The Portrait of a Friend

"You're one of a kind, different from others
Generous, charming, but not one that smothers
Optimistic, thoughtful, happy and game
But not just another... in the long chain."- Angela Lee Hillsley

I wrote out this silly little post (“Yours and Mine”) on my old blog and a fellow blogger named Vandita commented…

“hey mann. u don't know me so lemme just introduce myself... i'm vandita, and im a regular follower of ur blog... honestly i love every bit of it and i came across it through tanuj's blog... ok well i just told him to compliment u from my side and he suggested i do it myself... so then here goes, i wanted to say that i really love ur pic on the blog ... u lookin beautiful :) also lemme say it again, i love the way u write... keep bloggin and keep smiling”.

Saturday, March 3, 2007… My life changed and I didn’t even know it…

That wasn’t even a year back and Vands (as she likes to be called) managed to set up a whole new world for me when she introduced me to Bonnie and Mads, and the many delights that Yahoo’s conference facilities hold…

If Gunjan was the first one to point out that Tanuj and I were in denial, I remember Vands being the first person to find out about Tanuj and me. I remember the bright and warm voice that answered the phone when I first called her. I remember the smileys that answered my offlines… But my one stand out memory is the day I met her for real…

Her brother’s wedding turned more into a “Reunion of the Blogger Batch of 2007” what with Mads, Pratham, Tanuj and I being there… Tanuj and I had been driving round aimlessly and Vands called to ask if we could come to the DSOI to meet the gang…

I remember turning a corner to get to the rooms that they had, and this fair girl – her hair tied into a ponytail, hanging off the balcony waving madly. To say that I was nervous (even though Tanuj, who had met her, kept telling me how sweet she was) would be an understatement… She ran down the stairs (along with Mads) and gave me a big hug and that beautiful smile (it reaches her eyes!!!) and I knew in that moment that we would get along famously…

Vands means a lot of things to a lot of people, and everyone who knows her will probably agree when I say that there are no words to describe her… But I am going to try…

Sharp and witty, hardly anything gets by without her noticing (right down to spelling mistakes and date errors) and has no time for nonsense… She can talk circles around you about all the things that she is passionate about… She has this amazing positivism and optimism in everything that she does and she does do a lot – sitting it out is not her style (BTW – this blog is her doing)… A loyal friend - she is always there if you need her, only ever one text message away… She has this mischief in her eyes, but it is never malicious… She chooses to love, and loves without any expectations… That smile of hers never wavers and her child-like fascination for this game of life will take her places, of that I’m sure.

Vands, there’s a lot that I could say and write but I really don’t know how to go about it (and as I write this I'm wishing this post was longer)… This is very little compared to all that you have done for me and many others… So I'm just going to take this moment to tell you that I love you for all that you are… And if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t ever have come back to write here…