“Aise bhi koi jaata hai kya?” Asha Parekh is aghast at the unceremonious exit of her friend Nanda from this world. “I spoke to her on Monday night. We had a long chat. On Tuesday morning she was gone. When I spoke to her in the night she was absolutely norma. She was in no pain at all, not even any uneasiness.It is frightening when you don’t even get a chance to say goodbye.You are reminded of the fragility of life.”
Nanda and Asha were very close. “We had to meet regularly, all of us friends. Waheeda,Sadhana, Helen and Nanda and I. Sadhana had become too embroiled recently in court cases. So she couldn’t join us regularly.In fact on Tuesday Sadhana couldn’t come to day her final farewell to Nanda.”
Asha recalls all the good times she shared with her suddenly-deceased pal. “We, the entire group of friends, last met for lunch on Saturday just three days before she was snatched away from us. Now I wonder how we girl pals would ever meet without missing her constantly.”
Ashaji describes Nanda as a gentle soul. “She was a sweet-tempered soft-spoken person whom you’d never find losing her temper or creating a scene. She loved being at home. And in recent years she had become more and more of a home-bird. She loved her family. The death of a brother some years ago left her shattered. She had two other brothers.And she liked to spend time with them.”
Getting Nanda out of the house was an ordeal. “She had come for my 60th birthday. But she didn’t come for my 70th birthday.But I never held that against her. I knew it painful for her to dress up for public appearances. I was very close to her.We spoke about anything under the sun.My last conversation with her is now etched permanently on my mind. It’s hard to believe that now when I dial her number she won’t be there to answer.I have lost not just a friend but my confidante.”