21/100. Passion. Integrity. Confidence. And a die-hard belief in the possibilities within other people. These were what struck me first about Meghana when I met her first 11 years ago. At that time, she was an instructor with one of the country’s premier dance companies. All of 22, she handled pushy mommies, hyper children and grandstanding adult students with consummate ease and grace.

Since then, our interaction had been through the occasional ‘likes’ and comments on posts and photographs. Time passed; she went on to join one of the most admired non-profits working to build awareness about violence against women. A few conversations over private message on issues that both of us felt strongly about made us think that we would connect on more than dance. A quick work trip to Kolkata for her seemed to be the perfect opportunity to reconnect.

On the agenda was saree shopping and dinner. After a quick stop at Byloom ( a beautiful grey and yellow cotton saree was what she came out with), it was home for dinner. And the woman who came home that Saturday evening had that same easy grace about her that I remembered. But what was really lovely was her determination to not let cynicism win. In spite of working with the not-so-savoury side of life every day.

It was only later that night when I was looking through the photos, that I realised how unconsciously – or maybe, subconsciously – apt my choice of saree that day had been. My Aabir from Byloom was in orange – the U.N. designated colour for standing up to violence against women. And it was as vibrant as my friend. 🙂

So, here’s wishing both of us more lovely cotton sarees than our closets have space for and even more wonderful memories than our hearts can hold. Come back soon. Kolkata will be waiting. 🙂