A PARTY LIKE THIS

What started as informal social gatherings for financial aid post Partition, kitty parties still make space for friendship, and create a sense of community for Indian women.

- JISHNU BANDYOPADHYAY

On an ordinary Thursday, the hum of Noida life was rudely stilled for 20-something Simranh. A sudden drop in blood pressure laid her flat on her back, making her feel like a stranger in her own new haven. The familiar sounds of the neighborhood seemed distant, her husband away, and her young children a world unto themselves. "It was a wave of nausea," she recalls, the memory painting a seasick grimace on her face. "My elder daughter was in school, the little one barely two, and I had no one to call for help. I had barely stepped out of the house in my early years of marriage, except for my monthly kitty parties."

It was then that fate, disguised as a phone call, intervened. A woman from her kitty, a women's social group, dialled at just the right moment. In hushed tones, Simranh painted her predicament, and within minutes, her lifeline arrived. Throughout the day, this friend from her sisterhood soothed her fears, tended to her baby, procured medicine, and ensured the elder daughter returned home to a warm meal as usual.