Everyone has at least one moment in their life when they think, " What just happened?" or "There is no way that this just happened." Well, one such moment in my life happened just mere days ago.
I was sitting on the swings in my building with my best friend, Aarya. Winds were blowing all around us, the sound of little children playing on the see-saw was deafening and the smell of food in houses was abundant enough to make my mouth water. It was a typical day except that a new girl was playing with the other children. I didn't think much of it and went along with my evening. I played badminton with Aarya soon after we rode our bicycles, then we sat on the swings as the sun began to set.
Aarya's younger sister, Tisha, is the most extroverted person I have ever met. She can make friends with everyone, regardless of age. The new girl looked my age, though it was hard to tell because of her mask. Even though I wasn't curious about her, Aarya sure was. For that reason we investigated after the girl left. We asked Tisha who that was. To this, Tisha said, " She lives three buildings away from ours. Her name is Sanya." "Harmless enough,” I thought. The thought of this mystery girl was out of my mind by the morning.
The next evening went about as it always did. Nevertheless, when Aarya and I sat on the swings this time, I saw that same girl walk towards us. She introduced herself. She was 14 years old and had been coming to our building to play for the past few days. We exchanged friendly conversation, soon, I remembered my grandfather telling me that a cousin of his lived in that building. Naturally, I asked her if she knew him or his family. I didn't know his name or anything much about him except that he lived there. So I didn't have much of a description to give Sanya. One thing that I did know was that he was a Sardar. I come from a Sikh family, so I knew he wore a turban. She told me that she was a Sikh as well. That was the point when something in my brain clicked. I asked her what her last name was, and it was the same as mine! Now both of us knew that somehow, we were related.
To make sure, I asked her what her grandfather's name was. That didn't help because I had no idea what my grandfather's cousin's name was. I called my grandfather and asked him if the name Kawaldeep rang a bell. He said it was the name of his cousin that lived three buildings away from us. I excitedly told him that I had made friends with his granddaughter. He was beyond ecstatic and told me he lived in the same house as his cousin before the Partition. They would usually walk together in the mornings. On the grounds of the pandemic, they hadn't seen each other in almost two years. I looked at Sanya, and both of us immediately knew what we had to do.
My grandfather was my closest and greatest friend ever since I was little. He helped me all the time, with math, science, with everything. Now was my turn to do something nice for him. So the next day, Sanya and I arranged for them to meet at my house. It was a complete surprise for my grandfather. They met after ages and talked for hours. I saw the joy on their faces and a satisfied smile that came across Sanya's face. However crazy this experience was, I made a new friend and reunited my grandfather with his friend. I never felt more content and thought to myself, "What a happy coincidence!"
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