Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Anjali - On Making Friends

I found it interesting when Anjali told me that - 'Everything is my friend.' I asked her if she meant that everyone is her friend. 'No,' she said emphatically. 'Everything is my friend. The car, the cat, the dog, the cow, the school bag...they all love me.'
I nodded.
Smile, ask name, class and say 'dost' 
- Pic by Anjali

How does she know they love her, I asked?
'Because they all help me.'
Fair enough. How come I never thought of that.

I asked her how one gets to be friends with everything.
'Simple. You go near them, smile, ask their name and then ask which class they are in. And then we say 'dost'.
That was really simple. I should try that sometime. I could get some friends for myself.

What if someone does not tell their name and which class they are in, I asked.
'Oh, then its ok. It is their choice who they want to be friends with na. I cannot force them to be friends with me. It's ok.'

It is after all a matter of personal choice. It is a matter of respecting that boundary. How do we lose this perspective when we grow older? Thanks Anjali.

7 comments:

Rajendra said...

Endearing..and educational!

Madhav said...

I used that technique at wayne state. Pretty good results.

Madhav said...

It works as long as you didn't care how many people didn't tell 'what class they were in'.

Harimohan said...

Yes Raja. And uncomplicated - make or don't make - it's your choice. Like that 'water coming out of a fountain' one.

Harimohan said...

Madhav, why didn't you tell us of this technique then? Not that we'd have had any good results with it knowing our penchant to complicate simple things in life.

Dr. Seven said...

Lovely drawing/painting too. Someone said that all of us are artists until about the 2nd grade (age 7) or so, after which we forget that we are. Hope she always remembers.

Harimohan said...

Depends on which gadget steals her attention as she grows older.