A Tribute to our Friendship!

After getting up I got a call from Neelum and I asked her and Amol over for lunch as today would be their last day in Singapore. When Neelum and Amol came I served lunch and we all sat in the table eating and chatting. My menu was quite simple and it consited of "mutter paneer", chicken and dhal. I wanted to cook something special but could not manage to do it as Ibnat has not been keeping well since yesterday and she was demanding a lot of my attention.

We chatted about everything under the sun while having lunch and then sat together in the living space and started talking again. We had some yoghurt and icecream and little Nayaz was very keen to taste what we were having. So he crawled to his father for a bit of yoghurt.Faisal gave him some and he loved the taste so much that he kept making sounds to ask for more whenever he finished what was given to him. We were very amused by his expressions!

Meanwhile Adi and Iba started playing and the two buddies, as usual, started fighting over toys. We tried to mediate and when our efforts failed we decided to let them sort out their differences themselves.After a while they started playing together and it was clear that they were enjoying themselves. I looked at them and sighed. Iba would really miss little Adi, her first friend in Singapore.

When my hubby Faisal got a job offer from Singapore and decided to go for it, the first thing that came to my mind was thank god Neelum would be there! When Faisal came, Amol helped him find a place to stay.We purposely rented a house in close proximity to Neelum's so that it would be easier for us to socialize with each other. My hubby came first as I was pregnant with my second baby at that time.

On most weekends Neelum and I and our hubbies would go out somewhere and have good fun. Apart from being our close buddies, Amol and Neelum were also our "help hotline" in Singapore. Anything we needed to know, be it the bus route to "Little India" or where to buy an oven from, they were our constant guides. And they were always eager to help us out.

Neelum and I would talk over the phone almost everyday and meet frequently along with the kids. My daughter Ibnat is very fond of playing with Adi and also talking with him over phone. One place that we used to visit regularly was the Library as Neelum and I share a love of reading.

When it was time to leave neither Neelum nor I could hold back the tears. It was a poignant moment. Bidding farewell to friends is never easy, as I had realized once before in my life when I had set off for my home town, leaving all my friends behind, after completing my studies.

We said goodbye to each other, vowing to keep our friendship and the blog alive !