My friend Shruti

In my first corporate job, I was working in a pilot project and was part of a pilot batch. I was one of those who had gone through the tense client calls and also received appreciation from the client for turning work around. In six months of the work, I felt as if I had seen the whole corporate dynamic.

Eight months into the project and I was informed to train a new joiner. I am happy to take this responsibility because I wanted to do more to support the project. One day the project manager brought a new joiner - Shruti. She was a year older to me. She was polite and eager to learn. She was serious about her career. Within few days of spending time with her, both of us realised that we have a lot in common. Shruti and I became good friends.

Shruti and I worked together. We had become such good friends that her family knew everything about me. One day Shruti had come to the office from a family function. Her parents were so eager to meet me that she called me outside of our office. I was delighted to meet her parents as well. They appeared to be kind and loving people. Her mother mentioned that she felt like her daughter had found a sister in office. I was touched by her gesture.

Shruti and I had a mature friendship that had developed into sisterhood. One day I heard rumors that Shruti was dating one of our colleagues. I had no heard anything from Shruti but I believed the rumors were true. I decided to give her time to tell me about her relationship herself. A few months later she admitted to me that she was marrying that guy. She confessed that she felt guilty for not telling me earlier. But also mentioned that her and her fiancé's family agreed only after a long period of discussions. Yet both families were not happy. I was delighted to hear from her because her fiancée was my friend too who was kind and loving. I knew he would have been a perfect choice for her.

Then both Shruti and her fiancée decided to move abroad for their brighter future. This was around the same time I decided to switch to another company. The changes had been too many in a short duration of time. When it was my last week of working, I told Shruti about my resignation. Shruti was happy because I got a better opportunity. She cried happy tears, but also mentioned that she would miss me. When it was my last working day, she could not hold back her tears. Seeing her cry made me emotional too.

Later she got married and moved abroad. But we still stayed in touch. The distance and time difference did not bother us. Though we would not talk or text every day, we would still be aware of major events of our lives.

My friendship with Shruti taught me that if a person is genuine, they will maintain the relationship anyhow. Time and distance are never an issue to stay in touch. For sustaining such friendship both friends need to be emotionally matured.