Blood is thicker than water. But, water is hard to find?

I was barely into my teens when I went with my family to visit with my father's cousin and her husband--a relatively newly wed couple they were then.  Their home was in a part of Madras, as Chennai was known then, that seemed like a mosquito factory from where the terrible creatures were unleashed on to the world.  But, we were under strict orders not to mention anything about those damn bloodsuckers--no joking around until we first figured out the in-law!

Anyway, as one who has always had a nearly obsessive compulsive disorder to check out the title of any book that I come across--and to quickly scan through if possible and even pretend to know about the book--my eyes stopped roving when I came across two books there.

The first was Dale Carnegie's How to win friends and influence people.  The other book was the one that made my heart skip a beat or two.  The title blew the mind of the teenager: The joy of sex.

I spoke about neither book with my aunt and her husband.

Had I read one of those books, I would not be blogging about my greatest failure in life.

No, it is not about sex.  But, please, read on ;)

The introverted me had a tough time making friends right from a young age.

And, of course, as it happens with anyone, the older I got the more difficult it became to make new friends.  Meanwhile, plenty of old friendships withered away.

Dale Carnegie has long been dead.  Anybody else dispensing advice?

To embrace the importance of initiating, you must to let go of the myth that friendship happens organically. You have to take responsibility rather than waiting passively.

Oh, ok.  Tell me more.

if you want to make friends, you should commit to showing up somewhere for a few months. If you go to one event, feel uncomfortable and don’t return, you’re selling yourself short. If you persist, you’ll feel more comfortable, get to know people more and – thanks in part to the mere exposure effect – they’ll come to like you more as time goes on. You need to push past the initial awkwardness and keep trying, because it won’t be awkward for long.

For a few months before friendship happens?

Oh well ... let me tell you about my real expertise then--the joy of sex ;)