Friends...

All our lives, we are often surrounded by countless people, wearing different hats and influencing us in very different ways. 

One constant demeanour amongst these social relationships are friends. Over these past two years, have I truly realized the importance of having some very amazing friends. May that be my roommates, WPU friends, school friends or LHA(my accom) friends. They do play a very significant role. While most part of the day, we all are busy in our mundane activities like attending Uni, going to work or a bit of both....yet every single day we 5-15 Indian gather at the dining table of our cafeteria at sharp 7:15pm and have 1 hr long sagar sangeet Wala dinner. We talk on random topics, give each other life updates, have gossip sessions in Hindi or marathi (that's our code language), make plans, curse the bland food and laugh our hearts out!! On weekends we go for long walks post dinner and for lunch, we cook Indian food together in the oven or griller! 

I feel so soo refreshed after these meal times. There have been days when I have been feeling very lonely or Uni is going super hectic, or I am feeling anxious....but then I head downstairs for meal, meet these guys and when I am back in my room, am feeling better than ever. Such days remind me how grateful I am to have been surrounded by my fellow Indian friends. Perhaps the best days are those weekends when I have been around my RCA friends, then on video call with my friends from WPU, voice call with my school friends and then meals with LHA friends! 

I know this isn't permanent tho, many of us would be on different paths, some leaving LHA, or some getting super busy, but I would absolutely always cherish these winter evenings filled with laughter and smiles. 

Shaivi Kant

London, Nov 2023.