UNRELIABLE FRIEND

The first person I liked after joining the University of Hyderabad in 2000 was Kuracha Srinivasa Rao. He belongs to a village very near to ours and perhaps this regional feeling made me find him more friendly and interesting than others available.

In course of time, we became very close friends. He was studying M.Sc. Physics and I M.A. English. He was very popular in the campus. Nobody calls him with his real name but Bhayya. He was a bright student when studying in Kakinada and his lecturers considered him genius and hard-working. He neglected his studies being much involved in his busy life of friendship and popularity on the campus. He stayed back one more year in the campus to complete his studies for this reason.

He talked with everybody with a smiling face and addressed many with a sense of affection and warmth. Thus he could earn and retain many friends and well-wishers without much investment. He encouraged me to become the Mess Secretary of our hostel (Men’s Hostel ‘A’). I could carry out that duty happily with the assurance of dependence that I had a good friend to support me in times of heavy stress or unexpected problems.

He was later elected Cultural Secretary and did some interesting things to show his love for the students on the campus. He is presently working as a junior lecturer in physics at Sri Chaitanya Junior College near Nizampet Road. He is earning about 25,000 rupees a month. He also provides tuition to two rich students at their homes. He bought a two-wheeler recently and planning to buy a pre-owned car after sending it to his father back at his village. He is trying to present himself attractively to the party of the bride because he is intending to marry very soon.

He never keeps his cellular phone with him perhaps to escape from the nuisance of frequent calls from every Tom and Dick who talk this and that which he may not like for some reasons.

I recently informed him that I too bought a mobile phone. He rarely calls anybody taking the initiative perhaps because he thinks that all his friends are good folks and they know how to conduct themselves well in the society.

Yesterday morning my artist friend Veeranjaneyulu told me that Bhayya would stay at his abode for the whole day and night. I met him about five months ago and so desired to spend with him all the time. His affectionate words and his cute look make me rejuvenating. I wanted to delight in it.

I freshened up myself very fast and rushed to the rented portion of my friend in Jubilee Hills.

Bhayya did not come at all. There was no information from him regarding why he did or could not come. I spent my time happily talking with my friend and browsing the Internet on his computer. I felt irritated with the unreliable behavior of Bhayya. I love him very much and so eagerly waited to see him but he did not turn up. I know about this most apparent demerit of his personality for the last four years and he proved that he did not change his lifestyle even to this day.

Nothing serious or unexpected occurred owing to his failure to come to see us as promised but both of us got very disappointed at his casual behavior. A single distracting trait in us can make many of our dear ones disheartened and severely hurt at times. In this case, he is our dear friend and so we don’t mind believing in his unreliable promises because we don’t like to hurt him banning him forever from our friendship as a disciplinary action against him for his reckless behavior toward us on many occasions.

Imagine the stress and strain supposed to be borne by his spouse after marriage if he continues the same kind of behavior even with her. Then she remains a lifelong victim because she cannot leave him considering it a felony on his part.

It is not difficult to refine ourselves time to time. We should identify our drawbacks and overcome them to earn new friends and retain our old well-wishers. Reliability is a very fascinating trait of a person and everybody should self-tune oneself toward practicing this virtue in most of the possible occasions and situations. Otherwise many continue considering one a silly bloke without much consideration or botheration about the interests or pains of others being generated and perpetuated because of him or her.

We need to learn about virtues and practice them in our personal and professional lives to remain dependable and trustworthy in our familiar circles. When we fail to do it, one day we get badly victimized by the same vice in us, which tortured many.

Does anybody like to face such plight? Be alert.

Datla Chiranjeevi Raju