Scribbles Galore

The last three weeks have been a mix of so many feelings for me.

Three weeks back, it was the trip to Negombo where my mates and I had a fabulous time.

Then the following Saturday, I met up with more or less the same crowd at a pub and the situation with my best friend was not too great. Which made the night not all that fabulous and it was driving me crazy. In fact the whole night sucked! But the next day we managed to sort issues out and things are relatively back to normal.

This weekend, I met the same lot… for the third week in a row, as we had a dinner at home and I invited them over and I had such a super time. My best friend and I were fine…

The next day, Sunday, he along with a few others came over to my place for lunch and it was so nostalgic. We had such a good time. It was as though nothing had changed. It was amazing

Going back to the second Saturday, it was one of the worst days I had been through in a long time. After eight months of torture within myself, I finally broke down and I broke down hard. I never knew that this thing with my best buddy and me had affected me so much. I never realized that I felt so strongly towards him and even now, I am so confused as to what I am actually feeling towards him.

Yes, we were very close and now we are not the same but the realization of all that, hit me only eight months down the line! Which was quite a shock for my system. I had two of my girlfriends with me in the bathroom of the pub! Three girls in a toilet cubicle! Imagine that!

Anyway, they managed to talk to me and calm me down. I was still so tired after the whole episode and I just wanted it all to end.

That was when I decided to talk to him and just sort everything out. My friends told me to just leave him and let it go. But I knew that we had to talk it out. Something inside me was telling me, that I had to talk to him. And we did. And it helped. I feel so much better now that things are pretty much in the open and relatively back to normal.

The last weekend was so great. We met on Saturday and Sunday. It was just like old times. And hanging out at home with him and all my friends was just so nostalgic.

It was in a sense, bitter - sweet. Bitter because I kept thinking of the good times and how things went bad between us. Sweet because, it was as thought things were normal again.

But still things are not totally normal. He himself told me so. He said that only time will tell if we can get back to the way we were but that the situation is fine now. I am glad we spoke and got that out of the way, coz it was driving me crazy for EIGHT whole months.

We have to pretty much start over again and it is not easy coz one mistake and ‘we’ will be part of history! It is like standing on shaky ground!

Building up a strained friendship again from pretty much, scratch, is no easy task. But we both want to make it work and be normal again.

The thing is, how long will it take? How often do we get second chances in life? Am I lucky that I have a second chance with him?

Should I be glad that we have the second chance to get back on track? What will this second chance hold for a strained friendship?

I am on such a high today! These ‘high’ days are not very common in my rather uneventful life… but this certainly tops the list of ‘highs’ for me.

My day started rather lazily, at around 8am. I was woken up, rather abruptly, by my mother, at around 7.45am, as I had put the washing powder in the wrong compartment of the washing machine… I will leave that to explain for some other time. So she gave me a lecture on washing my clothes but it was more like a dream!!! Ha ha… After all, what on earth goes into your head when you are woken up from your sleep???

Well, I had around 15 minutes for my alarm to ring so I went back to a light snooze and then the alarm rang. I had a quick shower, took a snack and walked to the Learners to meet my instructor and get the necessary details for the test.

We were then sent in a van to Werahera and rushed straight to the hall where the written test was to be conducted. I have no idea how long I took but I think I took around a half hour to read the paper and answer the questions. I was a bit nervous coz this smart ass didn’t really go through the “Highway Code” booklet with a lot of enthusiasm the previous night. Oh! Well! I had my fingers crossed!

I had applied on the ‘priority’ basis, what ever that means… which meant both the written and practical tests were to be on one day.

So I had around a three-hour wait, till the practical test. It was NOT fun!!!

I made a friend, so it was not all bad. She and I talked quite a bit so I didn’t really feel the time passing.

The instructor from the driving school, from where I applied for the license, wanted to take us on a round just to practice before the test and the practice session went off pretty well. But I was still a bit worried. After all, you never really know till you actually pass right?

Anyway, around 1.30pm we got the results for the practical test and I had passed! My name was one of the last to be called out so I was really worried coz I thought that I had messed up somewhere! It was all good in the end… so the wait was not too bad.

We were then told to go to the place where they announce your name and let you know who your examiner will be. We were told by the school to not respond if the “Big made, dark, scary looking guy, in glasses and a long sleeved shirt” calls us! With that in mind, we sat in the hall and waited patiently for our name to be called out and keeping our fingers crossed that we will not get the ‘bad examiner’!

My name was called, not using my first name of course… but using my second name and my surname!! Hahaha… And it was called by one of the ‘good examiners’! So I got up and walked towards him, he asked me where I live and what my full name is. That was that.

I was told to go to the van and wait. I did not feel the time passing coz my work mate gave me buzz to boost my confidence! And then in almost no time, it was time for the ‘trial’. I was the first out of the group to go for the trial and my two friends (who I made while in Werahera) wished me luck and I was off for the test.

We had to follow a line of learner cars/vans to get to the examining point. I was then asked by the guy from the driving school to get into the front seat for the ‘trial’.

I had to drive a bit till I got to the point where the examiner got into my vehicle.

He was a calm and cool guy. We talked all through the trial. I got through the driving part and also the reversing part, without too much of problem. Then we drove a bit more and I he wanted me to stop on the left side. So I slowed down, turned and stopped! But I forgot to switch on the left signal light! The examiner then asked me if he should pass me or fail me, and I said he should pass me! And he did, telling me that it was only a minor setback.

He handed me my temporary license and I was all smiles afterwards. But the irony all ironies… I had to take the bus home… hehehe…

So, that was how yours truly came to be recognized by the Department of Motor Traffic as a Licensed Driver!

Thus, making this day go into the ‘highs’ list of days!

April 27, 2005… doubt I will forget this date for a long time!!!