Tanu - Sri :-)

She creates subtle magic with her words; she does the same with her silence too.

We became friends over tasteless breakfasts, cups of excessively sugared coffee, a bizarre internship experience, potential and discarded magazine articles, blogging, and most of all, Music. And, I would have to confess – she came into my life right when I needed a friend. Almost like a Godsend.

As friends, we have experienced, and enjoyed, the congruence of thoughts. And we have had our moments of disagreement too. But I know that happens wherever there is the warmth of love, of true friendship.

There have been times when her inexpressiveness has hurt me, bothered me, confused me. Probably because I am conditioned to thinking that expression and speech go hand in hand. But she teaches me, slowly, steadily, that expression is not about being verbose.

She does not speak it all out like I do. She does not talk unless a question is put directly in front of her. She does other things that befuddle me. And yet, despite all that, she makes sure that whenever I stay over at her place, I get the sole pillow in her room. She spends hours staring at photographs of her baby nephew (the current man in her life), babytalking away to glory. If I drift off to sleep, she drapes a sheet over me. She can suddenly be overcome by a rush of affection and hug me tight, for no apparent reason. She knows exactly how much space to give, and when to interfere. She takes time out to listen, and to advise. She cares enough to chide me when I do something wrong – even when it is something as trivial as wearing accessories that can turn into potential fashion faux pas. She obliges me when I ask her to teach me songs, or help me with complicated Bengali lyrics. She does not tell me what I want to hear; rather, she tells me exactly what I need to be told, whenever I am en route to thinking an immature thought or making an incorrect decision. And she does a million other things which gently speak of affection, of concern. And that is how I learn, that love isn’t about being vocal. More often than not, it is simply about being Sri.

Much Love,

Me.