Explore the power and joys of female friendships at this session in Mumbai

A moment from a previous session. PICS COURTESY/DIVYA KANDUKURI

If we had a penny for every time a movie milked male friendships to death - the overdone brother-from-another-mother trope - we'd have enough money to make one ourselves. A few that dare to flip the script, like Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light, have already started fading out of memory. In real life, things are quite the contrary. "Many women I know receive more flowers from their female friends than the men they date," laughs activist and writer Divya Kandukuri. Today, she will join early childhood development and education trainer Sneha Shetty to revisit and rekindle friendships that shaped their lives.

Participants sketch on a canvas

Women & Friendships, the duo's travelling initiative, will make a pit-stop in Mumbai for the first time after successful stints in Bengaluru and Chennai. The seed was sown when Shetty saw her own mother find companions in a local housing society group called Naughty Naaris. "My mother admitted how her childlike mischief had succumbed to the responsibilities of raising a family. The close-knit group was an outlet for her," Shetty recalls.

Divya Kandukuri and Sneha Shetty

If you're reeling under FOMO already, Shetty assures us you'll make more than enough friends at the session to establish your own Naughty Naaris 2.0. "We start the session by letting participants talk about their own memories with their friends. We ask each other a set of questions and patiently listen to our shared experiences. By the end of the session, many of the participants tell us they're itching to reach out to childhood friends once again," reveals Shetty.

A section of the community artwork features personal notes

Following a short-film screening, the session turns into a collaborative art room. "We lay out a row of sheets taped end to end and take turns sketching, doodling, and jotting down our experiences on each page. This is where the intersection of gender, age, class, and caste become clear," Kandukuri shares. At the end of the day, each participant takes back one of the panels as keepsake.

While the workshop is open to women and queer individuals of all age groups, not many older women might be extroverted social butterflies like Shetty's mother, we point out. "We have had participants in the past who were unsure if they'd fit in. To our surprise, they all opened up once they realised they're in a safe space. There's an implicit understanding between women who have shared experiences," Shetty reveals. "For a change, I don't have to worry about how I'm sitting, what I'm wearing, or if my bra strap is showing," Kandukuri chimes in.

The duo leaves us with an anecdote, "We usually ask people to bring along one object that reminds them of a friend. A participant in her 40s showed up to our previous session with an illustrated cookbook. Her friends had carefully customised each page for her, with special instructions in every step. Can you imagine how much effort that would have taken?" What can we say, girls will be girls.

ON Today; 10 am to 6 pm
AT Girgaon (Location revealed on registration)
LOG ON TO @womenandfriendships
ENTRY Rs 3500