The literal translation of Devi is Goddess, and Rani is
Queen. The titles were not earned, but were assigned during a mindless conversation
during an April blizzard. The Devi cleared the roads in and around Chicago of the
snow the blizzard left behind for the Rani who demanded it. And all this to travel
to a class! That was almost twenty years ago, but the titles stuck.
My friend, the Rani, is far from the demanding kind. She is
everything we look for in a good human being. A daughter, who takes care of her
parents; a sister, who always looks out for her siblings; a mother, who has
sacrificed a great deal for her children; and a friend, who has held mine and
many others’ hand when they needed it the most.
Our memories together are countless, and include many tears –
from laughing, from being mad at each other, and sometimes, tears of grief. Rani once convinced me and another terrified friend to switch theaters when the
movie we bought tickets for turned out to be awful. That she fell flat on her
face when trying to leave the theater was a sign to us that we had sinned
badly. Once Devi, being the reasonable person that she is, asked Rani to sleep on the sofa so
she could share her twin bed with another friend, Rani decided to dig herself
in and not move. The result was 3 grown women sleeping in a twin bed, holding
on tight to anything they could so as not to be tossed out when caught off
guard. There were three very sore backs and very bad moods the following
morning.
As I write this post, I am overwhelmed and will probably
have to write a book to cover everything I want to write. My parting note is something
that brought tears to my eyes on the first day of 2014 – “Happy New Year, Devi.
I am really sad about 2013 – it is the only year since I met you that I did not see you".
Happy Birthday, my darling! We may have missed 2013, but we
will make up for it soon. And the miles between us will never change our
memories and our love for each other.
