Another day, another curry

This month's curry night had a completely different flavour, and this was not only down to a change of venue. We returned to Eastern Revive, which I've only visited once before, having patronised the well-blogged Ayo Gurkhali many times in recent months. I enjoyed a monumental Chicken Tikka Nagpuri, a dish with a robust yet delicate flavour and which left a gentle but satisfying tingle on the lips.

But the real change this time round was in the extended attendee list. One of our "regulars" who actually hardly ever makes managed to carve an evening out of his busy schedule, but perhaps more significantly we enjoyed the company of two "guest" curry lovers neither of whom I've seen for several years. It was really good to catch up with them, chat over their current challenges and successes, and share mine, over a couple of pints and a pleasant meal. I hope now they've broken their duck they'll be back more regularly in the future, as the dynamic of the group was elevated several degrees by their presence and the whole evening, already something I always look forward to, was given an even keener edge with the two new perspectives, tales and opinions.

For many years, and for many reasons too numerous (and some of them too painful) to mention, I built an artificial barrier between my social life and my working life. While many of the guys I now share a monthly curry with developed strong, deep and lasting friendships with colleagues that have in some cases survived several changes of career, I was working when at work, and socialising only with people I didn't work with. Ten years ago I started tearing that barrier down, among others, and bulldozing a road to a better future. Friendships are too important - and good ones too rare - to restrict your chances of finding them, or building them, to any one part of life. They can pop up any time, in any place, and for any reason. Took me way too long to learn that lesson.