From strangers, to acquaintances to friends
Photo Credits: Gayatri Narayanan
Nora and I first met last year. On the 19th of January 2021 to be precise. It was just a couple of months after she had turned 100. Nora was thrilled to receive a congratulatory letter from the late Queen Elizabeth and was featured in several newspapers. In fact, that’s how I had found out about her and subsequently, pulled out a few strings to get her contact number.
We spoke for over two hours– from her days working as a hairdresser to dating a pompous American gentleman.
The next time we met, she gifted me a book from her gorgeous library– an assemblage of 700 immortal selections from the writings of the World’s greatest authors….A 1937 edition! It is one of the best presents I have ever received.
The third time, my colleagues and I visited her apartment to shoot a reel with her. I still remember how excited she was to learn about Instagram and reels!
In frame: Nora with my colleague Unnati Anam (on the right) and the CEO of Humans of Bombay, Karishma Mehta (Left)
Afterwards, I made it a point to pay her a visit every 2-3 months. I’d buy her flowers, as usual and in exchange, she’d tell me stories…..plenty of stories. Our conversations would start off with discussing gen z’s obsessive cell phone usage and end with Nora complaining about her househelp. I sometimes even took my friends along and Nora would be as welcoming and kind to them as she was to me. And my friends, awestruck by meeting a centenarian.
Early this year, she had to move from her apartment to another building just around the corner due to some renovation work in progress. She obviously misses the house that she grew up in and quite often, worries about the state of her library, which sadly, she couldn't bring with her.
I’ve seen Nora get more wrinkly in the past few months. I suppose it’s not unnatural to look older as you age but because I have seen her in all her glory, in her 100th year, it saddens me to see her gradual yet graceful degeneration. She used to welcome me with a big hug whenever I visited her and sometimes, telephoned me to talk about random things when she was bored. Now, I have to jog her memory for a few minutes before she finally says, “Oh yes! Welcome my friend.”
In any case, age has been kind to her. Once her memory is revived, we still sit and chat for hours. Just a few weeks ago, she tried Nutella for the first time and my friend, also a photographer, captured the moment perfectly. She even requested that I get her another jar the next time.
Skip to December 2022, I can’t believe that it’s been 2 years since I first met Nora!
This holiday season, I decided to go crazy and send traditional postcards to a bunch of friends. And just like that, I had addressed and posted 61 postcards! But there was one person I had to deliver the card to in person– my dearest Nora.
Here’s wishing my lovely friend another 102 and beyond. You know how they say that unexpected friendships are the best ones? I can attest to it.