Old Friends

What happens when you bump into an old friend with whom you have not kept up for long? I mean aside from the feeling of joy and pleasant surprise, It is just another meeting with someone you know, isn't it? You've moved on, as has the other person... And other than the "How are you", and "I heard that" and "Good for you", there isn't much to talk about... especially about the present...

But then suddenly you delve into history... And then the conversation flows... It is suddenly all about the "You remember when" and "That was so foolish" and "You have not changed one bit"... Its almost like the past comes back to the present and that chapter of your life, in which your old friend had a role to play opens up again... Its almost like the past never ended... There was just a comma and a really long pause after that comma that the powers that be chose to fill up now...

I somehow always feel that the present dissolves into nothingness when confronted with good memories of the past... The past returns in all its glory, with all its adventures, the silly incidents, the unbelievable fun... The present, with whatever joys and great achievements just fades into the background, when suddenly, you realize it is time to go... The present returns just as quickly as it had disappeared and the past seems so long ago once again...

That is how it is with old friends... You lose contact and get lost in your own life... But then one day, when you meet, it is like the past never ended... And a wonderful feeling it is...