That day...that year...

A peep into the past is a refresher for me. I often wonder if I'm still stuck somewhere in the 1990s or early 2000. A picture, a person, a place, a movie, an incident, an advertisement...so many things that instantaneously transports me to the past: to a memory, to a person, to a relationship, to a day, to a celebration. Today, it was a chat box that blinked to tell me that a special someone from my past is available (well only for a chat through that lil window, sadly). I, without a thought, click open a chat box and key in the customary 'Hey wassup. U thr?'. Not for a second wondering if he would be with his boss working on a presentation, or discussing projects with a client, or be playing online games with his lil daughter or checking out family albums with his wife.
As luck would have it, he wasn't doing any of these. Well I don't think so. Coz he promptly replied, a rather enthusiastic one (inferred from the many emoticons on display). Before we knew it, we were back to 'that' day in Chennai around 10 years ago, rewinding the events and wondering why the day ended the way it did. Why did we act the way we did (dumb, pretentious) or why we didn't do it the way we should have (honest, fearless). Turning back in time and wishing for it to change doesn't work, it only helps you have a hearty laugh over those days or sometimes leave you sighing over things that you wished you had done differently.
Here we were chatting after many many years. The long absence--in sight and in sound--of many years never surfaced in our conversation. Our relationship remained just as fresh, sweet, enjoyable and entertaining as it was. We were just as crazy, as wacky, as naughty, as intimate as we were when we last met. This happens only in some relations, only in some friendships.
The years, and the change in roles (he's a husband and a father now. I'm a wife and mommy too) somehow allowed us the space and freedom to be more open and frank with each other. We shared things we secretly wished to share a decade ago, we asked each other questions we wanted answers for many many years ago; I found myself opening up a little too much than I normally would. It's always a pleasure to bare your soul to people who have a patient ear, a sensitive mind and a loving heart.
We hope to meet up sometime, hopefully in Chennai itself, refresh our friendship and maybe relive 'that' day the way we wanted it to play out. Somewhere amidst the talk, the chat window told me he's gone 'offline'. He disappeared...suddenly..without a g'bye. Here I was, still stuck in 'that' day of that year. Maybe I'll catch him blinking a green 'available' sign sometime soon.