There was a time not many long years back, when a boy and a girl could not be friends. They could be strangers. Or they had to be seeing each other and preparing for marital bliss. There was nothing in between.

You spoke to a girl, people around you would whisper. You went for a walk with her, eyebrows would start rising not-so-subtly. You went for coffee, you'd be starting a small forest fire of speculation.

"So, heard you went for coffee with her." (wink wink)

"Eh? There's nothing between us. We're just friends. Really."

"Of course, who said otherwise?" (wink wink)

The times, though, they're a changin'. The tables have turned.

A guy and a guy can not be friends any more. It is just not possible. They're either strangers, competitors or a gay couple making man-love 14 times a week. At least.

You go off for a roadtrip with a guy. And you're hard pressed (heh heh) to explain to the world and its cousin that "we're just friends". Go out for dinner together, and you're branded gay, your parents give up all hope and girls suddenly begin to feel comfortable around you (but not in that sort of way). All that inside a few hours. It must feel terrible.

Just ensuring that one does not come close to sparking of that kind of speculation is exhausting. One must always be wary, aware of what one is saying and doing, what one's body language is communicating, what clothes one is wearing and where. One false step, one must start preparing for a hard life ahead.

The times, they are a changin'.