Yaaron dosti badi hi haseen hai

Friend

This word has so many meanings.

1. A person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection, and loyalty; an intimate

2. An acquaintance or associate

3. An ally in a fight or cause; supporter

4. A fellow member of a party, society, etc.

5. A patron or supporter

All I know and understand is..

A new me and a confident me is a result of efforts of all my friends who have been there with me in all the walks of life and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all.

I am the only child, always missed a sister/brother, but not after I started teaching German in the Mumbai university. That was a turning point in my life. I changed into a dynamic and confident person from a very depressed and a sad person who had a negative self-concept. Interacting with my students and seeing the joy of learning a new language on their brightened up faces gave me a new found happiness and changed me to what I am today. I want to thank my first set of students ever, thank you Gajanan Palsule, Madhura Ratnaparkhi and Mandar Kelkar, who were responsible to make me a good teacher.

My friend, Vrishali who was with me studying German during MA helped me financially to enroll for the translation course and I will be thankful to her and her family all my life. When relatives did not stand there for me, she and her mom without any hesitation paid my fees for the course and never ever asked me when I shall return the money. I paid it back when I started doing a job and till then they never mentioned their big help. She is now happily married, with a son, now in UK and I am in touch with her through mails. Good things happen with good people!

I had a group in my school and college too, but then somehow we lost touch and met after a gap of years on Facebook or on mail, but I realized that we all had a different life now and connecting on a very personal basis with them was very difficult. So most of my school and college friends whom I met again more or less now just remain hi, bye friends.

The Marathi e-group which I am a member of and where I met my hubby, Atul, gave me wonderful friends, some are still in touch with me, but many have gotten busy with their own lives and kids which is quite justifiable. Gauri, Priyank, Meenal, Seema and Hrishikesh, Priyank, Vishwajeet - We all had a nice group when I was in Mumbai and we met up regularly to catch up on issues ranging from political to personal. After I moved to Bangalore, though the personal visits were less, we were in regular touch with each other on mails and calls. And whenever I am in Mumbai, I make it a point to meet up with them. It feels so good to experience the gone-by days again with them when life was so carefree and simple.

Bangalore gave me wonderful friends too. Koustubh, Sudhir are from my previous company. Though we have now changed companies, we are very much in touch with what is happening in each other's lives. I know I can count on them even at 12 in the night, when I need any help.

Colleagues, who have become close friends and with whom I share all my personal and professional worries and tensions if any, helped me a lot to come to terms with issues which I took to heart unnecessarily. Aabha Karmarkar gives me a pep talk whenever I need it and I hammer her too when she is low on her mood. Snehal Oke and I share a lot of things in our personal lives, because we have many common things when it comes to our husbands. Tejaswini, who was my shuttle mate, turned into such a lovely friend that I can't imagine a single day at office without her. I do not know how I am going to cope with her not being there in office from next month. I wish her all the best in all that she has decided to do when she will be a home-maker. John Jethi was also in my company who became a close friend too. He is my critic and supporter and he is a strong force behind my writings and my blog. We connect on various topics and seek each other's comments on whatever we express and write.

Thank you all my team mates in Pune, who are there to listen when I have to say something!

Swati Pandit, whom I met in Mumbai for a very short time is a regular reader of my blog and we talk a lot online on different issues and things. We both share a passion for learning languages and we both are foodies. Though she is in Australia currently, I do not think she is so far from me. I just think that she is just a phone call away. Shreyas, who is more a friend to me than my brother-in-law is a very wonderful human being and I often give him gyaan because I am elder to him. He also makes me understand things sometimes from a male perspective, which is a revelation for me.

I thank all you friends for having accepted me as I am. You never judged me on my appearance or my financial background, but you all gave me unconditional love and supported me through my highs and lows. You all mean a lot to me and I would even go to the extent of saying that my life is pleasant and easier because you all are in there. I do not regret of not having a sibling to share my life, because I have you all to share now.

Ajay, Mandar, Milind, Rahul, Deepali, my group from HP (Shankar, Vishnu, Anil, Smitha), Merlyn, Shilpa - Thanks to you too! 

Happy Friendship day to you all!

Though this is not the only occasion when I should tell you how much you mean to me, this is just a token of my love and appreciation!

I dedicate this song to you all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2DqdEzP6iE

Thanks for being there!