Keep Your Girls Close, Even After the “Sanskaari” Upgrade

 You know what hits hard after marriage?

Realising that you're suddenly everybody — someone’s wife, someone’s bahu, someone’s mom — but not really you anymore.

It’s not like someone takes away your name, but you slowly stop feeling like that girl who used to laugh too loud, dance in her room, send 100 voice notes to her besties, or cry over nothing and feel okay about it.

And then one day, you talk to a friend.
A real one.
Not the “I-saw-your-story” type but the one who still knows what makes your eye twitch and why you hate drumsticks in sambar.

And in that one conversation, you suddenly remember her — the you before everything got so heavy.

That’s why girlfriends matter.
They don’t ask you to act your age. They don’t remind you to be ‘graceful’. They let you be loud, tired, goofy, messed-up, and still fabulous.

But here’s the sad part — some girls go missing after marriage. Just vanish.
And no, I’m not talking about being busy — we all are. I’m a mom, too. I have things to do all the damn time. But I still make time.

Because I need to talk to someone who doesn’t expect me to be perfect.

Once I called a friend and she said, “Are you so free these days?”
And I thought — No babe, I’m not free. I just miss you enough to find 10 minutes for this call.

So here’s what I’ve learnt at 30 —
Keep your girls close.
Check in. Say hi. Send that ugly meme.
Don’t lose the ones who knew you before all the grown-up labels came in.

Because for those few minutes, you’re not a wife or a mom —
You’re just you. And honestly, that’s the girl I miss sometimes.

“My post ‘The Weight No One Sees’ is why I still pick up the phone.”

“If you’ve felt invisible under all those labels, check out ‘When Did Being Mother Mean Giving Up’.”