See you again!

Today I said goodbye to a very special friend of mine.  After the last exam paper, he had to leave Singapore.

Only when I was at the airport, looking at my dearest friend pushing a trolley full of his belongings, it hit me that 4 years are actually over. 4 years of many many memories…

I remember the first day I was in Singapore. My mother came with me all the way to the new hostel, helped me arrange my stuff in the new room and made sure I knew my way around. This is embarrassing: I cried after she left. I was in a strange place, among strangers who spoke English the way I could not understand. I was completely lost and thought that there was no way I was going to survive alone here.

But not for long.

Soon I made new friends. I got used to Singlish, even started to speak it. And there I met one of my best friends, Manish.

I don’t even remember how we started talking, or how we became such good friends. I guess it’s just because we know so much about each other and we have been through so much crap together. Those things naturally bring people closer.

Being scholars, we have to be careful with what we do because there are always people watching. One rule broken and there come loads of trouble. The fact that our parents are far away, in contrast with conventional beliefs, does not make us safer or more reassured in any way when we get in trouble. When parents are far away they worry more, and that’s what bothers us, more than the punishment the school can give us. After all they’re family, and they matter more.

Manish and I, and all my scholar friends are in this situation. But somehow Manish seems to be more of a trouble magnet than me. Most troubles came unintentionally; some were just purely due to bad luck. I had fewer troubles at school but because of my being emotionally unstable at times, I was troubled by my own thoughts. At times like those, when any of us suffer in any way, the other will be there to share the load.

I heard this from a movie, and this is also what Manish told me: “Girlfriends and boyfriends are gonna come and go, but friendship is for life”. And that’s exactly what happened, at least from my side. I had boyfriends throughout the 4 years. There were ups and downs, large fluctuations that drove me crazy at times. Manish was one of the few constants. He would always show up when I called and just looking at him calmed me down a whole lot. He reminded me that there are bigger things I life that need my attention other than my own emotional surges. He taught me to look far and not to be bothered so much by the problems of the present. I taught him physics or chem sometimes. Oh and also cracked jokes.

So many memories.

Today a bunch of classmates and I went to see him off. I probably will never see him in person again, unless we are very very lucky, or he decides to come back to Singapore for his A levels cert next year.  4 years are closing up. The fun times we had together, they’re no longer the present, they’re slipping away, into memories.

A long hug and we parted.

We can’t do anything but hope for the best in the future.

Good bye Manish. Have a safe flight. Have fun at home. I really hope to see you again.