I Had To Beg My Friend For 50 Claps
By: Bhavna Narula
Tags: Critique, Motivation, Friendship, Philosophy, Claps On Medium

I Had To Beg My Friend For 50 Claps

He was supposed to be a true critic, not a ruthless one

Photo by Gregory Hayes on Unsplash

So before I introduce all of you to this friend of mine, let me inform you that this is not a hate article. It is supposed to be taken as all fun and games kind of humor.

So my best friend since the year 2015, Shashwat Agarwal, has been the sole reason I am here. He is the one who endorsed Medium in such a wonderful way that I couldn’t wait to explore my writing skills on this platform.

I can say he has done his job well because I cannot let a single day go without writing. I met Shashwat on Quora five years back and we have been the best of buddies ever since.

In these five years I have known him, he has matured a lot. Though he is ten years younger to me, I often find myself taking advice from him. The reason being, he never judges me for anything and I can ask or discuss any topic under the sun.

That’s a dream come true for me — A nonjudgmental male friend.

Why I Stopped Him From The 50 Claps Ritual

Shashwat had been an avid reader on Medium way before I joined him. But when it came to writing, we started our journey together.

He is busy with his engineering exam preparations and is therefore not able to contribute regularly, but he always finds time to proofread my stories before I hit ‘Publish’.

So as newcomers, we decided that we would give 50 claps to each other's articles. We weren't sure of the response we would get in the beginning. At least, we would have our claps to show to the world that there has been some response to our story.

Imagine, your story going completely unnoticed and without any claps.

What a horror that would be!!!

In the beginning, his 50 claps made me very happy. My best friend acknowledging and appreciating my work felt sublime.

But there were times when he didn't like a few of my stories, but still gave 50 claps for them. That was odd to me.

It was an endorsement of the ‘Free lunch’ kinds and not the ‘Earned it’ kinds.

I didn’t want to fall in the hypocritical category, so I requested him to stop giving me fifty claps until he really felt my story deserved it.

I told him he should be true to his comments and reactions to my story and judge me as a strict outsider, not as a lenient friend.

I Was Not Ready For What Followed Next

From that moment on, Shashwat stopped giving 50 claps to all my stories. Instead, he chose numbers like 18, 28, 32, 40, etc. These numbers inspired me in the beginning but then started having a daunting effect.

I explored an all-new dimension to my old friend.

There’s nothing that could ever please this man.

The line above will make him laugh hard, but that's true. Even after giving excellent comments to my stories after proofreading them, he would only assign 33 claps.

The stories I was sure would receive a full 50 could only make it up to a 43.

I couldn't take it anymore and told him the truth one day, he was being too harsh. He just laughed it off.

I guess he couldn't sense the urgency in my tone when I said, ‘’You’re being too harsh.’’

I Want To Go Back to Our Original Terms

Interestingly, I started writing this article immediately after messaging him to change our deal and go back to the original deal of giving 50 claps.

Screenshot by the author

He has not even read the message yet and I couldn't wait till he replies. I am an incurable lunatic… remember…no patience at all.

The point here is that I am not afraid to accept that I need those 50 claps.

Those claps are not just a digital tool of reaction, they’re this unsaid motivation coming from my friend who is reassuring me that he is there for me.

I took it on my ego and stopped it, failing to realize that it was the one pushing me all along.

It is that kind of motivation, whose presence is not felt but its absence hits hard.

Before You Leave

I had promised Shasha (that’s what I call him fondly) that I will one day dedicate an article just for him. Sure this story is colored entirely in his name, but this is not what I had in mind. Although, he will get a shock of his life when he reads this. But I know he will laugh it away.

He is just a chubby little sweetheart.

Of everything I have in my life, he is one of those few people, I cherish every single day.

He is a lad with amazing values and a heart of gold (Yes its a cliche and I don't care). Sure I take the liberty of being the elder one many times, but it's him who is wiser amongst the both of us.

Cheers….To Shashwat and To our Friendship…!

P.S. This story did not make it to him for proofreading. Now you know why.