Girls

When their handwritings had not taken shape yet

As much as their chests hadn't;

Much before they knew what the word friend actually meant

Times when they were obliviously dressed in petticoats

Or even carelessly walked about in their red and green, particularly short PT skirts.

When they went about blowing a kiss to every red car they saw

Only to get get lucky with some favourite food of theirs back home.

They said the name of every car of their time that passed by :

Daewoo Matiz, Contessa Classic, Mitsubishi Lancer, Esteem and the likes,

Some silly fetish they had nursed to remember these names :

Lest they could even think of owning one!

Mathematics remained elusive, anything related would make them freeze in fear

They tried their best to just scrape through the exams :

By inspiring themselves with pretty stationery:

Smiley, Apsara and Natraj Pencil, Natraj and Faber Castle Eraser, Pens that had refills with incense.

Whatever they wrote would come out with a pleasant smell;

However Maths still stank for them, and vice versa!

At a time when The Hindu's Young World came out on Saturdays

The Mahabharatha on Sundays

Swabhiman, Junoon and Shanthi during the week

Their days were made, their childhood, pretty much the same!

Sunsilk shampoo came out with small pretty clips- pink, black, yellow and crimson hues

Their hair was long enough to be decked with these clips.

They went through the same drill for their hairgrowth :

Coconut oil followed by Clinic Plus or Sunsilk Shampoo.

Menstruation was almost together too-

They whispered and stayed-free...

They were together almost always,

Familiarity never bred contempt, even once.

Even as they parted from school, they kept in touch

In the most intimate manner:

Neither via phone calls, nor by meeting each other at their homes;

But through letters- they felt the sameness through their handwritings.

And then they remained elusive

Until recently when they first spoke on the phone

Not once they had realised how they sounded on the phone

How their voice had developed

What it meant to call each others' name on the phone

For they had always only met or written to each other!

They still had remained those girls of yonder in their heart

Regardless of the changes they had gone through.

For some strange reason, they looked the same.

Women of their thirties

With a shapely body and mind.