A way through the darkness.

The last few days have been a blur of goodies(more like photos) on WhatsApp. More specifically, on my school group.

Every Indian sweet and savory imaginable was lovingly cooked, photographed and put up in the group for our collective oohing and aahing. And boy was it a feast for our eyes!

Murukku and badushah and 7 cup cake and ribbon pakoda and milk pedha and laddo and aval mixture and cornflake mixture and thattai and halwa and jelabi and .....I'm slobbering all over the keyboard!

Exactly a week ago, we saw light at the end of the tunnel here in the US and one of my classmates casually mentioned that it seemed that the group was happy when I was happy. Whoa! And it hit me, I was happy because I had the group. The group made me happy. The group held me up above the roiling current and gently led me back from the rim when I looked down into the precipice. The pandemic was enough to put anyone over the edge and add to it the political situation here and you've got the perfect recipe for depression and anger and frustration. A supportive family is awesome, but a fun group is absolutely heaven sent! And our group kept me sane and indulged me when I was crabby, and entertained me when I was down and on the whole, kept me on an even keel when it would have been so easy to tilt into some dark place.

Though I am on multiple groups, I keep coming back to our group because it is the most reliable one. There is someone always around, you can get anything you want if you keep scrolling up or down. Memes, recipes, jokes, philosophy, movie reviews, photos photos and more photos-of kids, babies, flowers, forests, animals, insects, nature, sunrises, sunsets and most important of all..food, food and yummy food. And I can't forget our collages and Cliffnotes of the day from dedicated friends.

Like dessert at the end of dinner, this was literally an indulgence I craved when I woke up in the morning, but you could indulge in abundance-no worries about putting on weight! In fact it made you feel light and feathery on the inside. Literally a load off your mind.

So today, when we celebrate the festival of lights, my special gratitude and wishes to all my friends, most of us started life together at Fatima at barely four years old and I am so glad we are all journeying together still. Thank you ladies! Love you all to bits and I hope I have returned the favor by being at least a little bit helpful in your times of boredom or ennui or just plain frustration.

Fatima taught us well!!