Relationships...

“When you know you’ll always have me on your side how does it matter what we call our relationship? I can’t tell you I feel “this” about you, but yes, you mean a lot to me.
It’s the relationship that matters Prince, not the name we give to it.”

Reads a line in one of my very close friend’s email. The mail is about 2 yrs old now. I have still kept it in my inbox. At the time I received it I did not have the maturity either to gauge or even to understand its meaning. Today I know what she meant.

I watched the movie Just Married only because I wanted to watch a movie after my exams and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd just because I wanted to know how the Showcase feature of my new Tata Sky connection at home worked. Judging them by their entertainment value or presentation nothing could have been worse but they taught me something.

Both movies show married couples. They’re husbands and wives to their spouses. A relation that has been defined by the society. I don’t have to explain anything to anyone when I say “This is my wife/husband.” They nod as if they understand it. But do they? I don’t have to explain anything when I say “This is my friend.” But what is friendship? And who decided on the definition if anyone did?

Both movies show married couples but they have so many different relations amongst them. Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol for example play married strangers, Rahul Deol and his co-star play friends who have sex. Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi play friends who don’t have sex but just enjoy being together at 60. Kay Kay Menon and Raima Sen play a conservative husband and a modern wife and yet they understand each other. They disagree but get along amazingly well.

All along I’ve troubled my above friend asking her “What is friendship?” One fine day she got fed up of me and stopped replying. Then I checked several dictionaries. All dictionaries defined “friend” like “A person you know and like.” Or “A person you have common interests with.” Yes, I know my friend and because she’s my best friend it’s obvious I like her a lot, we have common interests too but I have all these with so many other people. I certainly don’t have the same relation with them for sure!

Surely, what’s in the name? Its the relationship that matters!!