An ode to friendship.

My mother recites the story of Krishna -Sudama twice every week in the evenings.It is in line with our Vaishnava tradition.I have got so accustomed to it by now that I chip in if my mom forgets a word or two.Then the evening diya is lighted & prasad of poha,ghee & sugar or gur is offered.
It is sung in my mother tongue & though I would love to learn to recite it by heart,I am yet  to learn reading & writing in my mother tongue.I want to be able to recite it orally .I feel that the Krishna -Sudama tale is an enduring saga of friendship which is so very relevant to all times- an eternal story !

The helplessness of Sudama due to extreme poverty & his reluctance in asking his sakha ,Krishna for any redemption is something which moves one immensely.And  Krishna being the God that he is- naughty & all knowing, grants his friend, what he was too shy to ask.Before that, he partakes the puffed rice so lovingly packed by Sudama's wife as a gift for Krishna.Though Krishna would love to eat all the poha ,Rukmini stops him after a while. Rukmini is after all Laxmi,the goddess of wealth.

I have perhaps so unconsciously absorbed this katha that my friends mean the world to me.In return,my chums have tolerated me with all my idiosyncrasies.I can recall that I told one of my friends that I wanted to see a Dev Anand flick & she just got a video for me & watched it with me though she had seen it earlier.Another time,I just mentioned that I wanted to go to an exhibition & her response was ,"I will come with you."She is one of my  soul sisters !

One of my sahelis would regularly look me up at the hospital wherein my dad had been admitted each night just to make sure ,I was fine.Though,she would get very late as she met me & I gossiped non-stop,not once did she complain nor give up on her care for me till my dad got discharged.Her attitude has floored me !

I have also forged some new friendships with parents of my daughter's friends as I have realized, that as parents, we are similarly placed.One of such friendships has enriched me so much that I feel blessed indeed. ! She is someone who read each & every blog post by me when I was new to the blogging world.She encouraged me & stood by me.I can always depend on her to get out of any depressing states, I am in ...any time nah,every time  ! She is my happy go lucky soul sister ! 

Though, now, I am in my forties ,I feel, that I must meet my friends once in a while though, it has not been possible always because of so many reasons -partly domestic & the rest personal.As one of my friend keeps reminding us whenever she is in town,"Please do not tell about paucity of time.If you have the inclination to meet friends,you will take out time & meet them." As she rightly opines, all of us have only twenty four hours at our disposal- neither more nor less. I better heed her words & renew my vows of friendship.

This is my blog post entry for the  ‪#‎FriendshipDay‬ in honour of my  soul sister(s): A Women's Web contest with Zivame, India's largest online lingerie store!