New Delhi [India] Aug 4 : On Friendship Day the story of two schoolmates who lost touch with each other in their teens were reunited after 26 years is sure to warm hearts.
"I met my school friend after 26 years of no contact, isn't that great?" said Soma Choudhuri Chatterjee, now 53 and mother to two daughters.
Soma, now 53, says she never expected to cross paths with her long lost friend who she met recently thanks to social media, which has contributed to not only enable and maintain friendships but also to revive some lost bonds.
"It was a Sunday morning when I saw my Facebook notification bar blinking" Soma Chatterjee recollected with a wide smile. To her surprise, it was a friend request from Ranju, her childhood school friend. "I clicked 'accept' and that was it," she says
"The conversations just flowed like the forgone days," she says.
What re-started with a simple friend request resulted in meeting after more than two and a half decades.
"We had parted in 1985 and met again in 2011 after we got in touch through FB. I had last seen her last in class 10th after which both of us moved to different cities. In those times, we never really had a good mode of communication," Soma said recalling how she spent her teenage days without the advent of social media.
Recollecting memories from the get-together, Soma says: "It was an amazing feeling to meet someone you were so close to after so many years."
"We spent the whole day together to cover up for all those lost years. Without any doubt I would thank FB for this," says Soma.
Nafisa Siddiqui shares a similar tale of parting and reuniting. She says she met her childhood friend after almost three decades.
"Rama got married and moved to a different city after our class 12th. That was the last time I saw her but only to meet her after almost 30 years," says Nafisa.
Nafisa too says she has social media to thank for reviving her long lost friendship.
"In our times, we never had a proper communication channel. But now with all these social media sites, it's now easier to engage with our long lost buddies," she says.
Social media does deserve a special mention on the occasion World Friendship Day.
It is no doubt that it has helped millions to re-connect and find their misplaced friendships, just like it helped Soma and Nafisa.