Hey Gurl! This ones for ya!!

Friendship Day.
My greetings and gratitude to all my dear friends who have put up with me so far! But this year I would like to especially remember all my girl friends. Generally speaking, due to some reason (I am guessing its coz guys don’t get offended as easily as girls?) I get along much better with guys than girls – surprising actually when you think about it coz I struck up my first friendship with a guy only when I was about 18 (which was my dear friend Pravin). Till then I didn’t know any guy whom I could call as a friend-there were brothers and cousins and acquaintances of course, but no friend as such.

The very first friend I can ever remember is Aruna. I met her at school but I cannot recollect exactly how. I suspect we were probably sitting next to each other in class. Aruna is my longest running friend-its been 23 yrs! The latest close girl friend I made was Sivagami – my petite, curly-haired ex-colleague. People who know me should be well aware of the fact that I am hardly an outgoing or social person. I keep to myself mostly and do not make friends as easily as one would wish. I do not, by any extent of imagination have a large gregarious group to hang out with. But between Aruna and Shiva, I have made a few really great chums, who I hold close to my heart. Some friends I have known for years and some just for a short time. With some, we caught on like a house on fire. And some were indeed totally unexpected – like you, Anu! (U knw tht :-))

I do like hanging out with all my guy friends-it is fun and enjoyable. But I cannot imagine calling up ANY of the guys and asking them something like this “Hey do you think I should wear the pink dress for today’s party? You know the one I wore for Swetha’s wedding?” Can you imagine the response I might get?
Possible reply No.1: Uh huh….
Possible reply No.2: Nope. Don’t remember.
Possible reply No.3: Which Swetha? That hot girl with Angelina-Jolie lips??
Possible Reply No.4: Swetha got married??!! When did that happen?!!!

But instead if it was one of my girl friends “No d! That pink dress has been done to death. The theme for today’s party is Sunshine. So try something in shades of yellow/orange na… Hey I remember you have that gorgeous lemon yellow, off-shoulder top right? The one we got when we went shopping last month. And you can borrow my chunky earrings-they’ll be perfect!”
Now that is what I call a Life Saver ;-))

I agree, of course that practically speaking I cannot possibly call up a girl friend and ask her to pick me up if suppose I get stranded somewhere in the middle of the night. Nor can I ask her to help me carry the couch up the stairs. But for other things of grave concern and utmost priority like
‘Have ABC & XYZ broken up for good this time?’,
‘How do I make coffee?’,
'What is the latest style of jean called?’,
'Why did Surya have to go and act in such pathetic movies like Aadhavan?’,
'Where did Rakhi Sawant do her plastic surgery?’,
’Shall I go for a layer cut or a feather cut this time?’,
‘Why are boyfriends/husbands the way they are?’,
‘Should I wear my dupatta like this or like that?’, ‘Does this black nail polish look hideous?’,
‘Should I get a second ear piercing?’,
‘Am I looking sloshed in this photo or can I send it to mom?’ etc etc etc – nothing can beat gal pals!!
Despite the fact that I do have many guy friends and that I am blessed enough to have a loving family, gurl friends play a very special and important part in my life.

As R.L. Stevenson rightly said “No Man is useless while he has a friend” (I take the liberty here to apply this to Women as well). So here's to the gals – for all the never-ending talks and chats, for the long shopping sprees, for all the good and bad advice, for being with me thru good times and not-so-good ones, for helping me cope when I was down in the dumps and for rejoicing with me when I made it, for joining in the laughter as well as the tears, for tolerating my weaknesses and accepting my short-comings, never judging and for listening patiently to all my woeful tales of misery-imagined or otherwise. A zillion cheers!! May you always find Love and Laughter wherever you are and whatever you do! Muaahhhh!!

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