...... And the Pack disintegrates!!

I have had some real good friends. Friends whom I did not have to care about, friends whom I could even forget to wish on their birthdays but they'd still remain the best of my friends. I could just call them at anytime for anything and they were there for me, and I was there for them. We were a pack, moving and "hunting" together also fighting, but still relying on each other. The bonds forged during the formative years in college hostel had stood all the tests of time and distance. It seemed that these bonds would last forever.

But if they can get noble gases to make compounds (there I go geeky again!!), surely God has created ways of breaking these strong bonds too. Slowly and slowly my friends started getting hitched, was still tolerable when they had only girlfriends. But problem really started when girlfriends became fiancees. Now whenever I call them, their phone is busy. Whenever I want to meet them for a beer, they already have "plans". I can't even be sure who am I talking to when I ping them on FB or Gtalk now (Man!! talk about handing over your life, literally).

Still I did not lose hope. I still try to be a part of their new found happiness. But are the committed guys really being part of each other's happiness. At a wedding of one of the friends, I thought the whole pack would come together and we'd relive our glory days. However as destiny would have it, one other guy had to give his engagement party the same day and the others, even though they were at the wedding, were busy exchanging sweet nothings with their better halves on phone. That's when I realized, the inevitable is finally happening. The Pack is disintegrating.

This marriage thing is spreading pretty fast in my age group, and it's changing much more than just the marital status of people. But I am still holding my ground. I am still the Lone Ranger, The last of the Mohicans, The last man standing (ok, that was a bit too melodramatic). Undoubtedly, the pressure from parents for marriage is becoming unbearable. Everytime I call them up, the topic of marriage is inevitably raised. Parents are like "Get married son, you're already pushing 30". And I'm like "Mom, 30 is the new 20". One time I bet my mom that she couldn't have a single conversation with me without raising the topic of marriage. Well she did accept the challenge. But my mom is too cute. The next day she asks me "How would a "person" with such and such education and working in so and so company be like?". I mean could they be more blatant than that?

Thankfully for me, my parents criteria are stringent enough, so that very few prospectives get filtered down to me. So still holding high the flag of bachelorhood, and hope I continue to do that till my next post too. Adios!!

PS: This blog post is written in jest. Hope none of my friends' better halves mind it. Please note, I don't give a damn whether my friends mind it or not. ;)