70/100. This day, we marked an ending. And celebrated the beginning of a new chapter. The end of the chapter brought release and relief. And I am filled with excitement at the beginning of the chapters to come. Because, the rest of the book will be free-flow, not subject to censorship or censure guised in the name of editing, not subject to page limits either.

Sounds kind of obscure, right? To put it simply, this day marked an end for me and the beginning of an end of sorts for Jonaki and Upasana, the two friends you see with me in the photograph. The three of us met while working at a publishing company and while we owe our friendship to this, it will not be at all wrong to say that our connection survived despite and in spite of working in the same company. This company, you see, frowns on friendships at the workplace, sees camaraderie between colleagues as a distraction from work and not very subtly discourages close connections.

But, the non conformists that we three are – in our own very different ways – friends we became. And friends we stayed.

Here we are, celebrating my last day at work at a wonderful new cafe that trebles up as a bookstore as well as a live gig place. What better place to enjoy a connection forged at first over books and music? We ate, and we chatted over cups and cups of coffee. And we took photographs, of course.

My saree is another vintage favourite – a two-decade old blue-with-tinges-of-purple chiffon from Kanishka, with their signature block prints. The print is subtle and not very clear in the photograph, but the fluid elegance is. I am not sure exactly why but this is a saree that has always given me that extra boost of confidence whenever I have needed it. Parent teacher meetings, interviews and even as a panellist, this saree has given me that extra bounce. Something I needed today. Because as confident as I am that we will stay connected in all the ways that matter, I still won’t be seeing these two dear faces every day… And that does make me sad… Not to mention worried – about who will take my photos for the pact – about 35 of my 70 sarees have been documented by Upasana, after all! ?