Chatmate

Have you ever had a chatmate for decade/s? Did it develop into friendship, in a relationship, or did you choose to forget? How long did it last? 

I was working in Boracay Island when I met in one of the chatrooms of Yahoo messenger (YM for brevity) my quindecinnial chatmate, named Hemal. He was then studying in a university and the reason why he joined the chatroom was to meet other people outside India and to improve his English vocabulary and communication skills. It was then I realized that not all in the chatroom were looking for lovelife. 😁✌️

                                      

January 12, 2009. I started learning Hindi words while Hemal was on the process of enhancing his English words. One way or the other, we were like student - teacher relationship where we earned trust and respect from each other, getting to know each other, encouraging and learning from each other. Gradually, we became comfortable and we shared stories of our personal life like his studies and my work, family and church. 

What amused me at that time was when he shared a little bit of his lovelife. I mean, who am I, right? We’re just communicating online. We never had videocalls ever, only chatting. I knew from then on that he is a good man, honest and loyal to his girlfriend. He is not a fraud nor a scammer like others. How about his looks? To be honest, he is tall, dark and handsome. I was attracted of his eyes and thin lips. 

When yahoo messenger encountered problems and difficulties to be resolved, Hemal introduced me to Facebook (FB for brevity), then, we started using FB instead of YM on February 1, 2012.  Through the years, we established our respective boundaries and though we didn’t have constant communication since we were too busy in our respective field, we have family and work to attend to, we just checked in and updating each other when given a chance.  

One of the things that I admire him the most is that, we never talk nor touch the topic of sex since 2009 until June 5, 2021. What’s the situation? At that time, I was bombarded of sex topic online and it made me sick hearing it repeatedly.  Since I’m open to him, I asked his opinion, what he thinks or his viewpoint as a man.  Though we just had short conversation, I’m satisfied of his answers.  It proved that he’s a decent man, a good husband and protective father to his lovely and beautiful daughters.

Himanshu is kind and supportive.  As a friend, he will cheer you up and encourage you while working, just like what he did last December 2017.  He accompanied me virtually even during wee hours. We have different time zone you know and while he was doing business on the other side of the world, he kept on checking if I’m still awake and reminded me to take a rest after sewing all the festival costumes.  At that moment, I'm kind of grateful to have a friend like him because I stayed wide awake until I finished.

To express my gratitude of friendship, I decided to give him and his wife a couple of paint by numbers as my gift for their wedding anniversary.  He captioned it as "Today, Tomorrow, Always". 

"Today, Tomorrow, Always"

When I was invited to witness a traditional wedding in Punjab, India, I was hoping to meet Himanshu in person one way or the other but it seems like, it's not the right time yet.  I was in Punjab and he was in Gujarat.  Besides, I have limited time in India as I have to fly back the day after the wedding.  If only I have plenty of time to stay there, maybe I was able to met him personally.  We may not see each other in India but still, grateful as he assisted me in choosing what color and what type of dress to wear appropriate to the entire wedding ceremony.

When I chose Himanshu to be my friend, it will last forever.  He and his family will always be in my prayers.  Others may doubt our friendship but we are certain of our boundaries and limitations.  I am proud to say that among my chatmates, he set a high standard.  He knows his priorities and he love his family the most.