Chapter 26: A Chat Over Dinner

As everyone settled into their seats, Harshil leaned over and whispered to Janya, “Why were you two even discussing how we ended up together?!”

“What are you talking about?” Janya looked at him quizzically.

“Uh...nothing, never mind.” Harshil quickly waved her off.

“Aanya was probably just saying it to make us come have dinner. There’s no way we will be talking about this over dinner, right?” He thought to himself as he helped himself to a piece of butter chicken.

But-

“Sooooooo...” A voice rang out with carrying a heavy dose of smugness in it, “As many of us were wonderinnnnnnggg...how did the two of you end up together?”

Harshil locked eyes with the beaming Cabir; his glare doing nothing to offset it.

“That’s what you three were discussing? How the two of us became a couple? Have you got nothing better to do?” Janya asked, catching on.

“I asked you that question too, remember? When we were talking about how Farzeen and you managed to tolerate the boys...especially Harshil.” Aanya reminded her.

“Hey, what’s with the ‘especially tolerating me’ thing? Why am I the bad guy here? And why has this topic never come up before?” The spiky-haired man spread his palms, mouth open.

“For the first two questions…that’s coz you were a troublemaker. For the last one…well, it never did. So, we’re having it now.” Aakash grinned.

“Like duh! Everyone knows that! Don’t think that just because you are a psychiatrist now, we’ll forget the one whose brain actually has a problem is yours. Prankster.” Cabir shrugged.

“You two shut up.” Harshil pointed at his buds. “You at the very least don’t get to say anything! After you played all those pranks alongside me.”

“We didn’t plan them out. You did.” Aakash pointed out.

“Devious minds are more dangerous than naughty, impulsive actions.” Cabir preached.

“And don’t make up proverbs on the fly!” Harshil scowled.

Then, just as he thought the discussion was over-

“Wow, Dad. You always tell me not to play pranks on people...” Kashvi joined in.

“Ugh-” Harshil opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish.

“Hypocrite.” The girl mumbled.

“Say that again!” Harshil pinched the teen’s ear, “Blabbermouth!”

Janya slapped his hand away, “Don’t pinch her ear! And don’t take that tone with my daughter.”

“Your daughter?” Harshil made a hurt face as if he was feeling betrayed.

“See? What a bad guy...even pinches a little girl.” Cabir scoffed snidely.

As Harshil threw his hands up in exasperation-

“Um...Uncle Harshil. So, how did Aunt Janya and you become ‘friends’? Uncle Cabir and my parents said that you never got along well.” Aarav asked curiously.

Harshil sighed in relief. He was happy to answer even that question rather than continue the ‘bad guy, devious mind’ conversation further.

“Well, I guess after these three transferred schools, the five left in DA Intl, School were Farzeen, Janya, Jeet, Jatin and I. But-”

“Farzeen and I were best friends but over the last two years, our groups became different and we weren’t exactly friends anymore. I had my clique in my class but I guess I hung out a lot with the three boys since we had been a group for a long time.” Janya interrupted.

“You still detested Harshil.” Cabir quipped.

Harshil winced. “Don’t just butt in!”

“Well, I can’t say he was much of a friend. But well, when we graduated school and went to university...while of course, our courses were different, our campus was the same. And we kind of worked in the same societies and he was actually nice enough to accompany me home as much as possible...with these kinds of barbarous incidents running rampant...it felt nice to have a companion whom I knew. Anyway, we spent a lot of time together once we graduated school.”

“And he actually grew up into a decent guy and not the kiddish prankster.” Cabir added.

“Can you not interfere?” Harshil huffed.

“That too.” Janya laughed.

“What incidents?” Aarav asked. He hadn’t caught onto what his Aunt meant by dangerous incidents.

“Sexual assaults.” Aanya stated plainly. “You read the news; you should know. These incidents were less during our time...but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist.”

The whole table went quiet for a moment...

Harshil broke the silence.

“By the way, why are you suddenly so interested in our past, eh, boy?”

As Aarav blushed a little in embarrassment, Janya answered for him, “Aarav will be changing schools and he’s a little introverted, so he’s a little concerned about his old friends and the new ones he might make. So, these guys were sharing our experiences in school with him...of old and new friends...of old and new schools...right, Aarav?”

“Yes, Aunt Janya!” Arav beamed at her.

“Well, I changed schools for a year too...back in Class 2. Did these two tell you ’bout it?”

“Yeah! Your father moved so...”

“Correct. That was at a very young age...but it felt sad to be separated from Jeet and Jatin. Cabir too...but that was mostly because I loved watching him get into brawls and get scolded by the teacher!”

Harshil winked at his friend who pointedly ignored him.

“But...when the three of them transferred schools in Class 11th, that was really saddening. Because we had been good friends for so many years. But see? Even after such a long time...even though we were in different schools, the five of us have such an unbreakable bond.”

“So cheesy...” Cabir drawled out.

“Do you have to pass your smartass comments, you bastard?”

“Language!” Both Aanya and Janya snapped while Aakash looked over the proceedings with an amused expression.

“Uh-”

“Do you have to act like Cabir? He’s the slang expert.” Aanya complained.

“Wait...why are you dragging me into this?” Cabir spoke out indignantly.

“Sorry, sorry. Kids, don’t make your Uncle Cabir a role model, got it?” Harshil advised the children, rubbing salt into the wound.

“Aunt Aanya said you are the one copying him, Dad...” Kashvi pointed out.

Harshil rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. And what do you mean by cheesy, huh?” He turned to Cabir.

“I talked to him about these topics too. But I never mentioned ‘our unbreakable bonds’.”

“Oh, shut up!” Harshil scoffed and turned back to Aarav.

“I simply mean that with respect to old friends, as long as your friendships are important to you...as long as your friends mean something to you...all you need to do is try to keep in touch. When you put in the effort, true friends remain. Friendships don’t break that easily.”

“But Uncle Cabir said that we shouldn’t put in too much effort when the other side isn’t.” Aarav recalled.

“…And he’s right. But you can begin putting in the effort. In case you have no contact after you change schools...maybe it’s because your friends are hesitant in doing so as you have moved away. So, take the first step. Contact them. If you get half-hearted responses or none at all...then so be it. But what if you do? Doesn’t it mean that your friends are of a like mind?”

As Aarav pondered, Harshil added, “Miscommunication or lack of any communication are the easiest ways of destroying friendships...no, to be frank...they are the best methods of destroying any relationship. So, talk. Take the initiative if others aren’t.”

He completed his point with a smile, “Make sure that just because some of your ‘friends’ might turn out to not have been worth the effort, you aren’t frightened away of reaching out. Because there are always those who are worth the effort. The very reason that the five of us can sit together and chat like family without flashing corporate smiles is because we kept in touch...and complained endlessly whenever one of us forgot to do so.”