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| Vibhuti with her grandchildren (facebook) |
My New Year 2023 was the best ever, at least in a long time. I traveled from Narmadapuram to Mumbai, the city that never sleeps, and met my lovely friends Shals Mahajan and her partner, Chayanika Shah, both authors and activists in the Women's Movement. And then I was at my dearest Debika's flat for 2 nights, the 31st being one of them.
Debika lives with 2 cats, Auto, and Rick, and her nephew Anish in a cozy well kept flat with large windows through which her cats stare out, and eve's drop on conversations her neighbors have. When couples fight, Auto listens with added interest, even trying to peep into their flats.
I was given the large cat's bed beside Debika in the bedroom. You can imagine what happened next! As night fell on at 12 midnight hour, the cats began to crawl around landing finally on their beds, one lying on my head, the other at my feet.
On the 31st night, as the clock struck 12, Mumbai burst into colors and crackers, loud sounds of jubilation filling the air. Sound, light, and stars were displayed in the brightly lit sky as we all also fell into a hug, the cats on Debika's lap. And the house resounded with Happy New Year!
I left for my destination the next day. Porbundar is a small town, partially lying in the recesses of yesteryears when Porbundar was a major port where ships trading between east and west thrived. Now the city remained active during the day and night, with shops selling every possible good you might want.
In the midst of the ancient buildings, the bazaar is Mahatma Gandhi's birth house. Just behind that is Kasturba Gandhi's house. As would be the norm in those days, marriages happened between people families knew and were usually in the neighborhood.
I met Vibhuti in school in Mumbai. She was a boarder and I was a day's scholar, in different classes but we connected easily and bonded for a long time. Spanning the years, we have written to each other and shared photographs of our families, and even visited each other in Mumbai. Now she lives in another country, away from India, and visits India with her husband. They have a beautiful house and home in Porbandar where I was a lucky guest for 3 days. Bringing back with me the pigeon feather, sealed my New Year with love and friendship from both of us.
The friendship has lasted through school friendship, pen-friendship, meetings at different stages of our lives, and now, via Facebook and WhatsApp.
It binds us now for the next years we have on this earth.
We may be at different stages of our lives, but what lies strong as school friends outlive anything else.
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| The gorgeous Vibhuti in the school days |
