From One Comment to Cozy Hugs

Celebrating Charming Connections with Gratitude

Image by NickyPe from Pixabay

I “met” Sujona Chatterjee virtually on Medium in June last year when I read a lovely post on KTHT that she had actually written in April 2021.

And I thought — wow, she can write! Of course, I started following her stories and soon we connected via WhatsApp because private-note-ing on Medium is such a bore-chore.

Thus began a beautiful friendship!

Soon, we also started enjoying marathon phone calls to rant, rave and laugh our heads off.

As I treasure and cherish my friendships, I often pause to ask myself, what makes a connection wonderful?

• Every conversation ending in, or punctuated with, laughter, no matter how it began?
• The freedom to talk about anything without worrying what the other person will think?
• The joy of sharing all kinds of silly and inappropriate photos without stopping to wonder if they will be okay with it?
• The liberty to message each other at all hours and welcome it?
• Feeling free to use profanity somehow knowing the other person won’t care or mind?
• That happy smile that turns into a giggle when we think of the person?
• Good morning messages every morning without fail?

My friendship with Sujona is all of this and more.

Our connection took off from the moment we started talking. I promised her that I would visit her when I made a trip to Mumbai, where she lives. Soon this became a promise to stay with her. She did the same and I could not wait to meet her.

When Diwali was around the corner last year — around October — we exchanged gifts. I got this gorgeous journal from her — with my favorite owls, no less!

Lovely journal — a gift from Sujona — Vidya Sury ©

We chat about what’s bothering us.

We rant and b*tch about what or who freaks us out.

We drool over hot people like Ian Somerhalder, Lucas Bravo, and others — the list is long but these two are the top two.

We GIF-bomb each other frequently.

We share music and movies and binge-watch shows together.

She threatens me, insisting I watch certain shows, or else.

We discuss situations that upset us, bug us, and sort them out, always ending in laughter.

I enjoy thinking that I am the voice of reason and wiser, simply because I have more years on earth and we refer to the experience to good advantage.

I consider myself truly fortunate that we met.

So, when she told me she was visiting Bangalore, I whooped with joy. She was also meeting another friend, and we decided to meet on Saturday for lunch.

Of course, I asked her what she liked to eat and stressed over the menu. Made a plan that was quickly squashed — the reasoning being that I should not be cooking when I should be spending time with her. So yes, I reluctantly let that plan go. I did keep whining to Sury that I had plenty of time to cook before she arrived — sigh.

Anyway, the day of her arrival

. . . dawned bright and clear. I woke up feeling super-happy with warm feelings for this special day. After breakfast and coffee, I showered and got ready. Then I paced the floor waiting. I tracked her ride over to my place so that I could wait at the main gate of our apartment complex and bring her home.

Some warm hugs later — we settled down with coffee. If you ask me now, I wouldn’t be able to say exactly what we talked about but — we ALWAYS have stuff to talk about. So, we simply took off.

Around 1.30 pm we decided to walk to one of my favorite restaurants nearby and had a lovely lunch, talking nonstop. Then we walked back home leisurely via the market (my city likes to call it world-famous). After we reached home, we lounged around for a while, talking. Then we had dessert — mangoes and ice cream. Followed by tea.

Talked and talked and laughed and laughed.

Sujona was meeting her friends later in the evening and around 7 pm, it was time for her to leave. Promising to stay with me the next time she visited, she left after more hugs.

We continued to chat intermittently until she boarded her flight back to Mumbai on Sunday.

And we continue to do so.

I wake up every day since we met to a “Good morning, gorgeous” message from her. A great way to start the day, right?

Grateful for the friendships I enjoy via Medium ❤ And oh, we did take a photo together!

Vidya and Sujona — From Vidya’s album ©

I hope to meet more people soon!

Again, I must repeat that I consider myself truly lucky that I get to talk to the close connections I have made here — to name a few: Dr. Preeti Singh, Mary Chang Story Writer, Nancy Blackman, Trista Signe Ainsworth, Lady Dr. Gabriella Korosi, Sharing Randomly, Winston, and more recently, I connected with Shruthi Sundaram who also lives in Bangalore (Yay!). Vanita Cyril, I’ve known for more than a decade now and consider my sister.

Here’s Sujona’s post about our meeting (her post sounds way more mature than mine ever will😉)

How Words Connected Two Souls from Two Different Cities

Thank you for reading.

Thank you, Trista Signe Ainsworth, for this wonderful space to celebrate gratitude.

Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ❤ Did you smile today?

Help me support underprivileged children via Ko-Fi. Thank you so much!

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