With crossed fingers...

The greatest bane of growing up maybe the loss of innocence. The innocence of fighting with friends, always having the assurance that we can always patch up. Times have changed and so have the ways to deal with friends. Now we always have to stay on our guard, to be politically correct, to be diplomatic in dealing with raw emotions. The spontaneity and exuberance has given way to plastic formalities. Our egos have grown up to be such monsters who can maim or even kill the friendship of which people used to give examples, which were like prized possessions, dearer and closer than even the ties-of-blood. Even when we realize that so much is at stake, so much to be lost, even then, we are paralyzed by our pride to react, to reach out to cling to the last straw which might save us from drowning in the abyss of distrust. Friendship is that diamond which can withstand the hardest of blows, still sparkling brilliantly in the rays of trust, but which can kill if you try to swallow it rather than your vanity. Trust, loyalty, understanding and integrity are the four pillars which support friendship, even if one them fall, the other columns supporting the edifice comes crashing down.

Everybody comes to their crossroads in life where they can take the easy way out or stick to the hard path.

It's never easy to choose but we should decide wisely, with our heart.