Day 45. What better way to begin a week than meeting school friends. They were my first friends when I came to Calcutta and joined school mid-term in Class VIII. I remember our class teacher directing me to sit next to them. Those smiling faces welcomed me with open arms, embraced me, made me feel at home in a sea of strangers. Soon, we became inseparable. Shared lunches, mindless banter, unstoppable giggles for no apparent reason, day spends at each other’s homes during vacations… It’s been 25 years since we have known each other and we still remain fast friends. We sometimes speak after months, meet after even longer gaps but when we do, we get on as if it was yesterday.
Both Shabanaroze Chowdhury and Sreoshi Singh have been following my saris on the pact, so I decided to wear one to meet them today. And yes we did talk saris, the pact, my sari stories and more. And I even got a surprise gift from Shabana… a beautiful sari and a jura pin to celebrate my saree pact.
The chutney green Orissa cotton I wore today is a gift from my aunt Dolon Sen. She gave it to me soon after my wedding. The neckpiece and jura pin are Ma’s, the wooden bangle is from Fab and the terracotta fish earrings from another aunt Madhumoni Dasgupta.