Jahan char yaar

The above is the opening phrase from a song from a popular Bollywood blockbuster, Sharabi, in which the star of the century, Amitabh Bachchan glorifies the virtues of friendship, especially when four of them get together to have fun! ( four is only symbolic to give poetic twist)

The above song comes to mind as I reminisce the gathering of old friends last night. I had a rather lonesome and dreary week and to top up it, it happened to be my wife’s birthday, who for some important reasons had to be in Delhi, thereby breaking an age old tradition of two of us spending our birthdays together. I didn’t want the gloom to overwhelm me on an auspicious day and so I thought of arranging a quick get together of old friends and making some simple yet tasty food for them with my own hands.

And all these friends, who incidentally happened to be my ex office colleagues to, were a revelation that was quite contrary to their personality in office! Their latent talent of singing, dancing, joking, witticism was all at display in what turned out to be a memorable evening that celebrated my wife’s birthday in her absence. And for a moment, we all forgot our worries, concerns, apprehensions, frustrations to became gay abandon.

A special mention must be made of a friend who recently underwent an elaborate cardiac procedure and was not on my original invite list, fearing he might get carried away seeing others indulging in food and drinks. It was a pleasant surprise to see him to be back in his earlier best as he celebrated the “all clear” given to him by his attending doctor.

To quote the opening lines of the song from which title of this write up is taken, which are:

जहाँ चार यार मिल जायें ,वहीं रात हो गुलज़ार
जहाँ चार यार
महफ़िल रँगीन जमे ...
महफ़िल रँगीन जमे, दौर चले धूम मचे
नज़र देखे नये चमतकार, जहाँ चार यार...

The above is loosely translatable as:

When and wherever friends meet

The place becomes a garden full of sweet roses

It’s indeed a great party time

Everyone drinks but no one forces!

Instead of individually responding to their thanks messages for the evening, I thought of penning this blog to put on record my gratitude to their esteemed presence at my place.