D day

D-Day is famously remembered as the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. Yet, for many of us, there's a different D-Day etched in our calendars, one that brings a pit to our stomachs: the day we encounter the people who made a significant impression on us.

The lead-up feels like waiting to defuse a bomb. The wounds of separation are still tender, concealed beneath a fragile layer of scar tissue. When the relationship consisted of mostly the highs, every memory floods back vividly.  Anxiety coils tighter with each passing hour. Then comes the white lie. A mumbled "catching up with an old friend" to our significant other, and a desperate attempt to maintain a facade of normalcy. The truth, a jumble of unresolved emotions, feels too intricate to unravel. No words can fully convey the emptiness that lingers or the echo of a past life. Yet, amid the turmoil, there remains hope.

Hope that there won't be awkward small talk, forced laughter, or uncomfortable silences replacing the once effortless intimacy. Hope that we can still understand each other with a single glance in their eye. Hope that we dont scrutinize each other, searching for answers in the lines etched on our faces. Hope we both can do a tightrope walk between honesty and self-preservation. Hope that at the end of it, somehow, we can part ways with a smile, without shedding a single tear.

Perhaps Javed Akhtar, in the song "do pal " from the movie Veer-Zaara, captured this sentiment perfectly. The movie itself shows how a short-lived connection can leave a lifelong impression.