Friendship Day messages have inundated our whatsapp and social media, but this monsoon, Bundelkhand is wearing a deserted look. Usually, this is the time of the year when women’s laughter resonates through open fields. When women swing from jhoolas and huddle together when it rains for a game or two of gotta. In the time of coronavirus and an ever-increasing workload, women are missing the company of other women, their friends, confidantes and support systems. 

This episode of Local Diaries is a special one. It is an ode to female friendship - the bond that has no official status, that society frowns upon and that hardly finds a place in our media. Yet these are the bonds that help us navigate the ups and downs of our lives, discover new things about ourselves and the world, and take steps towards attaining fearless freedoms. Listen to hosts and friends Meera Jatav, Priyanka and Pavitra share stories of women talking about their jaan se pyare yaar and their life-affirming dostis. Also listen to Nandini Nair and Aswathy Senan talk about women’s friendship in cinema and media. If that’s not enough, come listen to a fascinating piece of Ismat Chugtai’s little-known play about two old friends called ‘Dozakh’, wonderfully dramatised by Asma Mundrawala.