For my girlfriends

So there I was the other day, hard at work in office, when I got a call from a friend, Puru. After the customary, "Oh it's been so long, how've you been?", "Bhalo, tor khobor ki (I'm good, what news at your end?)", Puru told me the reason she called...she was leaving. She'd put in her papers at work and was set to leave the city in another two weeks. We promised to catch up that evening at Tea Centre, one of our favourite after-work hangouts, but Cyclone Phyan played spoilsport and we decided to postpone the catch-up session.

About ten days later, R, another member of the girl gang ("GG" for future reference) and a dear friend from day one of college, called to say that she and another friend, AD, had already decided to host Puru's farewell at my pad and had also informed other GG members accordingly...and since it had struck her only now that she'd omitted to tell me about it, she thought she should let me know. "Sweet!", I thought....but said "Sure...I'm game!"

So there we were, three days later, on a Saturday evening at my place, much confusion and delay later, all GG members, including A, who's recently moved base to Bengaluru and was in town by chance. I looked around at the circle of my girlfriends, all chattering at the same time and animatedly discussing varied topics ranging from Lux Perfect Bride to supernatural experiences to in-laws to other GG members in other cities...ALL at the same time, when we all realised that this scene, which was such a regular occurence during chilly winter nights in hostel that we took it for granted, had become a rarity in the hustle and bustle of life today. About the only time all of us managed to get together was to host a bachelorette party for someone who was getting married, or to bid farewell to someone who was switching jobs, and cities. We'd met a fair number of times for such occassions in the past couple of years...

When we'd come to Mumbai, excited young lawyers fresh out of college and still wet behind the ears, we'd been a huge group of about 15...today we stand at just about 5 people who are regularly in touch with each other. Yet despite these dwindling numbers these girls formed the backbone of my social support system in the city, my family in the absence of blood relatives. And despite the physical distance, each one of them is only a phone call away.

I realise that this post, which originally started out being my two bits on the place of friends in one's life, is turning totally sappy, and I am revealing myself to be a true blue mush pot, but what the hell, these amazing girls deserve all of it...here's to all my girlfriends...I love you all!