the orthodox paradox

"pen friend"
well, the time that i am from--and mind you, im not in my forties, reminiscing about the bygone would-have-beens--pen-friend was a part of a fantasy.. it was weaved as a character from a land where everything else is super awesome functionality efficient.. where all you need is a post box number.. and that's all that is necessary for two people to weave in the most beautiful world of theirs.. away from all prying eyes.. where no names were involved.. but a separate and special identities were carved.. where each poured out their hearts in that limited square white paper.. no postman jhol and lafdas.. no mail mess ups.. everything was a clockwork..

i was introduced to 'pen-friend' via my world of books.. enid blyton, probably.. dun remember exactly now.. and i fantasized.. i'm talking about the time, when i was barely four feet high.. still wearing pinafores and black buckled shoes to school.. still having pops to lug around my backpack.. that was me then.. and i wished.. wouldnt it so grand if i also had one of those? to whom i can write and who can write me back.. well, i had no dearth of people to write to, and who would have written back and vice-versa.. but a 'pen friend' was what i wished for.. and since, there was no way i could have got one, i created an imaginary one.. and i wrote.. two ways.. wrote my letters.. and wrote the pen-friend's replies to me.. and boy, it was so much fun.. it was my little secret.. stacks of paper, stashed away in the corner of the book shelf.. i even used those glitter pens to spruce things up, occasionally.. and it was so much fun..

watching 'pen-friends' for 'real' in the movies, made me yearn for that in my life all the more.. but by then, i was a foot or so taller and 'grown-up'.. and i realised that it wont happen.. and i accepted that.. though by then, reading those "letter exchanges" would always have me in splits.. yes, they were hilarious..

then comes the advent of "chat" in my life.. a big scary place where you meet and talk to even strangers.. but that somehow never made me comfortable.. and i never did that.. so, the idea of 'pen-friend', always remained at that.. an idea.. a wish.. a fantasy..

but until now..
true.. this doesn't fit into the classical definition of a pen friend.. because, we both ain't really "strangers" or "unknown" to each other.. we have a "common" person.. we don't really write "to" each other.. and yes, all our exchanges are over the white screen of the laptop..
but we still are strangers for each other..we know our names.. we know where we live.. to a certain extent, we know what we do.. and we know how we look.. and that's it.. rest everything we don't know.. i don't know.. and somehow that never bothered.. for some reason, we can start and continue a random conversation over a mundane topic.. and if you closely look into the heart of the matter, that's what pen friends do.. they just share stuffs.. they have written conversations.. they both have a common platform of thoughts..

and i have known--trust me--not everyone possess the skill for conversation.. its an art.. and somehow, this one satisfies.. its good to carry on with the flow of conversation with this one.. this one knows how to say it and when to say it.. this one doesn't substitute "than" in place of "then" and then argue that its the same.. this one knows to dot the i's and strike the t's.. this one is not a pain to the ears and a sacrilege to the eyes.. this one reminds me of my fantasy of a pen friend..

and to a certain extent, this one, is, my pen-friend..
all we exchange is always in writing.. we are officially strangers (still).. and we dot the i's and strike the t's, over our common platform..