SGILites Meet up…. A Confession

Singapore ILITES Shall We Meet? It was just another thread in the Indians in Singapore Forum by an ILite Mathu. I read it and did not give it much thought as I am not a great fan of meetingpeople I don’t know. I just followed the thread though as I was fascinated by the idea that people are eager to meet others whom they virtually don’t know. Coward, old fashioned…. ouch! I hear you, but that’s who I am. Then somehow I happened to welcome a new member, Liz, to Singapore and IL. She seemed to be an outgoing personality genuinely interested to meet new people to socialize. So, to be polite I answered that I would also like to meet other ILites never believing even for a second that I would ever dare to meet anyone whom I had never known personally. I never thought that my politeness would actually drag me out to do something that I had never done before!!

Somehow Mathu’s thread got a lot of responses and I was also tagged along and finally I found myself planning and deciding on a venue, date and time for the meet up with four ILites. Since exchanging phone numbers is against our forum etiquettes, we decided to have a colour code for easy identification and the colour we chose was pink. So the date and time was set and the venue was decided (McDonalds at City Square Mall) and the colour was pink. So now there was no backing away…. jeez… I was nervous!!

On the D day, I started from my office at the usual time and arrived at the venue on time slightly nervous. I found a young lady wearing pink shirt waiting right outside the McDonald’s outlet holding a book and her handbag looking uncertainly at me. I smiled and went closer and she asked me “ILite?”

“Yes. Hi, I am Akila” I introduced myself. “I am Mathu” she replied pleasantly and we both started chatting a little awkwardly at first and then a lot more comfortably after a few minutes. We looked around and waited for the others to come but as the time passed we were uncertain if the others would show up. We decided to sit inside and wait and just as we sat down, another young lady with a tentative smile, wearing a pink salwar kameez came up to our table and asked “ILites??” We smiled and introduced ourselves and were surprised to know that the others were already in, only to realize later that there was another entrance.

All of us exchanged names and pleasantries. We all settled in with a drink each and a lot of chit chat. We started talking about life in Singapore, the ups and downs of living here, places to visit, Chinese customs, etc. I started relaxing and grew more comfortable as the conversations went on pleasantly and smoothly without much effort. All of them were so cheerful and bubbly, eager to know about each other’s interests, likings, and life without being nosey or judgemental. Before we realized it, it was almost nine. Two hours had flown by like a few minutes. We exchanged phone numbers and reluctantly got up and parted company sharing hopes of meeting again soon.

On the bus back home, I was wondering, they were all lovely women, very friendly, kind, and smart; so why was I reluctant to meet them in the first place. When I am able to talk to complete strangers on IL, why was I hesitant to meet them face to face? What was I scared of?

I guess it was the fear of the unknown. I was afraid that they might not be what I expected or what they presented themselves to be, but they proved my fears to be completely baseless. I enjoyed every minute of the get-together. I loved putting faces to names. I completely enjoyed each person’s uniqueness. We were all women in different stages of life sharing many common issues, simple joys and hopes.

So will I be game to meet another set of new people. Are you kidding!! I will be tensed and nervous as hell, but sure I will be open as well.

PS: A special thanks to all the ladies I met, Simi, Liz, Mathu, and Suba. You guys made me feel right at home. Thank you guys!!

 

Dear Malar,

Thank you for stepping in dear!!
Actually, that did happen to one of us. Simi was the first to arrive almost an hour ahead, and when she saw someone sitting in pink, she approached her thinking it was one of us. She asked if she was from IL and that person gave her a confused look. So she went on to explain that she was meeting friends from a website. The strangers look went from being confused to disapproval :rant

It sure was embarrassing but we all had a good laugh about it later on

Thanks again for the lovely words Malar.

Akila

 

Dear Lalitha,

I am so glad and relieved to see so many like me
You have described my feels very aptly. Thank you for stepping in with such kind words.

Akila

 

Dear Mathu,

Me too!! I also totally enjoyed every minute of it and i am glad i know that you had a wonderful time just like me... i am sure all of us did

Thank you for the lovely feedback dear.

Akila