Happiness

By Ashni Kankate

I kept on searching in all the wrong places.

And all the time, you were just around me.

Here all the time, waiting to get noticed.

It must be painful.

To be so ignored and so misunderstood.

But I know, now.

I know now that you are not in that big party that goes on all night,

But you are the laughter at the party.

I know now you are not in 'friends forever' or in 'till death do us apart'.

But you are in the 'we're friends and I'll hold your hand down the treacherous hill'.

I know you are not in endless, virtual late-night conversations.

You are in that one missed call the other day when all somebody cared about was whether I reached home safely.

I know you are not in endless hangouts or the cool pictures.

But you are in the day spent doing that school project roaming about the city together in a crappy school uniform.

I know you are not in empty words and false promises.

But you exist when we meet the kind of people who don’t say much, but their eyes say a lot.

I know you are not in the that photo frame or the cute little diary.

But you are in the moment when I remember who gifted them.

You are not in the new car we brought home.

But you are in the memories I have of those late-night long drives.

You are not in things, conversations, achievements, people or places.

You are in moments.

Those grains of sand, if saved, can be treasures.

If lost, are lost forever.

And I hope I never lose you again.

By Ashni Kankate