A poem dedicated to one of my former college friends. Here goes the content:

I counted you as a friend

In fact, not merely a friend

But a sister

Moreover, when I met you

I was shy to a fault

And it was you

Who broke me out of my shell

And got me talking

Even then, it took me quite a while

To warm up to you

Thanks largely to my autism

Which I myself didn’t know at that time

Anyway, once I opened up to you

I felt free

Free of the inhibition

That had held me back

For a long, long time

And I shared with you loads of things

Things that I wouldn’t have shared

Even with my family

It was a beautiful friendship

Or at least, I thought it was

I was always there for you

Even if you got angry with me sometimes

For silly reasons

Such as not marking you present in the attendance register

Or even not supporting Mumbai Indians

Of course, after college

We went our own separate ways

But I always made it a point

To stay in touch with you

Even if you didn’t do the same for me

Especially considering that it was you

Who wanted to be friends with me in the first place

And looked up to me as a brother

I even invited you to my home once

Of course, along with other friends

And had Amma prepare lunch as well

After you enjoyed the hospitality of my family

Never once did I expect

Even in my wildest dreams

That you would cut me off, just like that

Over a silly comment on a Facebook photo of yours

After recovering from the initial shock

I apologised to you, not once

But several times

However, for the kind of response I got

I might’ve as well spoken to the wall instead

And it was only after I contacted you from a different number

That you deigned to reply

But the sheer arrogance of your response

Shattered whatever slim hopes I had

Of repairing our friendship

A friendship that I had thought

Would last forever

And left me broken

Without a shred of self-esteem

However, I do have something to thank you for

Which is, learning to choose my friends carefully