Brahmin girls and life

Today I told myself that the focus would turn from sadness and illness and talk instead of a community that has influenced my life greatly.I hit upon the idea when going through my address and friends list
At school all my friends were Anglo Indians,so we talked of dancing,music,food and parties besides reading.One I left the security of the Anglo Indian school,it was right into a christian college (for long the abode of the Syrian christian mallu girls.)Our class was almost full of them but we managed not to become clannish and my circle of friends had one christian and all the rest were Hindus.The interesting part was that among the Hindus,the girls who formed long relationships with me were the brahmin lot.The trend continued into university and well into work.
There are many jokes about this community.For one they are known to suffer from a superiority complex,for another,they are very tightfisted in money matters.They would carry conservatism to the extreme of not allowing non vegetarian food into their homes,not using vessels that lesser mortals like us(the hard core carnivore) use etc.
For some strange reason I was drawn to them(not by design).I didn't see their community,only the nice girls that they were,but in many subtle ways they influenced my life.
Hanging around with these girls meant that there was no extravagant spending,we spent on books,an occasional movie and the like.Since most of them are dead serious about studies,it forced me to dig into my books.The right marks were very important.The biggest asset was that my terrible command over the Tamil language became much better and by the time I was in the work force,my Tamil could put any self respecting brahmin to shame.
At the workplace I was soon to meet three very significant brahmin girls.They were like chalk to cheese.One was a well dressed,well travelled and a very confident woman who sometimes got on our nerves for her strict rules and her attitude to life.She could make you feel like a worm very often because her choice of words and lifestyle was nowhere near ours,but we learnt from her to project a particular image,she taught us how to conduct ourselves at the work place.As a senior woman(very few in those days) in the corporate world we copied her haughtiness and carriage.She remains the same but over the years we also discovered the real person under the persona.
The other girl was more the party kind,she was determined to live life to the hilt while at the same time investing well and always conscious of the rainy day.We learnt to relax with her,interact with men on an easier level and we had great times dancing the night away on many occasions.We were always the first on the dance floor and the last to get off.She introduced us to fun,life at its best in gay abandon.
The third person was a lot more restrained,her head for research and business was no match for us.She would study and research the most mundane things.From buying a washing machine to planning a holiday,she collected a lot of date.Everything was an informed choice,nothing was left to chance.She influenced me so much that my first investment was a flat(she located it for me,I had to just pay up).She went on to influence the purchase of my first car.She gave me a life home in her car everyday and told me of all the good points,the sense in having ones own transport etc.She made so much sense,then she went on to give me ideas on loans,how did one get the best deal etc.Her home was the venue for our wedding planning.With her around along with the other two,everyone else found that duties were assigned and we (husband and I) had only to arrive at designated time at the place.
Today some twenty years later we don't meet so often but these girls have made me what I am,they have influence me in my financial planning,in my choice of jobs and maybe,just maybe in my choice of husbands.Here I am married to a nice brahmin boy with all the traits mentioned in the beginning of the article and thanks to these girls I know how to deal with his family.If there is a function in the husbands family,the girls will know exactly what gift will work,what dress code will be a hit and what to say when.
Today I pay tribute to a community (I think of it that way as most of my friends belonged to this community)which has greatly influenced my life and I hope I have done that to them too.