Picture this:
Its 6:30 in the evening. I have wrapped up work for the day and familiar feeling of a day well spent in chasing people least interested in being chased kicks in. I have also just baked cookies for a friend who got married recently and dutifully sent her a picture of the cookies that i would bring for her the next day.
'I am coming, these look too good to wait till tomorrow' she replies. So there she is, her mehendi still visible and wedding ring glittering gobbling up one cookie after the other obviously making up for the months before her wedding she was on a strict diet.
She shares with me the million stories that only a new bride can have (including some absolutely hilarious ones). The two of us sit in the balcony and i wrap a throw around my shoulders to protect myself from the slight chill in the chair. She politely declines the offer of something to keep her warm.
The grey, serious Thames rumbles around us as the grey skies look on benignly. On the marble table top in front of us are two cups of hot ginger lemon tea (healthy), sprouts ( healthy) and freshly baked cookies (divine) that i have baked to mark her recent wedding.
And we laugh non stop at the stories she has. Family both hers and his. The new husband. The wedding ceremony itself. It is all hilarious. The conversation turns more serious then. We discuss emotions, conflicting ones. And the struggles, the difficult ones...
For her new husband i pack half a dozen cookies. Half a cookie finally reaches him. The rest, my friend eats on the way home.
And this:
Four of us girls meet up at a fancy restaurant in Central London. And get border line bored (which is very rare given that we are all nautanki lovers and share a common passion for all things Bollywood). The food is great and we hog. Chat a little bit, not much though...maybe because everyone is tired after a long day at work. Giggle. Pull each others legs. Time to go home.
And it is when we are at the Waterloo station about to get into different trains that it begins. As one leaves, the others cling to her. No, we cant let you go, we yelp and that is the start of madness. Suddenly we all have soo much to say. And then this. And that. And another round of mad laughter. Someone says she wants to do the whole ring-a-roses thingie and we need to remind her that we are in a station. Someone suddenly spots a devilishly handsome guy. Someone says something else. Suddenly everyone is saying something and no one is listening.
The usual us.
We stand at the station for close to half an hour jabbing incessantly about everything and nothing!
And this:
So this friend from work is getting married, bless her. Three of us decide to go out for a quick drink before we send her off to India for the ceremony. The 'quick' drink lasts close to 5 hours.
5 hours of non stop (and i really mean this when i say it), nonstop laughing-till-my-stomach-hurts waali laughs. I am taught abuses that i have never even heard before that scandalize and amaze and excite me in equal measure. (Later I come back home and proudly inform my husband that I now know mannnnyyy abuses. As i rattle them off, Sid can barely contains his snigger)
We give the soon to be bride the all important lessons for a happy married life, lessons that can only come from happily married women (eg: Don't cook for your husband. Don't listen to your mother-in-law. Ever).
We first order the main course. Then desert. And then starters. No one gets a 'drink'. As we order the starter after the dessert, the very high browed waiter gives us a look that for no reason sends us into fresh peals of uncontrolled laughter.
And then this:
I am surprised to see that the call lasted over 2 hours; certainly did not feel that way. As i end the call, I have the widest grin on my face and I think my friend does too :)
Love
RP
Its 6:30 in the evening. I have wrapped up work for the day and familiar feeling of a day well spent in chasing people least interested in being chased kicks in. I have also just baked cookies for a friend who got married recently and dutifully sent her a picture of the cookies that i would bring for her the next day.
'I am coming, these look too good to wait till tomorrow' she replies. So there she is, her mehendi still visible and wedding ring glittering gobbling up one cookie after the other obviously making up for the months before her wedding she was on a strict diet.
She shares with me the million stories that only a new bride can have (including some absolutely hilarious ones). The two of us sit in the balcony and i wrap a throw around my shoulders to protect myself from the slight chill in the chair. She politely declines the offer of something to keep her warm.
The grey, serious Thames rumbles around us as the grey skies look on benignly. On the marble table top in front of us are two cups of hot ginger lemon tea (healthy), sprouts ( healthy) and freshly baked cookies (divine) that i have baked to mark her recent wedding.
And we laugh non stop at the stories she has. Family both hers and his. The new husband. The wedding ceremony itself. It is all hilarious. The conversation turns more serious then. We discuss emotions, conflicting ones. And the struggles, the difficult ones...
For her new husband i pack half a dozen cookies. Half a cookie finally reaches him. The rest, my friend eats on the way home.
And this:
Four of us girls meet up at a fancy restaurant in Central London. And get border line bored (which is very rare given that we are all nautanki lovers and share a common passion for all things Bollywood). The food is great and we hog. Chat a little bit, not much though...maybe because everyone is tired after a long day at work. Giggle. Pull each others legs. Time to go home.
And it is when we are at the Waterloo station about to get into different trains that it begins. As one leaves, the others cling to her. No, we cant let you go, we yelp and that is the start of madness. Suddenly we all have soo much to say. And then this. And that. And another round of mad laughter. Someone says she wants to do the whole ring-a-roses thingie and we need to remind her that we are in a station. Someone suddenly spots a devilishly handsome guy. Someone says something else. Suddenly everyone is saying something and no one is listening.
The usual us.
We stand at the station for close to half an hour jabbing incessantly about everything and nothing!
And this:
So this friend from work is getting married, bless her. Three of us decide to go out for a quick drink before we send her off to India for the ceremony. The 'quick' drink lasts close to 5 hours.
5 hours of non stop (and i really mean this when i say it), nonstop laughing-till-my-stomach-hurts waali laughs. I am taught abuses that i have never even heard before that scandalize and amaze and excite me in equal measure. (Later I come back home and proudly inform my husband that I now know mannnnyyy abuses. As i rattle them off, Sid can barely contains his snigger)
We give the soon to be bride the all important lessons for a happy married life, lessons that can only come from happily married women (eg: Don't cook for your husband. Don't listen to your mother-in-law. Ever).
We first order the main course. Then desert. And then starters. No one gets a 'drink'. As we order the starter after the dessert, the very high browed waiter gives us a look that for no reason sends us into fresh peals of uncontrolled laughter.
And then this:
I am surprised to see that the call lasted over 2 hours; certainly did not feel that way. As i end the call, I have the widest grin on my face and I think my friend does too :)
Love
RP
3 comments:
you have that effect on ppl :)
awww, thanks!
Aww :) I love those conversations that go on and on and you suddenly realize you have no idea how fast time flew!
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