This morning I read the guest column that Priyanka Chopra writes for the Hindustan Times on a Guy Pal, and it brought back memories. I totally agree with her, no matter how many Gal Pals you have you need a Guy Pal as well. If you enjoy a common activity, in our case it was our passion for reading books, you can get comfortable with a guy and develop a unique friendship. One in which you get a unique peek into the “other” sex’s mindset.
To begin with a Guy Pal is always there to stand in for a real “date” when you need to head out as a couple, but at the same time its totally platonic, on both sides. In fact my Guy Pal took full advantage of all the guys who were smitten with me and wanted an intro! Cheekily coming back after mooching a meal from them and telling me what he did as well.
One of the worst times of my life was immediately after my tenth boards. I feel ill with an allergic reaction and while the rest of the class was out celebrating, I was stuck in the sick room. He was always there each evening with five new books for me to read. (Yes I would go through them so fast, there was nothing else to do the whole day.) That full week he showed up each evening and made the day seem not as miserable as it was. Oh course he also dug into my books trunk before he went home!
In school we had the same tutor for Maths, so he would come home and we would watch M*A*S*H till he came and took us to task. In college we had the same friend circle and so many people thought we were going around. Despite the fact that we were never in the least bit interested in each other romantically. He was my window into the world of boys. He would tell me how they thought about a situation. I would ask him for advise in difficult situations. And once I had to stop him from physically hurting a guy who was spreading some rumors about me.
After I got married he kind of disappeared from my life for a while. To be honest even I was so wrapped up in the new world I had stepped into that I was not as conscientious about keeping in touch with him. I knew where he was and what he was doing thanks to my mom who was in touch with his parents. We had each other’s email ids and phone numbers but did not really communicate much.
Then came a crisis in the form of my grandma’s stroke. We had to rush down to Loni in a tearing hurry and despite having relatives in Pune the only one I thought of was him. I called him and he helped me get the taxi hired. No where have you been so long or now you remember me. Just plain, okay I’ll get you the car. He still has not met my four year old son, but I know he will be there for me always. So now all I’d like to say to him is, Thank You!
