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�PALS - Its an acronym for Pioneers After Laughter and Smiles.�
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�Its stupid.�
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�Its hip. I think its cool.�
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�Why do we need a full form in the first place? PALS is just fine even without a full form�
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There were four of us. Each had an opinion, and was vocal about it. We were inseparable, completely committed to our friendship and totally outspoken.
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And we were oh so similar. The same uniforms and skirt lengths, the same attitudes and aspirations, the same thirst to prove ourselves, and very often the same grades and subjects.
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�Look, its best if we have a name that stands out. Just like the Pink Ladies in Grease.�
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�We need T-shirts.�
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�We need to make ourselves known.�
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�We need to advertise!�
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It was a painstaking effort to write a letter each (one had P, one had A, one had L and one had S) with pencils on the backs of our white school shirts. And yet, five minutes was all we needed. The rest of the recess was spent in walking up and down in front of the canteen. From the school gate to the football field and back. Up and down we went, taking care to turn together so that the letters wouldn�t get mixed up.
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We had arrived and announced ourselves with a bang.
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There was much that we did together, in school. Besides studying and cheating off each other�s homework, we would spend hours chatting or writing to each other, gossip about all the boys in class, create a ruckus whenever the opportunity arose and yes get into as much trouble creating mischief as was possible for four fourteen year olds.
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�So what happens when we all go to different colleges?�
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�It�ll be terrible.�
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�I�m gonna miss you guys.�
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�Nothing is going to happen. We will be best friends forever.�
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Fifteen years have passed.
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There are four of us. Each has an opinion, and is vocal about it. We are separated, by geographical locations, family obligations, work commitments and much else. We are still committed to our friendship and totally outspoken.
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We�re a bit different now. One had moved to the US with her husband, one is a housewife and two are career women. We�ve chosen different directions in life and our priorities and attitudes have changed.
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�Hi, are you there?�
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�I�m online. So are the others. Am inviting you to the conference.�
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�Hey, its early morning for me, girls.�
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�And its late night for us, but how are you?�
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And so it continues, for hours. We talk freely about our family, our work, our hopes and aspirations and about our disappointments and regrets. We look for the frank advice in each other than one can only receive from someone who has known and understood us from a very young age.
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�You know its been so long since we last chatted, but I still feel that I can just tell you guys anything.�
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�That�s because we know everything about you.�
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�Hey when are you coming down to India?�
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�Before she does, don�t you think the rest of us who are here, should meet up?�
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Saturday lunch is sacred. That�s when we all meet up, show each other our new hairstyles or hair colors and discuss everything from the latest style in salwar kameez to the budget. Its usually a long lunch over several slow courses and we hang around chatting till we eye the waiters giving us dirty looks.
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Fifteen years more will pass.
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There will be four of us. Separated by time and distance. Each will have an opinion, and be vocal about it. We would still be committed to our friendship and totally outspoken.
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And we would be oh so different, from each other by then. Middle aged ladies with much on their minds right from their children�s school play to investment planning for retirement and probably also the latest brand in anti ageing wrinkle creams.
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�I�m gaining so much weight, I don�t know what to do.�
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�Have you tried the seven day fruit diet I had sent you?�
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�Diets are useless, you�ve got to start exercising.�
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�I don�t know where you guys find time to exercise.�
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We would meet on Diwali and children�s birthdays, stay in touch though email and chat and SMS would be heavily relied upon for communication. We would know all there is to know about each other�s children as well. We would be distanced but never distant.
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�My daughter�s graduating this spring, I feel old now.�
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�I know the feeling.�
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�Hey, we�re not that old.�
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�Old is when you become a grandmom, not before that.�
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And then we�d reminisce. About our trials and tribulations, successes and failures, loves and losses. About the times we�d been there for each other and also the times when we couldn�t. About the mistakes we�d made the happiness we�d felt and above all about our friendship that was forged in youth but built to last a lifetime.
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And we�d know that another fifteen years would pass, and there would still be four of us. Each with an opinion each committed to one another and yes, each still totally outspoken.
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