“Ek ladka aur ladki kabhi dost nahi ho sakte hai.” The number of times I have heard this sentence when talking about any gesture my guy friends have made in my life is downright ridiculous. And I just want to ask – kyun?
Why can’t a man and a woman be great friends without sleeping with or falling in love with each other? Who decided to make this a rule? Because I have a lot of guy friends that I absolutely adore and vice versa. So on the occasion of International Women’s Day this month, we got talking to some men about the women besties in their life and this is what they had to say…
1. She’s Transformed Me
I wish I had enough words to say about what she means to me. In the three years that we’ve known each other, she has transformed me from this tactless, daft robot to a full-fledged circus on legs. I remember very well that when we met, I didn’t appreciate puns and pun-based humour, and in just two years, she was doubling up with laughter in the middle of the highway after listening to a pun I had cracked. So, yes. She is all things nice, funny, intelligent, and I’d never thought that I’d be this jolly, positive, and definitely more well-read person if it weren’t for her. I could go on, but this is our friendship in a nutshell for now: Coffee, books, TV shows, movies, dogs, conversations, and a whole lot of senseless banter with hidden substance.
– Parth Shahanand
2. Her Sheer Dedication To Her Work Inspires Me Everyday
She means the world to me. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for her constant guidance. She is a brilliant mentor to me more than anything else. Her sheer dedication to her work inspires me everyday, and her ability to calm me down when I am going through all the trying times in my life is something I’d never be able to repay her for the rest of my life. My love for her, though intensely platonic, is the purest kind I’ve known. She’s my rock.
– Darren Samuels
3. I Saw This Intelligent, Beautiful And Wholesome Person
What makes our story unique is that we actually met on Twitter. I saw this intelligent, beautiful and wholesome person who had already had a book published by the time people around her were studying Julius Caesar. She was smart, witty and extremely loving. She was my girl best friend before I knew that was a special thing and she will always be that person. Even when robots take over in the future and we’re on different planets, we will still be in each other’s lives as a support system, as a shoulder to cry on, as someone to share happiness with.
– Akshay Chawdhry
4. …Really Helped Keep Me Grounded
I think she is the only person in my life who can actually tell me not to do something and I have to listen. It’s annoyingly amazing the way she is always so sensible about things. I am a reckless person but her existence in my life has brought the right amount of stability and really helped keep me grounded.
– Sumit Sharma
5. You Made A Man Feel Better About Being Who He Was
There was this one time, I didn’t know how to continue. Something that meant the world to me began to fade away from me, and all I could do was stand and blame myself and not see how I was being treated. It took a friend, it took someone that cared, loved and was compassionate to me beyond what I have ever been to them. To drive, listen and just be around me to help me realise how no one is worth beating yourself up for. No one should ever take you for granted or make you feel bad or less for who you are. I am so proud to have a woman like her as my friend. You make the world go around. You made a man feel better about being who he was, even if it wasn’t what the world understood. Thank you.
– Alvin
6. We’re Just Happy Being Each Other’s Constants
My favourite thing about a best friend is that you don’t have to think before you talk to them. They offer that sense of comfort that few others actually do; a family away from home. She has been that and much more. The funny thing is that our conversations still revolve around much of the same stuff that we used to talk about when we first met back in college. Just random musings, light banter, funny everyday (and sometimes politically incorrect) humour, along with little sprinkles of philosophy here and there. Maybe there is growth here, or maybe there isn’t. We’re either evolving together, or we’re just happy being each other’s constants. I feel sad that most of my guy friends haven’t seen this side to a lady, because it’s this side of a woman that is her prettiest.
– Akhil Goswami
7. She Inspired Me To Travel With Strangers
The real me, not the Instagram one, takes his own sweet time in mingling with people. So I have always had my own coterie to travel with. However as it always happens, travelling with friends all the time is not easy! And then I met Baagi, a girl who either travelled solo or never repeated her co-travellers. She believes people behave the best when they meet someone for the first time, and leaves the rest to her gut feeling. She inspired me to travel with strangers, connect with different people, to not plan anything and just go with the flow.
GIFs: Giphy
