Holy Ground – BANNERS
Manish Rajbhandari.
The Yala Baucha.
Tangal tangled.
My best friend.
A brother alike.
And, I say this with unmatched happiness and honesty and pride that my small family also considers you the true son.
Our canteen samosa breakfast, the chicken-bhaat lunch, those canteen bills, those hour-wise stipends, those IT department work days, exam preparations hassles, projects, coursework, and assignments. Your delicate life story. The One-Two’s mo:mo moments, the wai-wai, tuna fish evenings. Samsung S3 photo-ops. Your ‘MUULLA!’ swears. Your silly secrets. Your headache, gastritis. Coffee snacks at Mangalbazar. 8tracks days. Those fearsome, fearless bike rides. The laughs and the sadness.
And our favorite quote,
“You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.
– Jim Rohn”
I vividly remember, we became friends by the evening of Shivaratri when you first came to my humble home for the first time. From then on, you stayed. You became my only friend,.. an only brother when my own was away.
Well, passa, in the most heartfelt manner & truthfully — from teaching me to fix computers to fixing my rectitude, from teaching me to ride a bike to taking care of things I put on; you have channeled my life in ways and magnitude no one has ever done for me.
It is because of only a few like yourself, I would not care If I lose one thousand or million people, friends, and relatives. It is because of your heart, your warmth, sincerity, clarity I know what the real friendship is.
Lastly, as David Whyte writes:
FRIENDSHIP is a mirror to presence and a testament to forgiveness. Friendship not only helps us see ourselves through another’s eyes, but can be sustained over the years only with someone who has repeatedly forgiven us for our trespasses as we must find it in ourselves to forgive them in turn. A friend knows our difficulties and shadows and remains in sight, a companion to our vulnerabilities more than our triumphs, when we are under the strange illusion we do not need them. An undercurrent of real friendship is a blessing exactly because its elemental form is rediscovered again and again through understanding and mercy. All friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die.