Ode To Friendship

It was my first day as an International student at an American school. An introduction was made as is the American custom to make me feel welcome---for the rest of the class I was an alien entity-a student from India, the land of cows, sadhus & beggars--in 1965 American students had no inkling about India & far less about a Zoroastrian girl from India who was as fair & pretty as the Americans ,wore skirts & pants with elan & spoke fluent English-even better than most Americans. It was not their concept or image of an Indian who talked about coming from a big city Mumbai, which was like their New York.They were all wary of me, so the 3 of us an Afghan boy, a Dutch girl & yours truly forged a friendship through the initial awkward moments of adjustment in a foreign land.
One afternoon as I was eating my sandwich lunch in the amphi theatre (my favourite place rather than cafeteria) I felt 2 dark eyes watching me from under a mop of dark hair-I smiled & waved to her & that broke the ice.Patricia came over & we bonded over lunch. She was the basketball star but surprisingly unaffected.She loved to hear me speak English & talk about books & literature. Another key to our bonding was her self deprecating humour & my laughter & guffaws. I was seeing America thru a child's eyes & everything amazed & fascinated me, even the most mundane things like grocery shopping,drive-in movie or eating hot dogs.And Pat taught me to love all sports--we attended all basketball & football games & cheered & cheered. I fondly called her Patty Anne & the name stuck. We were inseparable that one year in California at Acalenes High.
When it was time to say good bye, she gave me a sheaf of hand written poem wherein she said a lot of things but in the end ,she said "I like you because You are You". That sums up what our friendship was about--2 persons from 2 different cultures & yet bonding at a deeper level.
Its been more than 40 years now. I lost touch with Patty Anne-I don't know if she is in USA or what she is doing but whenever I think of her,a smile lights up my face & there is a song in my heart for the brief time she came into my life & made it one of the happiest, & I cling to that memory even today. I am sure Patty Anne the same holds true for you too.