Touching a virtual friend!

I was excited, to say the least. Like a school girl, I would say. I know I know, it’s a tad bit late for all those days, but still.

I was flying to Delhi and had plans to meet a friend. Hadnt informed this friend about it and was planning to call, as soon as I landed there. It will be a complete surprise for this friend.

And the best part was this friend was someone who I had met through my blog, a virtual space. Now in Delhi, we had common roots, from the land of coconuts and lungis ( now that a lungi is famous across India, after the Lungi dance).  We had earlier, sometime last year, connected up over phone and this friend’s voice was an amazingly smooth and comforting one, that I could easily relate to. We could go on forever speaking as if we were bosom friends from childhood. I had not thought of how this friend looks and it didn’t matter – all that mattered was that I will meet someone who had a special place in my heart and my life.

Strange how my blog friends have become so much part of my life now. Including the others I have not met. :-)

So right from the moment I left home, I was thinking about how this meeting is going to happen, ambiguity and absolute lack of planning, adding to the excitement.

The moment I managed to give directions in my broken Hindi to the non-english speaking and a slightly rude cabbie, I called up this friend. Vincyyyyyyyyyy came the reply.. don’t tell me you are here. And we went on as usual. The concern in the voice, the gentle admonition for not keeping posted about the trip, the long awaited meeting – I was falling in love with it all.

And taking into consideration the time constraints we planned to meet the next day. And this is the first time I was coming to this sector in Noida, no clue about the places and locations around and again completely unplanned. What coincidence, the office that I was going to from my organisation was just a stone’s throw away from the office of this friend. Our meeting was destined to happen.

My session was in the morning, and it went on well, and before leaving to the airport, I went to the office where my Virtual friend was working.

I could feel the adrenaline pumping when I was in the lobby and the receptionists were giving me a weird look, probably my wide grin on the face. Remember the school girl bit? Wish I could act my age at times :-) In a few seconds there was an equally smiling beautiful girl in front of me – we hugged and hugged and continued hugging. We pinched to see if it was true.. Yeah all in the lobby, and realized that we were being dramatic and moved out quietly. We spoke, we touched, we giggled, we laughed and sure enough didn’t get enough of each other even after 15 minutes. By any standards 15 mins is too less a time. From a school girl, we both got a couple of years younger and became little girls – She was equally cheerful as me.

I still remember the perfect eyebrows that she has, shaped like a bow, exactly the way poets describe a woman’s eyebrow, the glowing eyes and a smile that can illuminate the entire place. I am smiling as I key in this, the memories still fresh and alive.

Its more than a couple of months now and I am still relishing the gift, virtual world has brought to me.

Rekha, here’s to the wonderful YOU, the love we share and to the virtual universe that brought us together.