There is this classic film called Moondram Pirai (Sadma in Hindi), which has one of the heart-touching climaxes
.A head injury causes a woman to regress to childhood as a result of retrograde amnesia. Lost and confused, she is eventually befriended by a school teacher in Ooty.
A beautiful relationship develops between them. He is smitten by her childlike innocence and purity.
Later, she regains her memory, recognizing her past, and completely forgetting the period between her accident and recovery.
As she is leaving for Chennai with her parents, he follows them to the railway station and tries to gain her attention.
But she does not remember him. He repeatedly calls out to her and mimics a dancing monkey that she had developed a liking for but she thinks he is insane and begging for food.
He continues his futile attempts, but the train eventually leaves with her not recognizing him.
He is left alone at the station, heartbroken.
Most of them who watched this movie climax feel ‘Last scene is so emotional. I cried. I wish she recognised him. I wish she came back to him.’
Now
Let’s say, she recognised him. And she got back to him.
Do you know what would happen?
He will come and drop her at the railway station a week or two later.
Simply because that was not the person he was attracted to and had the most beautiful relationship with.
She is a different person now, who no longer has that innocence or childlike nature. She has different thoughts and makes different conversations now. She is just a plain lookalike of the person whom he was in love with and who is no longer alive.
Likewise
People, out of habit, confusion and emotion, beg the other person to stay in a relationship, or not leave the relationship when it turns abusive.
You forget the fact is that the person you are begging is a different person now.
He is not the same person whom you had fallen for or expected to be your partner. Ask yourself, would you begin a new relationship with such a person? If the answer is no, there is no point in holding on to it.
The same thing happens with friends too.
One mistake people make regarding relationships is expecting the other person to be the same or change parallelly with them. This is not always possible.
As we grow, the political beliefs, the people around us, the books we read, the news we consume and the movies we watch will have a deeper influence on us and our thinking. This can make two people who were at the same point once upon a time to drift somewhere apart. You won’t feel like you are interacting with the same person again. That is natural.
There is a famous quote—
People Change. Memories Stay.
Value the memories but learn to keep your present beautiful as well.
Don’t erase your good memories because your friend is a changed person now.
And don’t forcefully continue being in a relationship with a person you can’t bear anymore for the sake of few good memories.