An English Friend

  •   Thu, Dec 10 2020
  •   By Mohammed Ziyan Zubair

December 10, 2020

People often say they are busy, they don't get enough time to speak to their friends, relatives, etc. But we all know, it's not about being busy, it's all about 'Priorities'. No matter how busy you are, if you wish to talk to someone, you will take your time to talk to them.

During this quarantine, when one has nothing much to do other than staying at home, many memories come through your mind. Friends, school days, college days, and much more. So during this period, even I remembered my 2 childhood friends. It's not that I don't remember them any other time, I do, but people these days have a most precious thing with them, 'TIME'.

To utilize this time, I called one of my friends. He was my best friend during childhood. As our mother tongue was the same (Hindi), I started the conversation in Hindi as 'Aur Bhai Kaha hai tu aur Kaisa hai?' (Where are you brother and how are you?). So he replied, 'I'm fine bro, I am home, how are you?’ I was a bit surprised after listening that from him because he replied to me in English. Usually, in boys, friends who speak the same language do not speak in any other language, that too never in English, What we call a desi friendship. So after a pause, I replied 'main theek hoon' (I'm fine). So then he asked me ' how is life bro, how's everything going?’ This time I was even more surprised, I asked him,' Tere aas pass koi hai kya?'(Is anyone else around you?). He replied, 'No, there's no one around, why?’ the reason I asked him this was there is a tendency in some people, when they are around someone, they tend to show off a bit by speaking in English.

Well in a middle class Indian family, a person speaking in English has the utmost respect. But when he said there's no one around, I understood that my friend has changed. From 'best friends', our friendship had turned into 'formal friendship'. I remembered the lyrics of a Hindi song, "Dost dost naa raha" which means Friend isn't a friend anymore. He shouldn't think that I don't know how to speak in English, so I also continued our conversation in English. Then without further delay, I hung up the phone. I had that hesitation or else I would have asked him 'what happened to you, why are you speaking in English with me?' but the reason I stopped was because we were speaking after a long time.

People change in some days but in our case years had passed without seeing or speaking to each other. I believe language is the most important thing in every conversation. Whether it might be the formal, business, friendly type of conversation, or anything else. When we speak in our mother tongue or in our local language, there is a different level of bonding, a different attachment with that person, the emotions are high and the conversation looks realistic. I neither have any complaints nor do I feel he was showing off, it's a matter of time. He might have not realized but I had lost my best friend because of the gap in our friendship, and he lost me too because this gap was created by both of us by not having a conversation with each other for a long time. So I just want to conclude by saying, 'Wherever you be, be happy' and yes,

Keep in touch with your closed ones.

 

 

 

 
By Mohammed Ziyan Zubair
Mohammed Ziyan Zubair is a mechanical engineer by profession and currently works in Saudi Arabia. His native is Kaup, Udupi district. His hobbies are playing cricket, watching movies and writing.
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Comment on this article

  • Sadiq, CKM

    Mon, Dec 14 2020

    Good One!! keep writing....

  • Prescilla Fernandes, Mangalore

    Fri, Dec 11 2020

    Mohammed, your friend must be WFH (working from home). So he must have forgotten other languages. Forget him, try other friends.

  • Aditya, Dubai. UAE

    Fri, Dec 11 2020

    Mohammed Ziyan Zubair..
    Bro... you nailed.. (Ha ha ha). Very valid point dear.. This is the current trend. Keep writing more focusing social issues too.

  • John, Mangalore

    Thu, Dec 10 2020

    Very nice.


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