Finding Madhavi

'Hi, I'm in town attending a Psychiatry Boards course,' she says. It is 7 p.m. I'm home after work, the dog is waiting to be fed and I have to rustle up some dinner for myself. I am in a state of shock and awe. Of course, we need to meet.
     Then I drive down 30 miles to meet her. We meet after thirty five years. We have spoken over the phone twice in all these years.She looks a little surprised to see me.
'You look like your mother,' she says, looking at me for a moment, in slight amazement. I have the same dark circles around my eyes now as well as my mother's comfortable girth. Madhavi, however,  looks the same, only a little grayer. The same stunning face, with its high cheek bones and perceptive kajal rimmed eyes. She stands her full tall herself, statuesque and graceful. I want to revert to being an impressionable 19 year old, but I relax and remain an easy 55 instead.We pick up from where we left off. Like old friends that we are.We sit talking in the hotel bar, while people come and go around us. As do many people that we knew, her parents, my parents, KP, Monisha, Kalkaji, Number 30 bus, early winter mornings in Delhi, State Entry Road, Hauz Khas, difficult relatives, odd teachers. We have stories, some wry ones, good for a laugh. We have our children, growing and struggling. We have our uncharted journeys through being spouses and mothers, without any trouble shooting manuals. Interesting that she attends counseling sessions to cope with her children; I throw caution to the wind and rely on my instinct. I tell her how much in awe I stood of her sophistication and her knowledge. She laughs and says she always knew I was a firebrand under my gentle traditional exterior. Then she says, 'You know, it is very important we tell each other these things, because, even if we knew these things, we need to hear this from our friends. Especially when we have absolutely no ulterior motives'. She tells me her sophistication and knowledge has been more of a source of problems to her. I realize that my problem has been almost the same with my need to be a maverick. But we both agree that we are blessed that our spouses have , eventually, allowed us to remain who we chose to be.
     The bar closes. They bring out a broom and sweep around us. Hint. Two older women sitting and talking quietly, cannot really be thrown out. It is close to midnight. A quick hug and I leave, the night is chill, but I am full of a gladness. Indescribable gladness of seeing a friend, of seeing myself, of seeing that a passage of time has validated my beliefs.
Posted by LinaS at 10:20 AM 0 comments Links to this post

The sun has shifted

The sun has shifted. It is close to noon and it is slanting over the Myers/Stern household straight on to my desk. Even a week ago it was almost vertically above. The old elm in the front yard has a touch of gold; the leaves are telling us an age old story. Even though it is a gorgeous warm October morning today, the earth is settling down for a winter's nap. I look in the mirror today, and see that I am the old elm.