“Hello?”
“Hi, what are you doing,” I asked.
“Nothing much. Getting bored. This gloomy grey day is
making me lethargic,” whined Shalvi.
“Yeah, me too. I don’t feel like doing anything. There
is a whole pile of clothes calling out my name to fold them, Abhiraaj’s project
needs to be completed, I have an approaching deadline for a story but dear God
I don’t want to do a thing. I just want to lie on my sofa like a slob and not move
a muscle.”
“I know, I still have few more packages to get ready
before the courier guy comes. I have to order vegetables if I want to serve any
for dinner and there are about 100 messages I still need to respond to.”
“You know what?” I said with mounting excitement at the
thought shaping up in my mind.
“What?”
“Wait let me get Nandini on the line too.”
“Hello,” said Nandini sleepily.
“Hello sleepy head, wake up. Its 10.30 am and I am
sure you have had a good hour’s sleep after the morning chores. Shalvi is on
the line too. What are you doing?”
“Talking to you,”
“Haha… very funny,” I snorted. “Listen, do you have
any plans for the day?”
“Yes, to cozy up under my blanket and sleep till the
kids return from school.”
“Well, change of plans. No one is sleeping.”
Even before I could proceed, she interrupted me, “I am
not going out anywhere in this heavy rain. Anyway, alerts have been issued by
BMC about heavy rainfall and high tides. Better not to go out.”
“Yes, mother. Was not planning to go out anyway, but
was definitely planning to get out of the house.”
“You in or not?” piped in Shalvi.
“What for?” inquired Nandini.
“The time is perfect for a…,” I explained my plan.
“So, lets meet in 15 minutes.”
******
We met outside her apartment and rang the bell.
“HELLO, Happy Friendship Day” we shouted in unison.
She smiled and opened the door.
The three of us went in through the door, laughing and
talking at the same time.
“It’s raining and we didn’t want to do a thing. Hence,
we are here. It’s the perfect time to be with friends and celebrate Friendship
Day,” I said.
“And it is the perfect time for your ginger tea and
onion and spinach pakoras,” said Shalvi smacking her lips.
“And the perfect time to sit and gossip and bitch and pour
our hearts out to each other,” said Nandini.
“Wah, you all will sit and chat and I am supposed to
make tea and pakoras?” she complained good naturedly.
“We will help, but you are the Queen of pakoras, my
dear Latika, so the honor is all yours,” I said steering her into the kitchen.
Half an hour later we were all settled on her big
comfy sofa, with thin blankets covering our legs. The hot tea was complimented
by hot pakoras. There was uproarious laughter and lighthearted bitching accompanied
by some heavy leg-pulling. And it wasn’t frowned upon that we talked about
health and yoga while eating pakoras. There was snorting and chuckling with the
sound of rain drops in the background. The whole afternoon was magical and each
one of us was happier at the end of it.
‘So, madam poet, say something about our day today,”
demanded Nandini.
A little pompously I cleared my throat and the girls
obligingly snickered.
“Blessed we are to
always have each other
Rejoice, that we
can fall back on each other
Wind beneath the
wings for each other
A sounding board
of ideas for each other.
May we be great
friends forever
Count on each
other’s love forever
A strong shoulder
to lean on forever
A bond as tight as
sisterhood forever.”