It was a sunny day in April 1996, and I was coming back from college. Those were the days when auto-rickshaw was one of the means of transportation.
I found a handsome young guy carrying the book of Salman Rushdie in his hand while entering the auto. The auto was full, and not an inch of space was there to sit, but he could comfortably manage to sit amidst all issues.
My friend and I were busy talking in Bengali, and never realized that he could understand all our gossips. We even gave comments on his attire. Suddenly we realized that he was smiling at our conversation. As we both were born chatterboxes, we did not stop even then.
And the most embarrassing moment soon arrived, and he disclosed that he was Bengali and understood all our witty talks.
From that day, we built strong bonds of friendship. The three of us nurtured our friendship with our unique strengths.
As our friendship grew over some time, my friend left for Kolkata, which brought emptiness, hence we both came closer. We admired each other for the space of individual opinion and freedom. It made us believe that living life together will help us to maintain a lifelong friendship where we both will bloom with our individuality and cherish each other of what we are when we are together and finally we tied the knot in 2005.
That Auto-rickshaw Ride became the Joy Ride for us.
-Rooma Bal
