refer to this person as "P" in this post.


Scene 1: A random e-mail
From: Tuppence<MyTuppence.worth2@gmail.com>
To  : P<P-Tuppencefriend@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hey
Date ::<Somewhere around March April 2009>
What is up? How are things with you? Tell me if you are coming over to your mom's place, we will meet. Been a long time.
Love,
Tuppence.
--No reply


Scene 2: 2 August, 2009. Friendship day 
I wrote a special friendship day post on my personal blog with all memories and emotions about all the people I hold as dear friends and "P" had a mention in that post. I sent out an email to all whom I had mentioned in that blog for them to read, though I hadn't been in constant touch with some of them. Most of them replied back and it felt very good to read their replies, a few like P did not even acknowledge the post.
-I too did not call back.


Scene 3: 15 September, 2009. My Friend P's wedding anniversary
SMS: Hey, Happy returns of the day, Have a nice day.
-- No acknowledgement reply.
-- I too did not call back.


Scene 4: Some day, Some month, 2009. Gist of a conversation with another common friend who lives abroad.
This common friend said that P has sent her a couple of emails recently asking how she s doing and all that. She then asks me have you folks talked or met lately. I said, huh, no, I haven't had replies for my emails or SMS es and we saw each other around last Christmas time.


Scene 5: Some day, October 2009. Scrap on Orkut.
I scrapped on P's "not-so-active" orkut scrapbook.
--No reply



Scene 6: 11 November, 2009. Today. P's birthday.
I had lost my mobile 2 days back, and I had never taken backup of the contacts on my phone. hence, I lost all my contacts. Today, being P's birthday, I remembered with no reminder needed on Orkut, facebook, mobile or anything. I just almost never forgot in the last 10 years we have known each other. I quickly emailed this common friend of mine for P's mobile number, reminding her too of P's birthday. Given the timezone difference, I was going to get the mobile number only late in the evening. I thought for a second, and I actually recalled P's mobile number. I dialled and P's familiar voice said Hello.
Me: Hey It is me.
P: Ya, I know. I was wondering, where you vanished, are you in India at all? I was telling my mom  yesterday, how you have disappeared and that I should drop in to your home to visit you. And I don't even know the new  home you have moved to!!
Me: I am very much in India and in town. I lost my mobile and had lost.......
P: Yeah, but you can reply to emails right? I have sent you many emails and got no replies.
Me: {Was that not supposed to be my dialogue}. Oh, you mailed my yahoo?
P: yeah, Yahoo. {P is such an old timer, hasn’t even moved accounts and being a stickler would not even write to my official email}.
Me: Ok. I don't check yahoo these days. I moved to Gmail ages back, {you, fool}. Anyway, Happy returns. Are you going to come over anytime today to visit your mom? I am free, we can meet.
P: No, I am not going to be around there anytime soon. I have got to go now, shall call later.
--
I remembered her mobile number only because she had got herself a mobile before most of us and I used to dial her number from my landline and had written it down in my "now-not-to-be-found" address books. I remembered her birthday without any reminders because her birthday has a special date 11-11 and she used to relate it to a history event at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month whatever, some World War end date something. So I remembered.


But if you expected me to show anger, dislike, or any decreasing degree of love for P in any of the scenes 1-5, then it is an absolute "NO". She is one of the people whom I call as "left-to-themselves" relationships. We haven't talked for months together; don't know what is happening with each other's lives, haven't seen each other for over a year sometimes but whenever we get back in touch or talk over phone, we never complain, it just is the same as it always was. She became busy with marriage, family, daughter, work and so many things in life that does not allow her to be in as frequent touch as she would love to be, but I understand perfectly and it just hasn't changed my friendship with her. I still do my bit to make her happy, during my trips aboard, I have made it a point to bring her favourite chocolate and cookies, visit her during Christmas or anytime she comes over to her mother's place. She has never visited me for the last 5 or 6 years and I have never complained. 


"Left to be on its own", our relationship has grown stronger with either of us having had nothing to do to strengthen it. I don’t know if I gave the title the most appropriate name, but this kind of relationship has just no strings attached, no demands and yet friendship , it remains. These people are as dear and important to me as much as the ones, I talk to everyday.


P.S I could recall her mobile number mainly because she stuck on to the same service provider and number for the last 7 years like she did with my friendship.


Happy Birthday , P.
{I am sure she is not going to read this post}


Post dedicated to P for her birthday and to many other such friendships that I hold similar to the one with P.
Love you all.





Relationships - Part 8 - The "Inanimate" relationships

The "Inanimate" relationships


With whom you share your bed.
With whom you share your every moment and breathe your every breath.
The "living-together" relationship.
-Yes, the inevitable mobile, which sees your emotions being nearest to you in all forms, your emotions (the SMS es), your moods, your rants, your special people are all saved in there in "Soft" form.


You go to it, whenever you feel down.
It is not the "Balcony people" this time,
They bring a smile on your face replacing the sulking frown,
It is not the "Cheer Time" people this time.
-Yes, the memories of the past locked up in your wardrobe as treasures in the form of gifts, cards, photographs, old school books, novels and report cards.


Your "pride" and your neighbor's envy,
Can respond and react well to your "need for speed" when in "Want for time",
Can relate well to your "calm" and "not-so-urgent" times
-Yes, the relationship with your cycle, bike and car. This is one of the first things that we called as "MINE" and flaunted around town.


Your best friend, It needs to be at home, sometimes within sight or should atleast be there.
You might lend them around, but you want it back in the same form.
You pamper it all day and have spent your most-troubled times and your most-happy times with them.
-Yes, for some of us, it could be books, music player, or anything that we consider as precious. The "untitled" relationship with these "priceless" possessions.


You won't go to take your favourite exam without this.
You won't step out to venture for your "most-wished-thing" without wearing this color on you.
You won't start your day without listening to this.
-Yes, Our lucky charms, for some of us, it might be a pen, a color on our dress, a song, or a phone call or a visit to somebody special. The things that we hold as sentimental with no reason for explanation.


Though inanimate, all these things are very dear and play an important role in our lives. Their loss can mean a lot of sadness. The memories keep coming back to you and upset you for days.


I can still remember the fury I felt, when the novel I lent came back in tatters and scribbles all over.


I can still remember the wrath I showed, when my mom had thrown away my old collections of newspaper clipping, old answer sheets which I had treasured for posterity's sake. I actually went over with dad that night, to the "waste paper" shop to ransack the pack that she had sent and came back disappointed.


I can still remember the immense sadness, when I found my cycle stolen.


I can still remember how upset I was, when I had deleted a folder in which I had saved some old emails while backing up desktop or laptop.


And I have no words to explain how deeply saddened I am today, at the loss of my mobile yesterday.


My "Inanimate" relationships are as intimate for me as this and this and this. Their loss is something I find very difficult to get over soon.
- Dedication to my lost mobile.