My Best Friend Got Hitched...and I Can't Cope

On love, friendship, and the slow ache of being left behind.

- By Diya J Verma

We didn't grow up together, collecting years of memories, but she became important—more so than any other friend I ever had. Perhaps it was finding each other in the city of dreams, navigating matcha men, elusive bais (housemaids), and peak-hour traffic. Or maybe companionship—or a lack thereof—drew us closer as we came of age in a dense urban jungle notorious for growing you up faster than you may like. Convenience quietly became intimacy. Until...the day she got engaged.

Turns out, fiancés outrank friends. Am I happy for her? Absolutely. Did I have it coming? Well, yes. Do I feel replaced? Very much so. It didn’t even feel like the swept-off-her-feet, butterflies-in-the-stomach kind of love. But I'd already lost my place.