Lines

What is the first thing you need as a teenager? Something that will put you ahead in the race. Well, the earlier the better. In high-school, you need this to be in the race. Because almost everyone has it. And those who don't are the sad and depressed nerds who write essays like the one I am writing right now. Alright, sometimes I get depressed! Well, with all the bullying and the underlying desire to be 'one among them' or even 'popular', it is just natural that you wish you had one of these. To those tube-lights that haven't lit up yet I am talking about the doll game that all teenagers play.
Line!
An advice that I got all the time. Not an instruction or an order. Not something that was told to me to stop me from doing something stupid. But this was like a mantra that was always told to me all the time, "Have a lot of friends. Girlfriends and boyfriends. Don't draw a line in between them." I heard this statement so often, that I never actually understood the difference between a 'friend' and a 'girlfriend'. Why do we have to add an ugly grin and an air of victory when we say the word 'girlfriend'? Never befriended a girl before?
On a more mature note let me add, this is no lecture. I am not advocating anything and I don't intend to repeat the cliched opening line that every first time blogger uses so that he/she won't be offending his millions of readers. And I am not Judging anyone or anything  I am asking questions, about things I have never understood. The 'Line' that I used in the title has a deeper meaning.
Why do we draw lines?
Draw a line 20 feet ahead of you, which only your friends can cross. Another one 10 feet in front of you which only your good friends can cross (so you have bad friends too?). A line 4 feet in front of you which only your best buddy can cross. And then the line, a few inches from you, which only your girl/boyfriend can cross.
Why are relationships defined? Why do you give names? The new generation did away with a lot of blood relations and replaced it with Uncle and Aunty. So simple. Maternal relation, paternal relation, second cousins, third cousin, all of that is now just Uncle, Aunty, Bro and Sis. But now, friendship is a lot more complicated. A 'relationship' has come into the system. And many of those 'In a relationship' don't even know why they have a relationship. Is it because of true love? Is it because the person you are in a relationship is really "Hot"? Or is it just to show-off to your friends that you are "in the game" (watch a lot of Star World and you learn such phrases which just pop out. I find it highly annoying).
Such a complicated relationship. Dating! Shouldn't the person you like the most be the person you should be most honest to? The one to keep all your secrets? Then why keep secrets from your partner? If your really enjoy the relationship, why put so much effort? Why try to impress the person again and again? Why be protective or suspicious?
And if you love that person, why break up? What, all of a sudden you don't love her/him? Multiple personality disorder? Bored of the relation? Found somebody else who is even better?
I honestly don't understand this relation. Every teenager has infatuations. Everybody gets crushes. But is that true love. Is that enough to be committed to a person? True love is not what you find in movies, but it certainly is not what you feel when you see an attractive person of the opposite sex.
I have always felt friendship as a very lovely relation. I don't know if I have offended or hurt any friends, but I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that I have always wanted to give as much love as I can to all my friends. And I would love to believe that irrespective of their age or sex I have loved everyone who is friend to me. And I feel it my duty, as a human being, be devote a large part of my life to these wonderful relationships, that protect me with a blanket of love. I cherish these relationships, take them in as family and personally take an oath to never let go.
And I know that is what every friend feels. Love is the most natural human emotion and Friendship is the best way of expressing it. And I would never want to segregate one person into a "special" category called 'girlfriend'. Devote some extra love to her. Spend a lot of money on her. Spend less time with other friends. Completely avoid other friends of yours who happened to be girls.
Well, I have returned to the art of blogging after a while. A really eventful while, with the exams and a lot more. Would like to thank a bunch of my wonderful buddies who started blogging recently and a doing and ASTOUNDING job! And a small disclaimer, everything I have said here is based on the information I have received from soap operas, teenage tv shows, and stereotypical posts on Facebook!

Dedicated to all my FRIENDS!
Ramon Dharma Rajan