Bombay Nights, Midnight Parties, and the Friend I Didn't Know I Needed

There was an outpouring of love this morning from all quarters after I posted and blogged about my late husband. I received so many "How are you?" messages that I felt absolutely touched. The world is indeed full of kind and wonderful people.

One among them who reached out was Tasneem, my colleague from Adfactors Bombay back in 2016. She was the sweetest thing—small, petite, and with the most generous heart. In fact, I once had an entire litre of Sheer Khurma, all thanks to her. She was also my neighbour in Kandivali, and we shared a cab on most days.

For whatever reason—consider it the immaturity of a brash 30-something, or perhaps I was just a much meaner person then—I just couldn’t get along very well with Tasneem. Clearly, I was the toxic one in that friendship. Yet, Tasneem kept in touch with me over the years. Every time she reaches out, I feel like that young 30-something all over again, living in Bombay and attending house parties until 3 AM. Living in Bombay and partying with my Adfactors colleagues until the wee hours of the morning was clearly the highlight of my youth and the best time of my life.

Each one of us in that gang was unique in our own way. We all had smart-talking mouths, were street-savvy, and were figuring out the Bombay media landscape for our roster of clients.

I apologised to Tasneem this morning when she messaged me, saying, "I’m so proud of you, Gayatri." If that right there is not true love, I really don’t know what is. I am blessed to have such wonderful friends and colleagues in my life, with Tasneem, of course, being one of them. Thank you, Tasneem, for always reaching out and always saying something wonderfully nice to me. I love you.