BUDDY BATEIN, BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE......................
Take a look at your right wrist......if there is no smiley face, bright band or fancy dangler there, then you have been a fuddy duddy and missed ‘Friendship day.’

The westernised version of Krishna Sudama bonding is now marketed with such euphoria that it swept Surat with friendship fervour.

The young and the young at heart of Tapi town celebrated ‘dosti day’ with much chutzpah. In true Surti spirit, everyone was expressing ‘yaaron dosti badi he haseen hai’ in their own ishtyle, with related Bollywood numbers-

The biker gangs braved crater ridden Surti streets and va va vroomed on their mean machines singing ‘Yeh dosti hum nahi todengey, todengey dum magar tera saath na chhodengey’,though the models of their two wheelers are fancier than the one in Sholay,the depth of their feelings was as strong, if not stronger.

Salesmen at various stores organised the Sale season to coincide with the celebration and were heard singing out,’humse tum dosti karlo, yeh haseen galati karlo’, tempting shopaholics with their wares and wears. Inviting them to come and blow off their budget, for bargains that sounded too good to be true.

Our happy and gay crowd spent a serene evening at their usual hangout behind Gandhibaug. As they held hands on the riverside benches and looked out at the Tapi, they soulfully sang,’baney chahey dushman zamaana yeh saara, salamat rahey dostana hamara,’oblivious to the outer world, cocooned in their own.

Rich and flamboyant Surtis were seeing wooing and promising their pretty young friends,’aaja inn hawao mein uthake ley chalu tuh he toh meri dost hai,’with the promise of a Rs. 24 lakh membership for 200 hours of flying a Cessna, at the flying club that is soon to begin at Surat’s airport. Never mind if the club does not take off in future, at least their friendship will, for now.

The ‘Hic! Happy’brigade paid no attention to the hooch tragedy and celebrated the day in high spirits as usual, gloriously singing aloud,’jahaan char yaar mil jaye wahi raat ho gulzar, mehfil rangeen jame’,since it was a Sunday, it was easy to mingle into the crowd without raising eyebrows of doubt.

Hooch makers in the meanwhile are trying their best to cajole authorities to renew old friendship by hopefully humming,’kehdo ke tum mujhse dosti karogey, kehdo keh tum mere dil mein rahogey,’unfortunately for them,the next line in the song goes,’dekhungi,sochungi ,kal parso jawab dungi,’ and the team in question seems to be answering just that.

The first Sunday of August has been a harbinger of the festive times ahead. Surtis celebrated yesterday with colourful thread bands, plastic rings, diamond studded anklets, platinum bracelets, gold necklaces, yellow flowers, delicious chocolates and the works.

If you missed out on doing the same yesterday, DO NOT try to do it today, a trendy teen has informed me that today is enemy day, a day to sing ’dushman na karey dost ne woh kaam kiya hai.’

Tapi town tattle-Return of the tax filing frenzy.