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A GAL’S GAL PALS

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By Ratna Manucha

So here’s the thing. Let me tell you a little secret. We love our gal pals. We need our gal pals. Truth be told, we need them more than we need our nightly rituals of face cleansing and slathering on face creams and hand creams. We thrive on the validation that our gal pals bestow upon us. They are the security blanket we all crave for at different stages in our lives. They are like a breath of fresh air in our lives and they are the cause of the pink in our cheeks due to the happy hormones (pheromones, I believe they are called) and the spring in our steps… Men may come and men may go, but our gal pals, they stay on forever. Sorry if I’ve offended you, guys…that really wasn’t the intention… just telling the plain, stark truth! And sometimes, truth hurts.
And as we glide gracefully into middle age, our affiliation or leaning towards our gal pals, seems to increase… and thereby hangs a tale…
So to make it clear to you, dear readers, let me break it down in simple terms. You see, we have tons of gal pals and they are all, for the sake of convenience (ours, not yours) slotted into different little boxes. So we have pals with whom we like to hang out with at home, just chilling, bonding over coffee or a light lunch, another group whom we meet outside for lunch dates, then we have separate gal pal groups for going shopping and hold on… this gets slightly complicated for the simple male brain… separate pals for separate shopping… like a pal who likes knitting will be in one group (and never mind if the group consists just of two of us, after all how many women do you know who swoon over different colours and varieties of wool?) the one who likes aimlessly wandering in malls in general bonhomie would be in a different group, for movies there’s another group ad infinitum. And very seldom will they inter mingle. It’s only when one is certain that one gal pal from the lunch box (now don’t start taking me literally here) would get along with the group that meets up for movies do we take her out from her box and mix her up in another box. So now this particular gal pal belongs to two boxes. That’s an upgrade.
Have you noticed dear reader, when we gals need to go to the loo? Or the washroom as it is so delicately called. We need the comfort of our gal pals here too, and the more the merrier. Furtive glances are exchanged and the eyes speak volumes and if you strain your ears hard enough you could almost hear the hushed whispers, ‘You want to go to the loo?’ ‘You too?’ ‘And you?’ … Slowly, one brave one takes the plunge and decides to take the bull by the horns. In full public view, she gets up. Taking courage from her (remember, there’s safety in numbers) the second one gets up, then another and another. There’s such a feeling of belonging and togetherness and bonding over wee – wee… it’s almost as if this merry little band was singing together as it makes its way to the loo…
‘If you’ve got troubles, I’ve got them too
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you
We stick together and can see it through
‘Cause you’ve got a friend in meeeee…’
The job done, one would think they would go back to join the group…that would be the most obvious thing to do. But nooo, we don’t do that, not us. You see, us gal pals, we stick together, and so we wait. First gal pal no. 2 comes out and she stands around patiently waiting for the rest. Soon gal pal no. 4 comes out. Not necessarily in that order. Now no. 2 and no. 4 smile at each other. The sort of relieved smiles one gives after a job well done. They wait in genial camaraderie for the others to join them. And only when all have collected together do they move back from where they came, looking pleased as Punch.
Now if there are any guy pals reading this, no offence meant… we love you too, we do. It’s just that we love our gal pals a teeny, tiny bit more. Like if you’re the icing on our cake, our gal pals, well… they’re the cherry on top!
(Ratna Manucha is an educationist, an award winning author of fact, fiction and text books for children and young adults and a columnist who enjoys looking at the lighter side of life).