Anne to my Diana

By Deepa Nair, Out Of School

Best friend – I did not know what this word meant until she came into my life. As part of the school choir rehearsals, she and I spent hours trying to perfect the music tones. In the middle of all the chaos both of us realized the trouble we had gotten ourselves into. We shared numerous giggles together and before we knew it became good friends. School came to end and while everybody bid tearful goodbyes, both of us were happy to end our association with the institution. She and I knew, in our hearts, that our friendship will blossom no matter how many seasons changed. College and University days kept us busy but we were very much involved in each other’s lives. Morning walks in our neighborhood park were our way to update each other. While taking a break from our walk, we spent time searching for plays to watch. Drama and theatre became our shared interest. To date, she is my favorite companion with whom I enjoy watching plays. Once the decision was made, the rest of the walk would be spent planning for the forthcoming play. Soon, work-life became hectic. Our choice of careers exposed us to different worlds – she chose health and nutrition, I academics. This was an advantage to us because now our get-togethers are spent eating delicious food prepared by her and discussing classic English novels. Meetings became rare but they were wholesome. During one such meetup, we chanced upon a web series ‘Anne with an E’ based on our favorite book ‘Anne of Green Gables’ by L M Montgomery. We would spend hours watching and rewatching the show and dreaming about being fictional characters. While Anne and Diana, two characters from the show sung, danced, and learnt together, here we are smiling at each other realizing how far we have come. Two participants in the school choir now became each other’s confidants. As I watch the show, I realize that my best friend is just like Anne – she is kind, considerate, confident, chirpy, expressive, hopeful and a dreamer. So, if you see my best friend, you will see Anne – a human being bearing every quality of a fictional character.