Names unnamed!

Months back (or is it years now?) I wrote somewhere, “Naming certain relationships complicate life. So don’t!” From then on, and even before that, I believed in it. And now when I look back, I see more unnamed relationships than named. Not that I can’t give them a name, but I choose not to.

Of course, to look at it, all of us have the convenient blanket term ‘friend’ to name it. But somewhere deep down inside, I do know that ‘friend’ does not state it all. Who do I call a friend? Someone who I have been interacting with regularly, share my thoughts and emotions with, or just go out shopping when I have nothing better to do. Or just some random people I say “What’s up dude? Have been thinking of you/ missing you…”? That reminds me…ever thought how “miss you too” is different from “miss you”? It is…trust me!

How about missing a habit? As simple as the habit of talking to someone/ about something for hours! Do you miss the person or the habit if it’s curtailed one fine day? Or is it just that you get used to the habit of missing the habit…and life continues?

Coming back to what I was blabbering, naming relationships! Was talking to a friend of mine when this realization dawned… even while I name relationships for convenience of people around, it never works for me. No two relationships share the same intensity, vibe, proximity. And therein lies the beauty of it – each is unique in its own way. And I love the way they are.

But then, society demand I name relationships. Tag people as cousins, colleagues, friends, relatives, acquaintances. But what if my cousin is my best confidant? Or a colleague is someone who I can spend hours talking about something that no one else understands? Or a friend who I miss more than others when s/he is busy? Or someone with whom I can be comfortable in silence?

Do such relationships necessarily be renamed? Should they have a name to begin with? Why can’t I just introduce someone to the world like: “S/he is someone I love sharing things with. Someone who understands what words fail to say…someone more than a friend…someone I love in a different way, not as a friend, not as a boy/girl friend, not as a partner. Someone I care for just because I like caring for.”

I bet the society would freak out at the thought of this! So we conveniently use blanket terms. Wonder when would we learn to call a spade a spade and not by any other name! Perhaps never!