How to decide Ballon d'Or winner
What happens when two close friends stop being close friends? Does the essence of their bond change or does it stop existing all of a sudden? We all have been there and we know that we don’t decide specifically whom to stay friends with. Things just happen. Or, in other words, time passes. And before you know it, some friends stop existing in your life and end up becoming just another number on your phone. Life is such. We don’t plan on becoming friends and similarly, we don’t plan on dismantling friendship either. Some things are, for lack of better excuse, meant to be in a certain way. However, this doesn’t change you as a person. You continue to remain whatever you were when that friendship germinated in the first place.
There is a bewildering scene in The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) that quite literally slaps you with its cruelty. I won’t reveal what happened but I’ll tell you this: an old friend stops being an old friend. So much so he is willing to get rid of his beloved digits—he is a musical exponent—in lieu of separation from his old friend. It’s not explained why or what brought the two to this crazy stage, apart from countryside epiphany perhaps, but that scene makes you pull your hair and ask yourself: can I ever feel this way about a friend, a close friend, a dear friend, an old friend? The answer would be a resounding no. Yet, once you get through the blood-stained scene, you’d be more honest with yourself. Enough is enough. Sooner or later.
I am at that age and persuasion where I’ve finally understood the significance of friends. In fact, I value friendship more than anything else right now. A friend that cares for you is nothing less than a gift. And if you are able to meet this person regularly, then you are sorted. To have someone who would be happy talking to you about random stuff, enjoying street food together or meals at cheap places, watching movies, basically genuinely being there for each other—no, online friendship has too many handicaps; pandemic has taught us why physical presence matters—would be cozy. The trouble with being on the wrong side of 35 is you aren’t young enough for the youngsters and you aren’t old enough for the oldies. So, you end up dangling in your solitudinal prison, left to the fate of your indifferent choices. Almost feels like you’ve missed the train at a station it didn’t even bother to stop.
Whenever you look at young couples, in their teens, being mushy and dreamy about their future together, you should smile. There is no reason to be smug when it comes to puppy love. Not all of us are meant to die wrinkly with our childhood sweethearts. Nope. Most of us are destined to fail and that’s perfectly alright. But this doesn’t mean we should be cynical towards the younger lot. Let them be ambitious and naive at the same time, let them stay in the warmth of their wet blanket, and let them figure out the unspoken tenets of time on their own. They don’t necessarily have to fail, the way we did, and it’d be great if they succeed in turning their dreams into realities, with their selected partners. Good luck.
At any given point of the day, you can imagine Beyoncé fast asleep. She must be watching a dream or two, or even a nightmare, who knows? What is fascinating about this possibility is each one of us dreams whether we remember anything at all on waking up or not. According to experts, it’s impossible for humans to dream of something that they haven’t seen or perceived beforehand. Originality? None. Besides, who cares what you do in your dreams? Random shit unfolding without any clear control. Nonetheless, every little detail you observe with your eyes tight shut, is a product of your prior visual feed. Even the scariest ghost that you saw is not an original production; it was already seen or thought of beforehand by your brain. Isn’t this interesting? I wonder what the pope dreams of. Or, do Beyonce’s worst nightmares feature Jay-Z’s infidelity?
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