A FRIENDLY SMOKE

I went inside the room. I looked around – the bed was neatly made, books and magazines well-placed on the shelf which also had room for other stuff like DVDs and stationery, floor had just been mobbed and was still a little wet. I realised my arrival on short notice had my friend running around the room, tidying up things and mopping the floor.

“See, I clean my house,” she announced very proudly. “I don’t need you around to do it.”

I just smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. There was a pack of cigarettes on her bed. I opened the pack. She had already smoked 4 out of the 20 cigarettes in the pack. I instinctively took one out, got up and started looking for a matchbox. I found one on the table and went out to the small balcony and lit my cigarette.

I don’t smoke. I don’t like smoking. I have only smoked once or twice in my life just as an experiment. The first time to figure out what the fuss was all about. When I didn’t find anything to fuss about it I didn’t smoke another one. The second time was at a later stage in life when I wanted to find out how long it takes to smoke a cigarette if one was puffing it continuously and if one was having a conversation in between.

“Going out and smoking, huh? Whom are you trying to check out?” That was her reaction apart from a little surprised look when I had taken the cigarette out in the first place.

I knew she was thinking why this guy was smoking, when she knew that I don’t really smoke. But she knew I was matured enough to make my own decisions and understand the consequences of my action. She gave me that much credibility as a person and that much of a space as a friend.

I didn't smoke another one. In fact, I could not even finish the first one. She finished the remaining half. What I am trying to say is that most of the times we tend to be too judgemental and too opinionated about people and things. We tend to blur the line between giving a sound advice and encroaching upon others’ personal space. Every relation has its own limits and boundaries; and it differs between each individual relation. But within each relation there must exist a line beyond which if anything is said or done it becomes an act of disrespect towards the individual. It no longer is civil or tolerable but rather an intrusion.

A good friend is one who knows when to play silence and when it is time to play the music.

A good friend is one who knows when to fill that silence and when to hear that music.

And there is no lesson better than the ones learnt by ourselves through our own actions and our own experiences. If it is a bad one then well, it tends to leave a bitter aftertaste. So was the same with me. The cigarette left a bitter taste in my mouth and I was making such faces that my friend had to laugh before she asked me, ‘Enjoyed it, huh?’

Will I smoke another cigarette? Thank you but I will pass.