Women's Day

Early mornings are the coolest and the most likeable part of our summer days in our Kerala. After the morning mass I was having my breakfast at Babu's, our very local shop which is famous for its good food and the most affordable rate.  This morning the restaurant was very crowded with the tamil workers who were just about to start the day at many construction sites around our suburb. The pootu and pappadam I ordered took a while to arrive and I was looking around the small restaurant when the lady on the next stool caught my eyes and attention. She looked like my friend Thiea whom I was missing very much. While fondly contemplating on the delightful resemblance my pootu arrived and the lady in the purple saree left. Half way through my breakfast a noisy group of tired looking ladies came in with their tuk tuk driver and sat right across me. They smelled terribly of fish.
These ladies were from a distant neighbourhood and had come to our local fish market  very early in the morning to buy and sell their fish. Having finished their day they were returning to their homes in the shared rickshaw they had hired while they stopped at Babu's to have their breakfast.
After overcoming the initial mere human thought of discomfort I made room for them on my table and said hello to them and they returned it cheerfully.
The way they shared their hot black peas curry among themselves and the comradeship that bound them together at work and in life made me wish that the friends I have was near and real too.