When Sunu was 13 years old, she was living in Chennai, India with her family and one day, out of the blue, she received a letter from a girl named Anne, from Australia.
“My father was in the government services at that time. And there was some activity wherein some government officials sent details of their children to the Indian Embassy in Australia. And I think that is how Anne must have received my details and sent me the first letter.”, stated Sunu.
Sunu was pleasantly surprised to receive this letter. Happy to have made a new friend, Sunu quickly wrote back to Anne, asking how she got to know about her. And since this was 50 years ago, before the invention of the internet and social media, Sunu had to wait for months to hear back from Anne.
“I was in my first year of High School at Burwood Girls High in Sydney and we were given a list of overseas children to write to, as pen friends. I chose Sunu and another boy from Germany as my pen friends and sent them a letter introducing myself. The boy from Germany didn’t write for very long, but as I started talking to Sunu, I realised we had something special here.”, said Anne.
Sunu Kurian from Kerala and Anne Boyton from Sydney, have been friends since 1969 Source: Supplied
To be completely honest with you, we never got to the bottom of this mystery. We didn’t know why my information reached her and how. But we consider it as a blessing, Sunu mentioned.
After exchanging pleasantries and talking about their respective countries, the girls discovered that they had one common hobby, collecting stamps!
“Once we learnt that, we would share stamps along with our mail. I would wait outside the post office in my region for hours, to collect different stamps. I would sometimes even request the postman who came to our house to bring me unusual or less distributed stamps.”, recalled Sunu.
Pen Pals Anne's chirstmas card for Sunu Source: Supplied
Our friendship grew with these exchanges.
“We started writing when we were in school, then college, boyfriends, marriage, then kids and now grandkids. We’ve known each other our whole lives now,” Anne mentioned with pride.
But after they got married and had kids, it became difficult for them to continue writing to each other.
“We were so busy with our lives, we hardly got time to write. But we still made it a point to write on the other person’s birthday and on Christmas. We would send pictures of our kids and sometimes exchange tips on motherhood,” said Sunu.
Sunu Kurian from Kerala and Anne Boyton from Sydney. Source: Supplied
“Of course there were phones back then. But we both had decided that we would hear each other’s voices for the first time, only when we met in person. And I would always tell her that I would love to show her around my city someday.”, stated Anne.
However, Anne mentions that they switched from postcards to emails a couple of decades later. “Sunu was travelling quite a lot due to her husband, Kurian’s work. So we switched to email. And then last year, out of nowhere, I got her email saying that she will be coming to Sydney! I was so excited to finally be able to meet her, to hug her and to hear her voice.”
My husband and I finally saved up and decided to take a trip to Australia in 2019. We decided to meet at Circular Quay in Sydney. We exchanged numbers but did not call each other. It was just for emergencies, Sunu mentioned with a smile on her face.
“On the decided day, I was anxiously waiting in front of Ferry Wharf F4 at Circular Quay for Anne. Will she be able to recognise me? Will I be able to recognise her? Will we understand each other’s accents and talking mannerisms? All these questions were running on my mind.”, said Sunu.
After 50 years of friendship, these women were finally going to meet each other. And as fate would have it, they had to wait some more since Anne’s ferry was running a bit behind schedule.
Pen Pals Sunu Kurian from Kerala and Anne Boyton from Sydney Source: Supplied
“I was almost tempted to call her. But then I thought that I’ve waited so long, I could wait a few more minutes.”, said Sunu. “And a few moments later, I saw her daughter, who is the spitting image of Anne from her younger days. And just behind her, was Anne. My friend, my pen pal, my confidant.”
The moment they recognised each other, they smiled, laughed and hugged. They said nothing, just kept hugging and reminiscing all those years of their beautiful friendship. It was a hug, 50 years in the making.
