My Mother And Her Dear Friend Champa

My mother had a friend called Champa. They were classmates in the Keyes Girls' High School and studied together till the 1940s when they were in their teens.

Champa was a Tamil Iyengar girl(a category among Brahmins, like Iyers). She was the only daughter of very rich parents, who could afford to buy Tamil magazines like the Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam, Kalki, Tamil novels. etc., every week for their daugther.

My mother used to visit Champa's house often during the day as they used to stay very close by. They would study together, chat together, do things together. When her mother called out to Champa discreetly, to have her share of tiffin or snacks, this girl would loudly ask her mother to get it to her and she would share it with my mother.

Whenever, those Tamil weeklies and fortnightlies would arrive, Champa's mother would hide them away from my mother's sight. She obviously din't like my mother reading their magazine copies freely. Champa would have no such feelings. She would go, search out those new magazines and give it to my mother, to take them home to read, against her mother's wishes.

My mother would simply love Champa for all this and more. Champa was a kindly soul. As soon as they passed their Matriculation exams (incidentally, my mother was the state topper in Tamil and a bright student), Champa was married off to an Iyengar boy. Soon my mother too got married. Being in the same city, they met on and off and bonded closely.

Champa had one son and a daughter. My mother had 4 daughters. Champa soon developed health problems and died of cancer, soon after while still in her mid 30s. My mother was inconsolable and too shocked. She would cry often thinking of her friend, Champa.
Even years after Champa's death, my mother remembers her till this day.

Why did my mother like Champa so much?
Champa was caring and she shared her books with my mother freely without rancour. Perhaps she knew her clock was ticking away too fast. She spread her warmth around despite her mother not liking it.
Deliberately hidden Tamil magazines were searched frantically only to be given away to my mother so that she could read them and return them back quickly. My mother must have formed the habit of reading books very quickly due to this.
Perhaps these gestures left a deep impression on my mother's mind because even now, she likes to borrow books from the library and read, even though we can afford all those magazines and many more, but she would never agree.
Champa's memories live in my mother's heart long after she is gone.
Long live such pure friendships.
Cheers.
Mahalakshmi.