Skip to main content

A Pen-Friend

 Life is amusing. And by amusing, I mean very interesting. We meet people. Some, we befriend while some we just snub from our lives and wish that we could just obliviate the moment we met them. Let’s not talk about snubbing or discarding somebody. Let’s talk about the bond that we form with those that are close in our lives.

Now, I know that each and every one of us has somebody in our lives who we wish we’d never lose. I won’t label or tag those relations because I know some of them are just nameless and some of them are beyond any kind of denotation or categorization. I am also, going to talk about a nameless bond that I formed with someone recently.

In childhood, I’d come across this particular intriguing word called “Pen-friend”. I was amused, as how two people, without seeing or meeting each other even once in life, could become really good friends and bond for life (in many cases). At that time I passed it frivolously. But as time moved on and relationships became meaningful to me I gradually started comprehending the emotions that lied behind such an unknown, unseen relationship, if I may say. The thing is, making a pen-friend is as easy as writing a letter and stuffing it into a bottle and throwing it into the ocean and waiting till it finds another human. The feeling of sharing your emotion without the other person judging you is a blessing. But the gist of making, rather, having a pen-friend lies in preserving that relationship, staying true to your friend, respecting his/her feeling even though you have never met him/her once in your life. This preservation comes off as a reverberation of those feelings that you share and the emotions that you invest. The more investment, the more profound bond.

I never had a pen-friend until a few days ago when I joined a clan in the game “Clash of Clans”. To give you a brief background, “Clash of Clans” is a game in which you build your village, defend it and rally on other villages with your army. In the game, you can join a clan in order to make allies and confederate with other players. So I joined a small clan. There was this contemporary player “Hyper Nova” in the clan. We talked whenever both of us happened to be online at the same time. Donating, receiving troops was a common thing. We talked about taking our clan to great heights, making war strategies, etc. Gradually, observing no impending advancement or melioration, players started abandoning the clan leaving the clan gasping for players. At that time, I jokingly assured ‘Nova’ (that’s what I call him) that I won’t leave the clan as long as he was there. I mean, after all it was just a game. What’s the worst that could happen? But I stayed. For some reason, unknown, my conscience didn’t allow me to leave the clan. Was it for Nova? I don’t know.

So, we barely had 10 players. A few days later, two more left and Nova became hopeless. He said and I quote “War Hero (my gaming name), I am going to discontinue playing the game. After this war, please move to a better clan.” Again, for some reason unknown, that stung. I felt as if I was breaking someone’s heart. “Damn it! Why do I get so involved in everything?”, I cursed myself. Today he sent out a mail in the clan whose screenshot I have attached below.

 
And I felt that it was a matter of courtesy and that emotion must be reciprocated. And, here you go.


And I left the clan. We never met. But he became my friend. We never shared feelings or emotions. But we bonded over a game. Suddenly, he became one of those friends who I’d never want to lose. I don’t know how he is, in real life. Our ideologies might be vastly contrasting. He could be poles apart in any spectrum, but it didn’t matter here. We didn’t even know each other’s name. I want more of such unknown friends.

I really hope that we meet again, in the game and even in real life. Though that’s a different thing that we do not carry “Clash of Clan” tags pinned to our heads so maybe we’d never recognize each other.

So, that’s it. That was my little pen-friend experience. In conclusion, I’d like to add that the world is very small and life is too short. Do not waste it accumulating hatred irrespective if the reason or even the intensity for that matter. Just find yourself someone who’d just listen to you, would not judge you by the emotions or feelings that you foster even if he’s someone you have never met. Just write your heart out, stuff it in a bottle and toss it in the ocean and wait for someone to come across the bottle on the other end of the ocean and write his/her heart out in reply. And remember, preservation and nuturance are the keys.

 

“Go on now, my words. You must find someone who’d value you, disregarding the hand that wrote you.”

-Hrishikesh Purohit 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE LEGLESS PILOT

If I would tell you that there was a pilot who participated in World War II and he was with no legs, you will consider me as a wrongheaded. But now again if I tell you that he was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probable’s, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged, then you will be going to suggest some kind of treatment. But Douglas Bader was no less than an exception. There is a quote in Hindi, मन के हारे हार है , मन के जीते जीत i.e. Those who think they'll lose, they lose but the ones who think they'll win, wins and Douglas Bader proved it. Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, was a fighter ace in the Royal Air Force. He was the kind of man who could never resist a challenge. While attempting a low-level aerobatic display in 1931, he crashed. Luckily, he survived but both legs were amputated below knees. Born in London, Bader was full of aggressive energy and he was also a man of sports. He was so fond of sports ...
6 comments
Read more

Wars And Lessons(Part 2)

"Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back."                                                                                                      ~ Heraclitus And in the second part of the series Wars and Lessons, we are going to talk about that one warrior, the one who is the real inspiration for us. But it is not like a warrior or a soldier wants a war. In the words of Douglas MacArthur. “The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” But if it hap...
5 comments
Read more

Superstitions

  “WHAT?” “So, you are telling me that you lost the job because of a random black cat who crossed the road?” “YES.” The yes made me write this article. When Advik started preparing for this job interview two years ago, every single person of our society knew that he would make it. There was no doubt about it. Never thought he would lose it for reaching late, that too because of a cat. He is one of the most amazing persons I have ever met. I look up to him so many times. Hearing something like this from him is the last thing I expected. Superstitions are not new to any of us. They have been intertwined with us since forever. The above is just one of the many examples we hear every day. Debugging Superstitions Some deny them while some worship them. It is actually a personal outlook. They are neither myths nor boons but disoriented beliefs born out of ignorance and science causalities from the past. For example, Friday the 13 th is considered bad because of unfortunate...
2 comments
Read more