You know growing up, you have a close circle of friends… there were about five of us, when i was growing up in Abu Dhabi, who were my closest friends in the world, grades 2-7. After grade 7, we all sort of split up - i left the UAE, one friend left for the Phillipines, another for Pakistan, and three stayed in the UAE. We stayed in touch for a few years, exchanging letters and pictures back and forth. (This was the early 90s, before the internet and e-mail became popular!! Does that make me sound old or what). Somehow or the other, i lost contact with the friend in the Phillipines, and also lost contact with one Abu Dhabi friend… i heard later from someone that she had moved to the States, but none of us knew where precisely in the States. i tried to find out her contact information through her surname, but to no luck. So out of the original circle, there were about three of us who still stayed in contact over the past decade.
Three weeks ago, i received a letter from the friend who is in the States… it was completely out of the blue. Somehow or the other, her Mamoo tracked down my new mailing address. i couldn’t believe it. She had included her phone number & e-mail address in her letter, so i thought i would surprise her and call her up. It was around 12-1 pm her time. It had been 12 years since we had spoken to each other on the phone. Someone picked up, and after saying Salaam, i asked for my friend by her name… it was the weirdest feeling in the world to hear her say, “Ji, maiN bol rahi hooN”. And then i said, ‘Tumko pata hai maiN kaun hooN?" After a few seconds’ silence, she goes - “Nadia?” And we both started laughing… gosh, it felt so weird, sad, and happy at the same time.
i found out that she is married, that she has one daughter Masha’Allah, and is expecting another. i couldn’t believe how quickly we have to make up for the lost time by squeezing in information that the other individual hasn’t known about for the past 12 years. Where to even start is the question.
Does anyone have close friends like that, whom you often wonder - what ever happened to them? Where are they now? And have you been able to get in contact with them? How does it feel to resume a friendship after a ‘gap’ of several years? The strange thing is, that in a way, with this friend and myself, i feel we have automatically picked up where we left off… Sure we didn’t know much about the other during that phone conversation three weeks ago, but in a way - i am amazed at how quickly our friendship has just picked up at where it left off, twelve years ago.
Thank you. You are absolutely correct, bilkul best kaam hi ho gaya.
very sweet Nadia and congrats on finding her 
gosh i cant describe my emotions then!!!