Betty is the one

I have known him for long… Even before Monica, Rachael, Joey, Phoebe, Chandler and Ross became a part of my life and yet prior to I started relating to the characters of “Hip Hip Hooray”, a show aired on Zee TV about school life. I became so addicted to it, that there was one point of time I could hallucinate the characters around me. I wished that somehow, my actual friends get replaced by these characters (even though I don’t remember their names now). And even before I had a crush on Salman Khan… I have known and loved Archie Andrews. So much so, that I had a copy of Archie in Bathroom, a copy under my pillow, in my books, in my drawer, in my bag, in TV room…

Archie was the coolest guy ever. Only he is the one who can date one girl each night without annoying the previous ones. Only he is the one who can play pranks on his school principal and get detained every week, yet be his favorite. Only he is the one who can hang out late with his pals and not bother about his home work, since Betty is there to take care of it. Only he is the one who does not have to bother about money matters, Ronnie is always there to help. He has the best friend Jughead, who would even fall from a cliff for him (at yet not be hurt). He is the hero of Riverdale.

For those who have no clue, what I am talking about, Archie Comics is all about school friends, how they live, eat, stay, behave, fight, love, hate and relate to each other…all done in a tasteful manner!

Here is a quick introduction of the main characters:

• Archibald “Archie” Andrews, main character, a typical red- headed teenage boy with a great interest in dating. He tends to be clumsy and accident prone.

• Elizabeth “Betty” Cooper, the blonde girl next door, who is a good student, athlete, cook, and auto mechanic. She is very obsessive over her major crush, 'Archie Andrews'.

• Veronica “Ronnie/Ron” Lodge, the rich, sometimes nice and sometimes snobbish girl. Betty's best friend and rival for Archie's affections.

• Forsythe Pendleton “Jughead” Jones III, Archie's best friend, Jughead is sarcastic, obsessed with eating, lazy, and apathetic towards girls; however he is also portrayed to be very clever and knowledgeable on a wide variety of subjects, being second only to Dilton Doiley.

• Reginald “Reggie” Mantle III, the vain and conceited practical joker who thinks he can date anyone he wants.

I grew up my teens with these characters… They were like my own friends. I ate, cried and laughed with them… I have loved them all. I have admired Betty and Veronica. How can they manage to look beautiful even while they are asleep?

But somehow, I have always been a bit partial to Betty than Veronica. And now after 65 years, since Archie has chosen Veronica over Betty, my heart goes out for poor Betty. She has always been around Archie, religiously done his home work, cooked food for him when he was kicked out, helped him wash his dads’ car… she has been like that Vodafone pug (followed him wherever he went), yet the current recession took a toll on Archie and he chose money over true love.

I cant wait for August issue to read what happens next. But I do pray that Archie, towards the end, realizes that Betty is the one for him…