Happy Friendship Day

Friendship day!

Now how can I find time on a Sunday for that? Specially since I had a migraine, could not locate my Driving License and I had to take care of the entire week’s school uniforms with our Iron-Man (the presswala) off to his village.

Anyway these things are for kids aren’t they?

And my friends always understand when I don’t pick up their calls or sometimes end a call abruptly. Work has to come first and it does. Family comes even before that. And in between, I do find some time for my friends, sometimes.

I know my friends deserve so much more.

And so this belated Friendship day post goes out as an apology to all of you.

To Pooja, who has been there for me ever since we were six year olds; Talking me out my mad-cap ideas, believing in me, even when I hardly give her any reason to do so, pushing me to do better, do more.

To Sonal, for still making time for me in her whirlwind schedule, for making me believe that some things to remain the same, so do some relations.

To Softy, for understanding me so well. I miss talking to you!

To Rachna who still co-ordinates her ‘talk-times’ with me-so that we never realize that we have not met for YEARS.

Shubhra, who understands my dilemmas without needing  words. Makes things better by listening to me, laughing with me.

Shivani-who slips in and out of emails, but makes sure I know she is there for me.

In fact the entire Gang of 10 at MBM. My life is so much richer because of you-Anju, Rita, Ritu, Reena, Sarika.

To the friends who drifted away, reconnected with over Orkut or Facebook, but with whom I still don’t keep in touch so regularly. I may not have soulful messages, or witty updates to share with you all the time, but I am really grateful for the fact that you are around.

And to my blog friends , some of whom I have never met, but who still take the time to read my posts when I come out of hibernation, to post a line to cheer me up when I need it most.

To the one person who has to put up with me the most-the only one for whom I did tie a friendship band..

Thank you for being my friend.

Happy Friendship day!

(Belated! Yeah, so what? This is my 100^th post. It may have taken me a long time, but I am so glad to dedicate this one to my friends! Over to you-Sachin)

Best Friends Forever

Mamma, can you guess who is my BFF?

Ishita? Well she was the one you loved to play with most as she has the most awesome collection of Barbie accessories.

NO. She is not my friend anymore. Last time she bought chips from the canteen she did not share all of them. Cheater.

Saumyaa is my best friend now.

She shares everything. I also like playing with her little brother and we always have so much fun together.

Some days later she was in tears because she would have to miss Saumyaa’s birthday party. It was on the day we were travelling to Goa. No amount of cajoling would convince her ….

I know I’ll like Goa but it’s not the same thing Mamma. I’ll be missing all the fun and games in the party.

Yes I know we’ll be partying in Goa also, but MY FRIENDS will not be there.

You can take me to her house another day to play with her, but IT’S NOT THE SAME THING! I won’t be wearing my pink party frock or the heels, will I?

She won’t be giving me a return gift either.

A muffled sob and tear filled eyes-and I could see all the heartbreak.

The next day she practically jumped on me in sheer joy!!

Mom, I have such GREAT news. You won’t believe it! Saumyaa is having her party a day before we are leaving!!!!!

Now I’ll have to reschedule all my plans for the evening, the last minute shopping and packing, returning library books, and instead will be picking up a gift and driving this lady to and from the party.

..but then it’s her best friend’s birthday

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At:

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That is, if you liked the post...

For me I already won the day, when I started this great adventure, started sharing my stories, found so many wonderful people along the way and discovered a world where we could just write it out....

Thank you for voting for me

But more than that, thank you for travelling with me, for egging me on and being with me as my blog celebrates it's first birthday.

My daughter and my best friend

Elena grew up as my best friend.

She looks like me and even thinks, talk and reacts like me.

And she hates me.

She proclaims this at least 10 times in a day.

She hates me because I refuse to let her change her school bag for the fourth time in this month.

She hates me because I refused to let her go swimming when I am not at home.

She hates me because she has to take my permission at times, while I don’t need to take hers.

She hates me when I don’t let her use lipstick, but I do so myself.

She hates me when I do “personal work” (work which is not directly related to them or the household).

She also hates me when I am around too much.

In fact, if I start compiling all the reasons, it will go on till next week. And the conclusion will remain the same.

Is it because I am such a dragon/ogreee? Or because she is of “that” age? Or both?

Or because, as our Grand Referee says, Elena and I are just so similar in the way we think, talk, react….

There are times when she does stop treating me like a friend, and comes looking for a mother. I see my baby in her and we are both glad to find each other.

And then we go back to being “best friends” again.

Sometimes, I prefer her being only a daughter. Sometimes, I am not so sure….

One to Mom to another

Me, the office-going mom:

I try so hard to be there for them and yet she fell so badly, and I was not there..

My friend, the stay-at-home mom:

Well, I was standing right next to my son; he still slipped and broke his arm…

Guess we can only do so much.

Blog Friends!! Now what's that?

I met Swaram

Someone whom I have known only through her words and that too only for the last couple of months…

And it was the same as meeting an old friend from years ago.

It shouldn’t be like this.

After all what you put in your blog is just a tiny fraction of what your life is all about. And then how do you know even if that is for real?

I guess there is no algorithm to find that out.

But when you have been reading each others words for some time, sharing memories, exchanging smile (and apprehensions), chasing dreams and laughing at each others posts, you do begin to go beyond the blog-etiquette of reciprocating on comments and start connecting to the real person out there.

And when you meet, you really don’t need the introductions. It’s the person you’ve known for quite some time now.

Thanks a ton, Swaram for coming over. It was lovely meeting you; I just wish it could have been for longer and that I’d clicked some photos.

Looking forward to meeting you and all my other blog friends through our blogs for now……. until the next time. :)

It's Friendship Day

Another day to increase consumption, hyped up by the brands, lapped up by the kids.

Well maybe not by all kids-

The elder one made a list of people she wanted to tie “friendship bands” to, shortlisted it to a reasonable five and then threw in a few spares-just in case she’s forgotten a friend or two.

The younger kid didn’t care much but still dug out some friendship bands received last year and decided to take them to school and tie them only to the friends who tied one for her.
And what if you need more-I can always untie on from my hand and use it, can’t I?

Yeah-she’d rather spend the money on chips.

And for me-the supposed to be staid, sensible, mom-of-two with three grey threads in my hair to show it---today is again a reason to reach out to the people who have mattered more than anything in the world.

To the friends who grew up with me and made me grow up (or tried to). To the ones who taught me to smile and move ahead, to the ones who have put up with me for better or worse, to the ones who till day are standing by me and to the ones who have drifted away.

And wish them a very happy day…..and thank them for being my friends

Is it because I am the sort of Mom who still has a lot of growing up to do? (who exchanges MBs in the office parking lot, who has still kept cards and letters from decades ago, who still misses her friends and cherishes every moment spent with them; http://thehypermom.blogspot.com/2009/03/wind-beneath-my-wings.html)

Or is it because the girls are yet to find out what friends really are?

Of old friends and new..

Elena woke up in tears: Mamma, I dreamt that you had changed my school. I never want to change my school-I will lose all my friends……

History repeats...Yeah, I know

My Mom forcefully changed my school in 11^th Standard-because my school did not have the science-maths combination, she wanted me to study. As I didn’t want to study anything, the combo just didn’t matter, but my friends did-so much, yet being a wimp whenever faced with emotional blackmail, I gave in.

I hated everything about the new school, but most of all, I missed my old friends-the ones I had been with for the last ten years. I did my best to be rational, level headed, practical….etc. etc.. for a month.

Then I rode my moped to my old school (wearing the wrong uniform) and went and met all my friends, teachers, and the Principal.

Yes, it was one of my infamous U-turns. I felt so bad about my parents wasting, all the money on admission, uniforms, books etc, that I did study Maths privately, and managed to get through Engineering-but I couldn’t ever leave my school and my friends for that…….

So how could I convince Elena?

I told her about the mice and the cheese and the need to keep moving on.

About how we make new friends as we keep moving and how we can always stay in touch with the ones who fly away.

And what about the ones we lose along the way?

Yes we lose, we miss, we cry, but don’t they say that the one, who doesn’t fly back to you, was never yours anyway!

Never one to miss an opportunity, she agreed: Ok, but will you let me create an account on Facebook?

Where did that come from?

But I think she got what I was trying to say!

Purani Jeans-addendum!

I may be a Mom in distress (at times) but I am certainly not alone.

My last post was more about nostalgia than loneliness. Got slightly carried away by the metaphors.

Why don’t I throw away my Purani Jeans? Or donate them to a museum?

I have got lots of new blue ones since then, along with lots of new memories and great hopes too.

Yet sometimes, I get a kick out of dragging out the decade old ones and wearing them around. When you are a Mom of two and have reached my age, these are the things that make your day!

P.S: For those who got concerned at my last post, I apologize for the dramatization and thank you for the support.

I do need that.

The Wind Beneath My Wings

Years ago, when as a disillusioned and utterly confused teenager, I decided to junk whatever I was doing and sit for the Engineering entrance exams, everyone thought I had lost it completely. The exams were just a couple of months away, the last date for most forms was long gone, and I found Calculus more confusing than Greek and Roman mythology put together.

There was one person who made me believe I could do it. She made me do it.

When I lost someone and refused to grieve, it was a friend who forced me to cry. I do it readily for soppy movies and books, but when it really mattered, it took a friend.

When I was alone because of the crowd around me, when I was losing myself playing out the roles I was supposed to, it was a friend who made me face the woman in the mirror.

Years later, when in another of those moments I decided to quit my decently paid, on my terms kind of job, the whole world tried to convince me to look at things the rational way. (No have you lost it reactions now-everyone who knows me, knows that I never had “it”, whatever “it’s” supposed to be.) World economics and logic notwithstanding, she told me to go ahead. Guess what I did?

And when half asleep, in the middle of the night, I posted my first blog entry, it was a friend from the opposite corner of the world who wrote back that instant, pointing out a typo in the first line.

If I had the power to make one wish for my kids, this is what I’d wish for them too; that they have friends like I do.

It’s like having a safety net beneath the trapeze. Just knowing they are there gives me the strength to fly.