Every time I see a romantic or a feel-good movie, every time I see a girl clinging to a guy as they vroom past me on their bike, every time I see a couple clasping hands and walking across, I ask myself a question, in fact two.

‘Why don’t I have a girl friend?’

And, ‘do I need a girl friend?’

A little introspection into my past provided me the answer to the first question. This may not be an autobiographical but a story that happens with every guy in this world.

It all started in class 8, a period when we usher into our adolescence. Until then, the interactions with girls were less as they normally grouped themselves while we boys played cricket, football, basketball...

‘Sanjeev,’ she called out my name, the class teacher. “You will sit with Varun, Vineeth, Venkat...” The seating was being rearranged according to the rolls. My name is Sanjeev with an ‘S’, but why do I have to sit with the ‘V’s. Because my dad entered my name as Veerabhadra Sanjeev, in my school records.

Oh damn! That Santosh guy gets to sit with Sanjana, Samiksha, Saraswati and other S’s. Lucky dog. And look at my accursed luck.
And I missed befriending the beautiful Samiksha and the gorgeous Sanjana, ofcourse Santosh wouldn’t intro them to us, either. Why would he! Would you?

As I entered 10+2, I had to concentrate on studies. Dad and mom would never let me breathe. CET’s, JEE’s and what not, cos ‘this is career turning point,’ according to my dad. No girl friends then either. It was books, books and just books!

And then engineering. It is said that you make your best friends in your graduation. Probably cos you are a little mature, you don’t have much pressure to study etc. That’s when I was introduced to Rakesh, Chandu and Avik. One of them was Venkat’s friend, another Vineeth’s. You have a guy friend; all his friends are your friends.

Our course of action always was to bunk the class for a movie or an occasional drink or …. And not too many girls in our class either as we were into civil engineering.

And now I work for a reputed software company, of course with no girl in my project or cubicle.

That explains why I don’t have a girl friend. I don’t even have any good acquaintances with girls, that they would introduce me to other girls. Neither do I have a sister, whose friends I could have tried befriending, nor do I have a girl of my age in the neighbourhood. Sad, my life just sucks.

Ofcourse all these are a direct consequence of Murphy’s laws.

And then she entered my life. Anahita! What a beautiful name. She may not be the most beautiful girl, but she lives up to her name.

Sitting @ table no.14, I narrated my story to my friends and then stretched my feet cozily, looking at the four glasses each containing a pint of wine.

You associate a lot of places with friendship. The movie hall near our college where we watched the movies bunking classes, those busy roads on which we used to commute, hanging from the footboards of the buses, those benches on which we sat listening to the lectures, sometimes interesting, sometimes tapping at them and yawning, sometimes being forced to.

Above all table no.14. This was our favourite place. We were introduced to each other at the same place, a few years back. So it holds a special place for us all.

“And this valentine’s day, I am gonna propose to Anahita,” I added.

The entire milieu was quiet for a while. The audience fell into a state of deep thought. None of them has a girl friend.
“So fate plays an important role in having a girl friend, is what you say,” Avik concluded. Of course yes, the Veerabhadra-‘not having a sister’-‘isolated locality’ nexus all prove the same.

“I dint have any girl atleast as a friend and hence never had a girl friend. Yeah, Anahita, I met her for the first time at my cousin’s marriage. She’s the daughter of my uncle’s friend,” I justified myself.

“Santosh...” Avik was about to say something when I leaped forward in excitement, “Sanjana broke up with Santosh a few months back.”

I was shocked to hear that. Theirs was a long running affair, I guess for eight long years.

“Santosh,” he continued, “is dejected. He hasn’t made many friends because Sanjana demanded most of his time.”

True, you have a girlfriend; you need to devote time to her. Loving her, praising her etc. When we were making good friends, in fact friends for life, Santosh still clung to Sanjana. She was his world. Nobody else mattered, of course I don’t blame him.

“What about Rafi, our college-mate?” Chandu piped in. “Rafi married Shradda, remember, his girl friend, lucky enough but is having a difficult time. She hasn’t fit well into his family,” Avik seemed like a walking encyclopedia, he knew in and out of everyone’s life.

“The same could have happened with any girl, even if he had gone for an arranged marriage,” Rakesh looked at me and raised his brows.

“True, but I would empathize with myself saying that it’s my fate. But Rafi’s move to have shradda in his life was his own deed or misdeed,” I put forward my view.

The discussion was more biased in our direction, being more chauvinistic. “I don’t mean to say, having a girl friend is wrong or an unwelcomed move but we wouldn’t have been great friends sitting at this place and sipping this great wine if each of us had one, a toast to our friendship,” I said, raising glass.

“Remember all these years, we studied, we played, we drank, we toured, we kick-assed one another, life’s fun without a girl and with a guy. Forgot to mention, remember Akaash and his friend Amala.”

Oh yeah. Akash and Amala were very good friends when we studied our B.Tech.

“Amala married some guy, and she isn’t in touch with Akaash anymore. Poor guy cribbed and cribbed,” Avik added gulping down a pint.

The conclusion went something like, you have a guy friend, he’s a friend for life. A girl friend may not walk with you till the end.
Of course that’s correct. My dad’s friends regularly come home for a drink or to play chess. My uncle plays football with his friends every morning. I almost meet my friends twice or thrice a week, even when they are working in a different company. On the contrary, it’s been an year since I saw my mom’s best friend. Post marriage, a girl will be living in her own microcosmic world, closely knit by her husband and her children, sometimes with her in-laws’ defining her boundaries. Will a girl be a friend for life? I guess not.

And that answered my second question, “Do I need a girl friend!”

“So you are not going to propose to Anahita, right?” Chandu was curious. Of course not.

With guys, I smoke, I drink, I dillydally and what not. Of course can do the same with a broad-minded girl, but I would have an additional responsibility of her safety, security etc and would always have to be plagued with thoughts like, ’if her parents see her with me’ etc.

“Ok guys, let’s disperse and celebrate the spirit of friendship and still being alone on the V-day, sharp 9:00PM,” Avik said as we made the move.

9:00 PM February 14th, Valentine’s Day.

The moon shone brightly amidst a thousand twinkling stars. The gentle breeze disturbed the drapes which soon returned to their normalcy.

Table 14 was empty. Still waiting for us to occupy the same.

p.s. It was four hours past the proposed time. But none of them turned up. In fact, each of them, proposing to their own valentine and Sanjeev to Anahita. Table 14, the embodiment of our friendship was unoccupied. It would always be empty when they don’t need it, and full when “anyone” of them needs it the most. And perhaps, that’s called friendship. No expectations, no commitments, and purely fun, when they want. And regarding the ‘proposing to the girl’s’ part, guys are guys, always.