18 years and more to go!

 Dear Anuya,

The universe does play an important role when it comes to meeting people, the strangers who step into your life out of nowhere and remain with us for eternity.

You already know, me meeting my husband was one such 'Kayanaat ka karishma' and then the people that I met because of him was ensuing outcome, occulting alike.

My marriage was fixed while I was doing my post-graduation studies and had n number of chances to meet my fiancee, a wonderful courtship it was. When I used to visit him and he was accompanied by his friends, it was a get-together of a sort. And then one day I met this young svelte girl, you, who was engaged to my husband's friend. You were also studying at that time.

We met and casually connected over a chat. "What do you do?", "What do you like?", some basic questions. But what really bonded us was, may be, the common factor of 'newly engaged' feel or 'would-be brides' aspect.

So each time we met, our talks became more and more interesting. Your stature was petite but your confidence transfixed me. The conviction with which you talked was always impressive.

It wasn't long years of friendship though, we just clicked. Dinners, outings, casual meets, brought us closer.

Remember? With our very limited cooking skills, we once cooked chinese cuisine in dinner for our group at your place. And the quantity cooked was so much that it could suffice the hunger of the whole society. We learnt from our mistakes and decided not to cook the next time :)) And are still trying to stick to the plan ;).

We got married, first me and you, two months later. Now, we could meet more often. This bond thickened as we got pregnant, that too at the same time. We had more common topics to discuss now. We shared our routines, fears, our joys. What to eat, what not eat. We had each other to vent out our emotions. Even the silliest of the things we could tell each other and not feel embarrassed. Still holds true right? We can discuss anything dumb and have a good laugh!

We gave birth to sons at a gap of two months. So our kids, same age and growing up together. This wasn't a planned effort, it just happened. That's why I said, when the universe intervenes, it's ought to be magical. As our second pregnancies were together too. Your daughter came to this world and five days apart I gave birth to my second son.

You would call me up saying, "Hey, got to know about this new baby brand, let's take a look". I would say, "Hey, this book on parenting is great, get a copy". This was super fun. The motherhood delights and panics, both adventures taught us so much. Losing weights post deliveries, following diet routines, or having a cheat day on a random day of week...we are partners in crime.

It also made our kids best of friends!

We shared every little thing, be it kids worries or husbands gossips.

We plan holidays, go on trips together. We have a blast, whether it's celebrating birthdays or just coming together to spend quality time. We dance our hearts out, we chat night long, we go on drives and rallies, stroll on beaches, get sloshed at times. We've so many of our firsts together!

We've one another's back, not only in happy times but through bad patches too.

We have been through ups and downs, and we've squeezed the lemons that life threw at us, also enjoyed some gin with the lemon juice!

Be it a woman's day or a day we ourselves make it for us women, we live every bit of it.

You are a dear friend who I really look up to. Being younger than me in age, that tons of confidence you've is unbelievable. Always striving to do more, getting out of comfort zone, winning awards for your outstanding work. You speak with poise and tenacity when you're talking business, yet, equally down to earth when you speak as a friend.

I feel proud, with each step you climb, onto the ladder of success and achieve your dreams. I guess, after a certain age, friends become sisters and metamorphose into mothers at some point. That's how I feel when you succeed, like a proud mother.

I call you My Superwoman -

Younger than me in age,

But intrepid dreams you envisage...

Your efforts are paying off,

There's nothing that'll make you stop....

Leap after leap, climbing high,

Wings spread wide to fly.....

Proud of you my dearest friend,

The way, hurdles courageously you transcend.....

My Superwoman, yes you are,

Nothing less than a shining bright star!

This poetry I had written for you, when you inaugurated your first office. Love you to the moon and back. I know it's a very clichéd line, but can't express in better words my affection for you. This tie of friendship with you, of more than 18 years now, has been a phenomenal journey for me.

"Friendship is a wildly underrated medication", how true is this! We've been treating our woes for years with this medication now. We can guess from our voices on the phone if the other is feeling low and we comfort each other, to the optimum. We share the same craziness and that's the thing that keeps us sane!

I learnt, taught, laughed, cried, celebrated, mourned, enjoyed, fought, lectured, got lectured, what more experiences do you need to have, for your life to be complete?

Thankyou dear for being with me, for me and by me, always!

Your's lovingly,

Jui.

PC: My Gallery.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Friendship isn't a big thing, it's a million little things ~ Paulo Coelho. 

And I would like to add that, these million little things add up to make the friendship big!

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