Friend 1: My parents never explained to me what sex is, so I learnt it from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Friend 2: It’s almost as if you’re looking at yourself or your life in flashback. 
Friend 3: Having lived alone and with my friends, that’s what I connect to the most. 

That sums up what the hit TV series on six New York-based friends catching up at the fictitious Central Perk means to a bunch of 20-somethings in Calcutta. Reason enough for them to get together at F.R.I.E.N.D.S Cafe near Deshapriya Park and share with t2 how F.R.I.E.N.D.S changed the notion of friendship for them...

 

t2: Who’s the funniest ‘Friend’?

Suyatra: Chandler. 
Josh: I think Chandler is funny because his lines are funny. But the funniest would be Ross. 
Suyatra: David Schwimmer (Ross) has great comic timing. 
Josh: Ross is funny because he is the mismatch in the group. Chandler hates his job, Rachel is a spoilt brat. Monica is just there, Phoebe is weird. Ross doesn’t fit in. 

 

t2: What’s your favourite story?
 

Suyatra: I like that episode where Rachel’s birthday is held at two places simultaneously. Just shows to what extent they go to help Rachel get through her parents’ divorce. 
Debapriya: I really like the episode where Monica and Chandler get married. It explores two stories parallelly — Rachel’s pregnancy and the wedding and both are turning points in the series. 
Josh: I laughed the most in The One With The Blackout (S1E7). It’s funny because Chandler says “gum is perfection”. And I realised when I was watching it again last night, that ‘Friendzone’ became popular from that episode where Joey tells Ross that he is the “mayor of friendzone”.
Ahana: I like the episode where Ross finds out about Monica and Chandler. 
Roshni: I love the Thanksgiving episode where they recall all the Thanksgivings they spent together. 
Zainab: I think that one where Phoebe is massaging this old lady and she dies and she believes the spirit went inside her and she then sees Carol and Susan’s wedding.

 

 

t2: Chandler is a better boyfriend than Ross? 
(All say ‘yes!’) 

Josh: One girl told me, ‘Oh, you’re like Ross.’ I said that’s good, ’cause Ross is committed. She said, no, Chandler is the one who makes you feel like you are the most-loved person in the world.
Suyatra: Chandler and Monica’s relationship is just so perfect.
Roshni: I don’t think either is a good boyfriend.
Ahana: I think Ross is better but then he just screws up everything.
Suyatra: I think Ross is very unfortunate. He is such a nice guy but he does such horrible things some times. Like saying the wrong name at the altar!

 

t2: Boys, which F.R.I.E.N.D.S girl would you pick as your flatmate?

Josh: Oh, Rachel definitely. 
Suyatra: It would a very difficult choice because Rachel is really irresponsible and Monica’s too perfect… It would have been so nice if Joey was a girl ’cause I’d pick him as my flatmate. I guess it’s weird but I’d pick Phoebe as my roomie. I just feel that despite her idiosyncrasies she is a really good friend. 
Josh: Rachel works in fashion, so she’d give me a lot of passes to go to lots of places. Suyatra’s right though, Monica is too perfect... I’d go crazy. Phoebe, I find her too weird and I wouldn’t want to live with that. Rachel, I think I can adapt with and also at some level, she’s kind of gullible... even in one of the episodes we see she’s a pushover. Also, I think she’s the hottest of the three.

 

t2: Girls, you’d want Joey as your boyfriend or buddy?

All the girls: Buddy!
Debapriya: The period when Joey really liked Rachel and the way he supported her during her pregnancy or even later was so adorable. And who wouldn’t like a food buddy? 
Suyatra: I don’t think Joey would make a good food buddy because he’ll eat all your food (everyone laughs).
Roshni: I wouldn’t want him forgetting my name if I was his girlfriend. I think Joey loves women too much to be with one woman. 
Suyatra: When Joey tries, he’s not a bad boyfriend. But the first time he had a serious girlfriend, Chandler stole her. Next time, it was Rachel, but they realised they were better as friends. So he’s never really hurt his girlfriends... though we can’t say that about the ones he sleeps with.

 

t2: Does watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S make you hungry?

Josh: I eat while watching the show.
Suyatra: Yeah sometimes, when Joey eats. Like in that episode where Joey saves his meatball sub, I was dying to have a meatball sub.
Debapriya: Monica’s Thanksgiving feasts, like the turkey.
Roshni: But everytime I think of turkey, I remember Joey trying to get it off his head!

 

t2: What on the F.R.I.E.N.D.S Cafe menu appeals to you the most?

Debapriya: The Falafel. It reminds me of when Rachel’s sister Amy thought Ross was the falafel guy.
Suyatra: The Moist Maker; I want to see what made Ross so angry. 
Josh: The cheesecake, because of the episode where Chandler and Rachel keep stealing cheesecake.
Ahana: I’d say cheesecake too.
Roshni: Mac ’n’ Cheese, because I’ve always wondered what Monica’s Mac ’n’ Cheese would be like... 
Suyatra: ...since ‘manipulative shrew’ isn’t on the menu.

 

t2: If you had to change something about the series...

Debapriya: I would ensure that it never ended…
Roshni: But that would have killed the series.
Suyatra: Yeah, it would have become like The Simpsons.
Ahana: I want to know what happened to Joey after they all left.
Suyatra: There was a series (Joey) about his life but it wasn’t good at all.
Josh: I would keep someone fat in the present day, not in the past, like in Monica’s case. It’s very rare to see a group of six where none is fat. 
Richard’s story was kind of incomplete because he suddenly comes back and wants to propose (to Monica). I would elongate that a bit. 
Suyatra: Despite Richard being perfect, I don’t think Monica would have been able to be with him. Monica needs flaws to survive. And Chandler is that guy. I guess I too would have liked a conclusive end to Joey’s story. Rachel and Ross are going to be together. Chandler and Monica are moving out. Phoebe and Mike are set. But nothing happens to Joey. 
Debapriya: Yeah, he wasn’t stable in his career, nor in his relationships, so there was no closure to his story. 
Suyatra: Or maybe that is what was intended. Like Joey is the character who just lives like that. Somebody else might come into his life and that’s how Joey is going to be.

 

 

Which is your fave F.R.I.E.N.D.S story? Tell t2@abp.in