The only kid my age in our colony, jayanthi. She was a couple of months younger than me and we were great friends. I used to go to her house to play every morning and she came to mine in the evening. So thick we were that everybody in family knew her.(atleast her name). She was my junior in school and I used to help her with homework and were friends from when we were 2 year olds to 14 year olds. And then we lost touch. Heard she got married. Not very sure.
My first friend in school on my first day at school. My mom left me at school and left for home because she was told to. I was 2.5 years old and stood a few inches tall :P (I mean seriously, if you think I'm short now , you should have seen me back then.) So they ended school early and all moms came to take their kids. I was told to go home , so I went. I walked to the road and then realised my home was not there :D and started crying. One of the teachers saw me and took me back to school. There I met kalyani. She was smarter than me and a year older too and was waiting for her parents (how intelligent). She even gave me a chocolate!!! And we were best friends that day. Later we 'performed' a school dance and went on to become good friends. Both of us moved to another school and from there I moved to another school and we lost touch. I do see her in the bus stop once in a while. But now that we are grown up , we act like we don't know each other and walk past.
There was Radhika, who simply adored me and took care of me all the time. She used to scoop out food into a spoon and then flip the spoon into her mouth. At that age I thought it was amazing :P. We lost touch later but we still smile at each other when we meet.
There were no special friends after that until I joined a new school when I was 10 years old. This girl and boy came with me to school on the bus. And we just spoke to each other. And we've been friends ever since. Kiran and I have been inseperable in school. Lost touch in between but got back again. I missed her wedding and her baby shower and still she wasn't mad at me. Praneeth and I have lost touch now. But back in school he was one of my closest buddies.
In tenth standard I joined another school and there were a few friends. One day we had a school excursion and none of the girls from my class turned up. That was when I met sowmya. She came upto me and said. Hey don't worry that you are alone. Join us. She is one of the most level headed and intelligent girls I know. We were not that thick in school but became real good friends while we were in college. Lost touch now. Her smile is the no 1 genuine smile in my list.
My first day in intermediate , I sat next to this real tall girl we smiled at each other and exchanged names and they sounded almost similar. She was yasmine and I am yamini. She said 'don't mind , I talk too much'. I said ' No problem, So do I' and we never stopped talking after that. Partners in crime , always upto some mischief. And strangely I never felt odd walking next to her. She was almost a foot taller than me. She used to talk to her boyfriend for hours on the phone and tell her mom she was talking to me. And her mom would always scold me whenever we met :) . yasmines married to her boyfriend now and has kids. Her number has changed and whenever she tries to call me I'm never at home. And my folks forget to note down her number. So we've lost touch.
Graduation days, BARDAASH, Almost all of us met during dance practice for the farewell party of our seniors and became really good friends. I went up to these girls and said 'I'm going to dance for the farewell will you join me? I'll teach you don't worry' and then we were all great friends.
Bhagya - tall and fun. She is cool and unassuming, boyish and I dont remember how I met her. Sorry dear missed ur wedding.
Aruna- Pretty! stunning! beautiful! intelligent! and very very sensitive. We were art partners. She was a lot into writing poetry and I too was bigtime into poetry back then. She calls me up after 2 years to tell me she got married :) . Lives near my place but never got to meet her yet.
Let me skip the R and the D.
Anitha- lovely long hair crazy about icecream and the most traditional among us.
Sharani- My darling! We used to go to college together every day. We gave our first job interview together and been together almost all the time for the better part of the three years. She is really sweet and cute. A little slow at times but that adds to her charm. We all used to crack up on some silly little jokes and after all of us stopped sharani would start laughing saying ' oh i got it now'.
Harika- The guy of the gang. Used to tease me about how little I ate. She'd be proud of me if she saw me eating now. I used to hate how loudly she spoke and she used to hate my hatred of loudness. Nevertheless we were great friends. I always used to say I would never wear a sari even to my wedding. I wore one to her wedding and fell in love with sarees. Now I own 25 :). She has a baby but I could not visit her due to work commitments.
And then I joined WASE and had an explosion of friends.
My first friend in WASE Ayisha. We stepped into this world together and ended up joining the same project. She was the serious kind while I was everything else. As they say opposites attract. Still in touch.
Then there was Dipti. Dips was always fascinated by my earrings and she used to ask me if my ears don't hurt wearing them. We then performed at an office event and there was no turning back. We have been really good friends ever since.
Naveen and I fought with each other during our early days in WASE over who gets to sit in the first row. But we became friends soon enough. He calls me akka coz I look like his sister. (He is older than me though). I must say I have never seen anybody more talented than naveen. This guy is good with almost anything. Except language. He is no good at any language :D
Parvez. Where do I start and what do I say! My bestestest buddy. We have been inseperable for a loooooooooooooong time now. He is almost like family now even to my parents. One day (2 days before my birthday)I came to class on my sunny and my hair was completely dishelved. He asked me if something was wrong with me. and told me he'd gift me a rubber band on my birthday. He actually gave me a rubber band on that day. don't remember whose band it was. We used to study together early on but after that we went on to know each other and became very good friends. He is the one who made me realise my potential in whatever I did. And he is the reason behind my addiction to non vegetarian food. We share a love for animated movies and KFC. Good or bad every moment shared has been wonderful
Pinki, she and I are so much similar, yet so different. Saw her first at the entrance exam for WASE. She seemed like a snob and I really hated her. over action chestadi.. that was my first impression of her.It was much later that I understood overaction is her birthright. 100% senti 120% mental. Again dance was the reason we became friends :) . We are crazy when we are together , but always in a logical and sensible way :P . Nobody but pinks and me can do that. What I like best about her is that she never tires praising me :P
Pavan , Jyo, Ajju, Anil, they were my busmates at different times and it was always a lot of fun being with them.
Rakesh and I first sat together in class because I had no place to sit that day. We found out we had a lot in common. The conversation that started that day lasted more than a year. People had to force us to stop talking. Ego , misunderstandings and mistakes on both sides led to the end of this friendship. We are changed people now and I don't expect the friendship to grow back anymore, but I cherish the loooooong conversations we've had.
Arindam dasgupta, how I hated him. Good looking in a careless sort of way and always upto nonsense. Dance and music were the foundation of our friendship. Later, he became a good friends boyfriend (soon to be husband) and I had no choice but to accept him as a friend. :)
Sourav, I was never comfortable talking to him. He always seemed so distant and aloof. I only knew him as the guy who was crazy about miss XXX. The number of friends I've made from dance shows, Sourav is also a part of that list. We never spoke much to each other for a very long time. I remember how he was dancing like crazy on a DJ nite and everyone thought he was drunk. He came upto me and said 'I swear achi, I'm not drunk'. That was funny and scary at the same time. Thanks to Gtalk we are really good friends now. And I know what he thinks about 'everybody'. :P
Bakka ravi, he and I used to travel on the same bus but never spoke to each other. One day I was sitting on the last seat depressed about work, he came out of nowhere and started talking to me and cheered me up considerably (he dint know I was depressed). And from that day we spent every bus journey speaking to each other. Right from Hariharan's silky smooth voice to how to flirt with gals (both of us don't know how :P ) , we spent our journeys talking and talking and talking. WASE ended and the bus journeys ended but we do make time once in 2-3 months to stand outside our ODC and chat.
Dave and kavita, Late entrants into my friends list. They both have always been so much fun. And I must say I'm a huge fan of kavita's poetry and the way she speaks. So much to learn!!!
And then there are Sofia, Shailaja, Kamala, Sunita, jyotsna, Y madhu, S srikanth, Vedavyas, Raghava, Pooja, Farida, Vandana, Shyamala, Shanthi, Ramu, Srikalyan, Indu, Sush, garima, shaifali, aarti, rajani, shailaja, sailu pinni, sailu potlakay, anu, adi, rohini,neetika, sujata, vidya, anil, mithul and Hanu. All of you have been very special and have played a part in moulding me into what I am today.
