A Social Retard - Me.

So it seems I've found the right word for all these posts about my lonely friend-less life.

 

The word is called 'Social Retard.' (Applause!!)

 

The citation goes - This individual has received a degree in 'Sciences of Social Impediment' and is called a Social Retard.

 

Before I go any further, I'd like to give due credit to the source of this word and thank him for introducing this powerful, all-encompassing word in my rather retarded social dictionary.

 

Yes, I am a graduate in Social Retard sciences. How does one get the degree? It is simple.

 

Step 1 - If you are reading this post either on a weekend or when evening has gone a few shades darker - then you already clear the entrance exam.

 

Step 2 - Think about the days  you were busy doing something else at this hour of the day. (If you never were busy doing anything other than reading/blogging/watching tv and similar solitary acts, then congratulations! You are a bloody born Social Retard! Go get your degree printed on black with Gold.)

 

If you were busy some other day at this time watching a movie with friends/having coffee with them or sipping beer/watching porn/packing your bags to travel or any such exciting activity then you can move to step 3.

 

Step 3 - Ask yourself - "will I be doing this sometime soon? Maybe tomorrow or maybe in a week's time? If your answer is yes, then I am sorry to say you cant even get the certificate. You are socially active.

 

Step 4 - If your answer was no and you went in to this day-dream-ish mode, thinking of all the nice times and how you haven't had them in so long, then congratulations! You have passed the certificate course in being a Social Retard.

 

Behold! Step 5 is for degree holders!

 

Step 5 - If you are continuously thinking of the fun times long gone and of how this blog/web world is your only friend. If you identify more as 'unscrupulous hot hunk' or 'worldofmine' or 'morbidthoughts' or 'techjunkie' and similar such names then yes, you are a big social retard. If you are done and over with missing your friends and have accepted that you won't have any real offline friends to go for a drink with and your only connection with 'real' people is through the phone or facebook then woohoo! You are a graduate in Social Retard Sciences. Like me. 

Muthalik FAQ

How many pink chaddis did Muthalik receive?

 

About 50K… and do not forget, that's a small fraction of the actual mass of the forward, pub going women.

 

What is Muthalik's reaction?

 

He must be thinking of selling the chaddis off, but no one wants to buy chaddis with cuss words written all over with black marker-pens!

 

Wasn't he gonna send Pink Sarees?

 

Dude! He never thought he'd have to send out 50K odd sarees!!! His 'sene' will need to sell itself off to pay for so many sarees!

 

What will he do now?

 

Unable to sell the chaddis, he must have given out to his sainiks to distribute them to their girl friends. His next step is to sue all of us 'loose, pub going and forward women' (jokes jokes all the way!!)

 

Will the loose women like being sued?

 

Hell yes! I  I'd love to have in my name such a law suit and maybe even be jailed for a few days with pub going, loose and forward women like me. :D It will be one helluva party!! 

 

What if they manage to shut all the pubs in cities?

 

Tell me, will Rihaana stop spinning music? Will Kingfisher stop producing beer? Will Bose and Creative stop producing Bass Booster Speakers? Will we forget how to light a cigarette? Will parents of our rich friends sell off their farm houses? Long live house-parties!!!

  

So what’s the conclusion?

 

Even if all the pubs were to shut, Beach parties, river side parties, rave parties, farm house parties etc which have been going on since eternity, on the sly, will continue being there. We will continue the pub culture even without the pubs and we will continue being loose, cheap and wasted. We like it like that.

 

Mind it, we will still manage getting married to these really awesome men at age 27, quit smoking and drinking, and breed children who will continue our legacy of being cheap, forward, loose, drunkard pub-goers.

 

Tell me Mr. Muthalik what will you do of us? Your 'sene' is just too small in size for us wasted pub goers. Go do whatever you can.  

Freedom of action, not consequence.

Ok I know all the jazz about it being of little consequence when we start pondering over decisions already taken. The deal here is, this one decision I was so proud of until last evening is making me miserable today. Here goes the long story -

 

7 months ago, I chose to come back home and stay with family, after eight long years,  to a rather small town. This small town has no one that I can refer to as 'friends' and a 'friend circle' except for this little college going kid who is my only source of arbit muse.  Now, as most of you would know (personally or through the blog) I have always been surrounded by a whole bunch of  friends - beer buddies, emo buddies and the likes.  I haven't had a routine or schedule per se in any of those 8 years. I haven't slept for more than 4 - 5 hours each night. Socializing, drinking, getting wasted after all demands time!

 

And the days I wasn't socializing, I would either sit at that corner table at Barista - sip Brrista Frappe, smoke about 6 classic milds and either talk non-stop or listen non-stop. (Or maybe read/gaze non-stop.)Then there was always my iPod - fully charged around my neck like a school-tie. If I wasn't willing to get bitten by mosquitoes at 8 PM and drag myself out of the coffee shop, I'd go home straight from office - switch on the little TV, sit on the bean(less) bag or the long comfy cane chair with a drink (smirn-off was ever present in our apartment) and our oh-so-famous eco-friendly ash tray* and get semi high. (More because of the milds than the smirnoff) I would then either make Dal chawal for myself (and if required for NB and cams) or ask Cams to get something packed for me to eat. I would blissfully watch TV, interrupted by ever-welcome phone calls from sister dear.

 

Or sometimes plug my iPod to the huge creative speakers, play some insane bhangra/club music and try damn hard to shake a leg (I have 2 left feet, but I manage dancing at clubs with some close friends.) These were also the times when I would think about the long spans of (not-so)single-dom (that my friends do not comprehend. I have a knack of attracting/getting attracted to Mr. Wrongs.) And then naturally, I like to think of things that are supposed to be more in my control - like higher studies. So there are these recurring thoughts of taking GMAT and fleeing to a far off land.

 

And on that one day when NB and Cams, the catalysts of my thought process were not in town - I put down my papers at Google. I was convinced that only all the stress and pressure of being jobless can make me focus on GMAT. I (wrongly) thought I was done with drinking, smoking, getting wasted. Little did I know that though that wasn't me in entirety, it was a large part of me for sure - No, not the drinking smoking, but I missed being by myself and the randomness that comes along.

 

I was too eager to pack up and leave - and I did. No divine force told me that these are the last few precious months with Cams before he ties the knot or before NB moves to Delhi. And the taking the test and screwing it up like never before, is all history. Oh how can I forget, GMAT also brought along bloody relationship(t)s and dumb, unnecessary heart breaks. Hmph!

 

Fast forwarding from September 2008 until yesterday evening.

 

I told NB last evening how proud I was of myself for having broken out of the Google comfort zone (I still am.) but today - today is the day of reckoning. I am very sure I am stuck in the painful number game (I love my parents just too much to want to break out of it right now.) I am 24, so by 26 I should finish MBA so that either I find a boy or they find me one and then I 'settle down.' Yes, settle down in an ugly and monotonous routine. Like the one I have now - wake up, have breakfast, go to work, come back, watch the same soap on TV and then the same news channel and have dinner and go to my room and either read or blog. Do you see the missing and the most vital element? Social circle and me being me - yes!

 

So now that I can't get out of the number game, the only way out is to give myself a deadline for GMAT, take the damn exam and ace it, meanwhile job hunt at a different place in these economically wasted times. Which reminds me, there is some more frustration - I haven't been paid in the last 3 months and I can feel the pinch/slap/bang/rape that finances (or the lack of them) can cause/afflict. Anyway, coming back, all I can do is bloody focus for the next 3 odd months (HOW?!) and then get the fuck out of this place. (excuse the language, there is no other way of expression that's apt here.)

 

Wish me luck. I am dead bored of the way life's been treating me or vice versa.

 

* I have requested for the photographs. They'll be up shortly.

Same things, I know! I was tagged again...

Like FB wasn't enough! Ok so here are the 25 things about me - all over again. People like PP and Gale can skip reading this post :P 

This one wasn't so tough since I did this a while ago on my other blog - so just a copy-paste with a few edits here and there! (Excuse me if it is painfully long!) I know most of us have done it already. I won't tag anyone but feel free to do it if you want to. 

1. I love all seasons. I have told myself in every season - THIS is my favorite season. But in reality I like every season equally. I love winters, summers, rains, winds, stillness, grey skies, blue skies - everything.

2. In my bag you will ALWAYS find - Vaseline, iPod, comb (not hair-brush) and Hanuman Chalisa.

3. I dig bad guys. Ruffled hair, unshaven and careless fashion have the maximum appeal in my mind. Bigger the pyscho-head, the better. Somehow I feel lot of love for people who do not find me great :P But the biggest turn on is an ambitious mind. Nothing beats a guy who wants to go out and get the damn thing he likes/wants.

4. I cannot live without my friends. Literally.What I am today is such a vivid fragment of each one of them. 

5. I smile a whole freaking lot. No matter how difficult times are, I do not fail to smile. I don't have to 'try.' I can't help it but smile most of the time. :) And I love myself for that.

6. I get attached to people very easily. So easily that I go through hell to see them go, even if it's been only ten days of knowing them. Basically I love everyone. I can't think of one person I hate. It's strange.

7. I am super-balanced and super-eccentric both. That is what makes people hate me. A part of me wants to scrape paint off walls and live alone in Norway and a part of me wants to be a CEO and have a family in NYC. Most people cannot deal with it.

8. I HATE when people sulk too much or for too long. I feel so restless when I see people who cannot control their head and heart. The thumb rule of my life has been to always be in charge of my thoughts and emotions - I get irritated when I see people who are not at least 50% as in charge of their life as I am of mine.

9. I have lost some of my most important qualities - like organizing stuff and good execution of plans. I have become a procrastinator. I have lost focus. I aspire big but somehow I don't seem to be working to make those aspirations come true.

10. I want to be *exactly* like my mom when (if) I become a mother.

11. I need to talk a lot and I am damn elaborate. Actually I know my stuff so well when I talk, that I feel the need to bring that clarity on to the other person's thought. That way I end up giving long explanations!

12. I underplay stuff - I cannot show off, I will ignore if someone embarrasses himself, and I compliment only when I whole-heartedly feel it. I am a barren sea for people fishing for compliments and I am bad at giving ego massages.

13. I am a firm believer of - "love yourself if you want to love others." I totally love myself and am so proud of what I am. I would not trade an inch of me to be something or someone else.

14. I accommodate people and can go out of my way to see things from their perspective. I do not ever raid other people's space for my comfort. I do not cascade blame and in fact make it a point to see and rectify my contribution in any situation of pain/disharmony. I am not scared of taking responsibility.

15. I am damn scared of getting a head injury. That is why I am such a careful driver and I always wear a helmet while on a 2-wheeler. Somehow I fear losing my mental stability and stuff. Broken limbs and bruises, I think are cool. :)

16. I am a good listener - I fully absorb myself in a conversation and mean it when I give suggestions and/or express myself. You will never ever have me listen 'casually.'

17. I know when things seem silly but in reality mean a lot to the other person. I am good at grasping moods, facial expressions and making people comfortable around me. I do not give jitters. :) And trust me, I know when people fake. I swear!

18. I cannot remember fiction/stories. At all. I have read so many books and seen so many movies but surprisingly, I don't remember stories beyond a few days. But yes, I remember real-life stories quite well.

19. Ok this one is a no-brainer. I read a whole freakin' lot. I can live and die in a library.

20. I don't enjoy eating much. I eat because there is no other way out. And I HATE Italian food with a vengeance. For me, Indian food is the way to be! And of, course ice-creams :) I cannot have wine to save my life and I can live on Old Monk for the next 20 years :D

21. I do not and cannot cry. Disagree as much as you like, but I really really think crying is a sign of weakness. That said, the people I love the most in the world are some of the most teary people one could ever come across. 

22. I have nothing to do with sunsigns, numerology, palmistry, tarrot, kundali etc etc. I see no point trying to predict. Anyway we do our thing, no matter what the gyaanis tell us!

23. I have lived in a hell lot of towns - from non descript villages to metros. Being a South Indian who grew up in North India, I think I have the best of both worlds. 

24. I cannot deck up and look all fabulous. I have no idea how to apply make-up and I think the only way to be with clothing is being low profile. I CANNOT wear loud clothes. 

25. I find it very difficult to look too happy or excited on my birthday. I totally enjoy this day but I am such a happy person even otherwise that I don't know how to look/feel happier on certain pre-fixed days...!

Me as a Googler.

I joined Google on this day exactly 3 years ago - Feb 20, 2006. RMZ Building at Hyderabad Hi-Tec city. The 'cool' place both fascinated and intrigued me. I was 1 among 4 other recruits. 2 of whom happen to be my closest friends today.

 

I hated Zubin and was neutral about Shaheen.

 

Zubin seemed arrogant and mean. Little did I know that Zubin would stand by me through thick and thin, literally. No one calls me Chotu with as much adoration as he does. He is the one person who will literally beat up anyone for my sake. I can (and I do) call him up at 2 in the night to save me from some real mess and know that he won't say a no. Like all other strong relationships, ours has also passed some acid tests and it is one of the most cherished friendships I have.

 

Shaheen seemed too simple for my liking - but she is the ultimate example of 'nothing is as attractive as simplicity.' Our bonding was spontaneous and deep. Long conversations at lunch and after lunch defined the 'us' that we are today. The last time we met, before I quit and she moved to Australia, was also over lunch - this time not at cafeteria but at Novotel.

 

Other than that, Google gave me my NB and a whole bunch of other people. Not to mention - a resume to be proud of, my trip to dream destination London and an awesome capacity to consume alcohol. 

The exquisite tragedy - My Best Friend's wedding.

Yes, I really never thought Poona would be about 4 busy working women who are my best friends and who would go out of their way to spend that extra hour with me and take time out for me, no matter what. Never thought Poona would be about fancy dinners and expensive clothes. Never thought Poona would also be about my best friend's wedding.

I was at Pune from 10th of Feb until the 13th. I was there for Piyu's wedding. Piyu's wedding was the most awaited event in the life of me and Shilpa (and of course in the life of Piyu and Chetan!)

We had a spinster party for Piyu. No there were no male strippers brought in with the bride in a limousine at Vegas over alcohol over flowing all over the place and with 50 of the bride's chic friends. The party had 3 people - The bride, Shilpa and me.

It had 2 phases. The first one started at about 10 AM and got over by 12 in the noon. There was some crazy clicking of pictures, checking out the bride's (much discussed) nightwear and li*ger*e (wink wink Piyu!) and of course - 'Piyu, brush kar! Mujhe bhook lagi hai!!!' The party had Poha, chai and vada-pav to eat, all consumed at the Joshi vade vale counter in BMCC lane.

Phase 2 was the night before the wedding - 3 of us pretending to be asleep in 3 beds in the same room at the venue of the wedding. Then there was some discussion about how we wish the wedding wasn't the next day and we could talk all night long without the fear of dark circles and swollen eyes for the bride.

The wedding started late the next day. It was a beautiful Maharashtrian wedding - simple and pure. There was a small girl, aged about 10 who sang Shubha Mangala Savadhan in the best way I've ever heard. The garlands were exchanged, the couple blessed and a tear rolled down Piyu's cheek - and that's when I decided I couldn't and wouldn't stay for the Bidaai (yes, the official send-off of the bride.) Yes, I was selfish. But seeing Piyu go was like giving my favouritest possession to someone - for no apparent reason.

I also felt the contrast between a guy's wedding and a girl's wedding. Cams's wedding was fun - he was bringing in someone new. But Piyu was going away. (In reality, Cams is gone to another girl whereas Piyu will be back to us right after her honeymoon!) We finished lunch and I almost instructed Chetan to love Piyu as much as we do, since anyway no one can love her more than us!

On my way back to Mayu's apartment, Poona had changed for me. It was a different world. Piyu was now married. Piyu was no more the girl with t-shirts that have wise cracks and denims folded up half way through her calf. Poona was no longer about the single Jinu and single Piyu not minding being called lesbian partners and being broke to the last penny on the 16th of the month.

Poona was now about Piyu's new home - with a husband; where all said and done I would be a guest, not a room mate.

* I know, the title sounds depressing. But that's how it is to give away your best friend or your sister to someone. 

Pune Times

No, Pune is not the Oxford of the east or the pensioner's paradise for me. For me, Pune is Poona - Poona is friends, college, food and me. Yes, what I am today is 60% Poona, 30 % childhood and family values and 10% Google, Hyderabad etc.

 

I went there when I was 15 and stayed there until 21. Until recently I used to say I lived alone in Poona. But saying that is as good as saying Piyu, Shilpa, Mayu, Gayu, Prachi, Nam, Cams and a whole bunch of people were never there for me. And that would be a blatant lie. I look back and think there has been no other time in my life when I was surrounded by so many people at the same time who love me so much.

 

My best memories of Poona range from lifting buckets of water on the my 7th floor apartment in Rasta peth to eating veggies floating in oil and pulses floating in water. Poona for me is racing with my sister on a 60 CC scooter with boys on 150 CC bikes - and us winning the races. Poona for me is spending an entire day over one cup of cappuccino among 10 people and looking cool. Poona is riding aimlessly across the town - picking up and dropping random people. Poona is dancing on the roof with Piyu with rain piercing through us. Poona is late night drives to Lonavla to spend the weekend with someone special and riding back that very morning because the girls are planning to meet up over a movie.

 

Poona is talking all night, night after night with friends trying to sort out each others not-so-complicated lives. Poona is BMCC and breakfast at KNP. It is fights with the gatekeeper over parking tickets and shedding fake tears at police station when scooty would be towed away. Poona is saving money through the entire month to go clubbing once and have 3 pints of Foster's beer. Poona is crashing at aunt's house when I was sick and when I was homesick.

 

Poona is eating at Flag's to celebrate, N number of punctured tyres with Gayu and getting drunk in Sru's apartment. Poona is reading Richard Bach all night long and getting mesmerized. It is watching the shittiest movie at E-square for the 10:30 am show - since it was cheap. Poona is the 1 bedroom apartment in Aundh and all the bittersweet memories attached with it.

 

Pune is Natural's ice cream at Pulse and choco dip at Cream California. Pune is uphill walks with Picku and going to the gym because the instructor was cute. Pune is sitting with Shilpa outside the Psychology department or at the open canteen. Pune is standing in extremely long queues at the university to apply for various certificates and sheets for various people.

 

Never thought Poona would be about 4 busy working women who are my best friends and who would go out of their way to spend that extra hour with me and take time out for me, no matter what. Never thought Poona would be about fancy dinners and expensive clothes. Never thought Poona would also be about my best friend's wedding. 

Bombay diaries

I went to Bombay, all excited since I was visiting that place after so-o-o long! When I used to be in Pune, Bombay was like second home to me. I would always take a volvo and drop in to my my brother's house as and when I wished. Then I would go around the town meeting some close and not-so-close friends. 

This time I met 2 of my closest friends, my friends from Google days. I took a local (first time all by myself) and went from Vashi until VT where Zubinder was waiting for me. He was shouting at someone over the phone. I figured out it was a gf-bf fight. My heart bled for him - he is such a sweetheart I wonder how anyone can break his heart! 

He drove me around the town and a while later we met KV over lunch and drinks at Woodside Inn in Colaba. We spoke and laughed non-stop for the next few hours. The next stop was at Gaylord's on Churchgate for some yum-yum desert. The boys then took me on 'terrorism-tourism' and showed all the places that were attacked on 26/11.

After about 6 mad hours with the 2 of them I rushed home (with my brother getting all angry) to see my youngest nephew for the first time. He looked like such a sweetheart but when my phone was chucked down from the balcony, I realized why they call him a 'terrorist.' That is exactly what he seemed. 

Now my phone had lost display and would switch on/off at its on whim. (The repurcussions of which I am still going through!) Anyway, after this was talking to bhabhi for 2 nights straight over the world's best coffee (unlimited supply) and catching up about everything. She is the one person who has taught me what ageing gracefully is all about - 13 years older than me and a mother of 2 sons, she is the most charming, witty, funny, sensible and of course, lovable person in the world. 

I do not bond so much with my brother anymore - guess he is just letting me be. But yes, I know I am still his favouritest person in the world and I think that's what matters. That old man is just awesome :) 

On 10th morning, I made the much awaited bus ride to Pune. That is the ride which brings me closest to the real me. More about it in the next post. 

...and I'm back!

No my vacation is not over still, but I have a computer with internet connection to my disposal and quite obviously I'm back to scribbling tit-bits here! As most would know, I am in the last lap of my 2 week destination, covering 3 locations - Bombay, Pune and Bangalore - in that order. 

Next few posts will give everone a snippet of my chuttis and I will add pictures very soon! 

The trick is growing up without growing old.

I turn 24 today. Yes, it's my birthday. And I also know I don't look half as thrilled as I do in the rest of my posts - which are about nothing special. Somethings I want to tell everyone today - 

I am not scared of ageing. Not only am I accepting it with grace, I am also starting to believe that  growing up/old is not such a big deal. In fact I think there is something terribly wrong if one is NOT growing up or old.

I am not having such a great day - not because I am not drinking, but because I am busy handling my dad's midlife crisis. All ye 20 somethings, trust me it is worse than quarter life crisis. So get geared for worse times to come.

I have a new blog, something on which I've been writing for a while but was waiting for this day to sort of go public. That's the introspection blog. Check it out here if you want to. 

I am writing all this today because I am on vacation for the next ten days and I don't know when I'll get to write next! Here's a whole bunch of quotes on ageing/growing up/growing old that I found and I think are nice - 

As we grow older, it becomes difficult to just believe. It's not that we don't want to, but too much has happened that we just can't.

Do everything. Love as much as you can. it may hurt but it helps us grow. Give all you have...you may be poor but you will be content. Always forgive....your heart can not afford not to. Teach what you know and learn what you don't. Stay open to all.

"You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was." 

--Abraham Lincoln

Now I'm growing and I can see my faults. I can look at myself objectively and say I can't blame anyone else; it was my own damn fault.
--Christopher Atkins 

" 'Age' is the acceptance of a term of years. But maturity is the glory of years."
-- Martha Graham

Surreal

Yes, I finally know what 'Surreal' means. It was almost a turning point in my life.

 

Theoretically, Surreal means - Like a dream.

 

Surreal in reality is just that - It's bizarre and like a dream. Not because it is too good or bad to be true, but you look back in time and it is hazy, dreamy. It doesn't feel real but is undeniable all the same.

 

Surreal to me means this - It feels like a dream because I could not ever even dream of such a simple and yet piercing conversation.  45 minutes down, I only remembered traces of it. I can kill to rewind it in my mind but I cannot. I am happy because it was something worth remembering forever. So what if I don't.

 

But there was one look that will stay. We shared a moment that will last forever. The honey-eyes, spoke a million words. I feel no regret for things did not turn out some particular way. They were never meant to be any other way. 

P.S: I know I sound like I had an almost romantic encounter but that is not true. And that is where the beauty of this 'surrealism' lies. 

And I am saying it loud and clear.

They are exactly like honey in color and texture. Brown and Transparent. Those eyes are the most beautiful eyes in the world. Not because they never lie, but because they are so true and so pure. When I see them seeing, I want to step out of my eyes and see the world through those eyes. They can see sadness and happiness for real - without mixing the two. Those eyes want to see it all and they see without any fear.

 

Those eyes do not intend to talk. They know that they are there to see and they see while establishing their territory on all that they look at. Yes, like casting a spell or making things stationary, for the convenience of those eyes. 

They of course, have their own expressions and you want to ask what they mean, but obviously - they know they should see and not talk. They might not talk but they sure as hell hear. And I love that - 2 eyes looking and listening. And making it so easy for me to talk. 

 

Those 3 hours across the table made it almost impossible for me to see through my own loud and restless eyes, the eyes which embarrass me now with how they shout while trying to talk to those calm, clean and brown eyes.

 

I know this makes no sense to most of you, but I have felt something strange with those almost magical eyes that look without fear. And to my joy, I happened to see those eyes, undisturbed for about 5 minutes when they were sleeping and I almost thought I could steal them. But you can't steal purity, can you? When those eyes woke up to see me there, they were still as calm and unperturbed. And I think that expression they gave me was of a smile.

P.S: This is not some prose I have come up with, but something I have managed to put into words after about 3 years of seeing those eyes in the hot sun, at pubs, while buying me an ice-cream, while making a confession and while cracking silly jokes. Those eyes were listening to me like a father and looking at me like I was a bird. 

And no, I am not in love with the one who owns them, but instead in awe of that pair of eyes. 

 

Yet another Best Friend's wedding...

Me and my sister went to check out a paying guest accommodation at Shivaji Nagar in Pune. A puny little girl opened the door. Me and Sony gave each other this look - 'snooty bitch. Huh. Wait till we come raid this place.'  Neither was she the snooty bitch nor were we the kinda girls who raid places.

 

We moved in a couple of days later. I was in 12th grade and her in 2nd year of college. We stayed up all night that night and by morning I knew her almost as well as I knew myself. We then lived together for the next 4 years. I moved to Hyderabad and her to Bangalore (convenient, I know!) We moved from being friends to being like sisters to teachers, role models, guides and a whole bunch of things in these many years.

 

Just like any other special relationship - It was one without too many things in common except for perseverance and the wish to be together through good times and bad. Yes, there were the fights and phases of - "she does not understand me." It is because of her that the saying 'Blood is thicker than water' ceased to exist in my life.

 

She is getting married to a very lovable person in 10 days from today. It scares me - I am just back from one best friend's wedding and walking straight into another one's with single blues keeping me company. While this happens, I know she will still remain my lighthouse when I am lost, my bank when I am broke, my blanket when I am cold, my mad chic when I need a laugh, my devil's advocate and more than anything else - my crystal ball. Yes, she can see things for me with cent percent accuracy. (And I wont hold it against her if she ever goes fully wrong.)

 

This post is probably not to hold people's interest but to say that I love her much and since this blog is one of my dearest inanimate objects/places, she sure as hell deserves to be here with me.

 

This post is also to inspire my readers to write something about those lovely people who haven't come made a difference and left, but who have come, made a difference and will continue being there forever. There are no right words for these people. But I know as you read this Piyu, you know how I feel. 

Of weddings, reunions and fun.

I had looked forward to this time in Delhi for so long that I had started fearing it would not stand up to my expectations - and I was terribly wrong. Despite some very unfortunate events at NB's place, I managed having a gala time at the wedding and meeting the boys. 

I stayed with NB and did not sleep all night on 28th. 29th was meeting Sruthy. (it's her with the curlers, sitting at the salon.) 29th was also the night of the fancy cocktail party and seeing the boys after about 3 long years!! It was just so weird to see those college hooligans dressed in Black suits and clean shaven. We all drank and bonded over food in the cold cold Delhi evening. 

We headed home at about midnight and had another night of endless conversations. The next day was going for 'a' drink at @Live at CP in Delhi. The 'a' drink ended up being 'a few' drinks and we were scared to drive back home in the drunken state. After getting ready for the wedding, I witnessed 2 of my life's first times - 

a. A friend's wedding.

b. A BIG FAT Indian wedding. 

After attending the baraat and trying to control the drunk boys, the beauty of the ceremony started sinking in. Seeing my friend and his wife go through the rituals of a Hindu wedding somehow gave the feeling of everything being right despite all that they have gone through in the last so many months. I could not have imagined him with anyone else next to him in the 'shaadi ka mandap.' 

After saying an emotional goodbye to him (since this was a scary one!) we reaced home well past 4 am. After a couple of hours of sleep and a rather shocking news from Nidhi's uncle's place, I headed to my cousin's place and met my little niece for the first time. It was then time to meet a very very special friend over a drink - something we had planned for a long time. We then headed to his place for the rest of the evening. The night was fun - 3 movies, Maggi, cranberry juice and staying up all night. 

4 30 am was the time to leave for New Delhi station and travel back home. D dropped me to the sation and it sucked to say bye to him. I enjoyed his company so much this time around. 

I know this is a bad update for a great vacation, but the most special things in life are the most difficult to write about. 

Picture Gallery: 

* Me and NB in our same ol' pose. 

* NB and Sruthy having a giggle fit over snooty Delhi babes

* DC and Cow - after sooo long!

* Sruthy straightening her curls

* Finally - the bride and the groom at the cocktail party. 

My Best Friend's Wedding

Before I write about the wedding, the reunions and the fun, I have to write a small note for the person whose wedding I went for. 

KB or Cams (as me and NB call him) is my friend from college. We were introduced by our Economics professor in 2nd year of college. There was the usual 'let's go have breakfast, I am starving' and there was 'what are you upto this evening?' We would call each other up everyday for something or the other and it then became habit. We were the kind of friends who had nothing in common to start with - interests, lifestyles, hobbies - nothing. Except for the fact that we were outstation students and found company in each other killing time.

We have now come to a point in life where we have everything in common. We have shared everything from clothes,utensils, vehicles, apartments, joys, sorrows - to life in general. 6 years of crazy fights to late night movies to uncontrollable giggles to being there for each other through memory lapses and road accidents we have seen far more than what we had planned to. 

He finally got wedded on Jan 30, 2009 at New Delhi to a girl with whom he has persevered a lot to make the relationship work. 

Me and him are strongly wishing, hoping, praying that things don't change much between us. It was a relief to get the ritual 'good morning' call this morning - Never expected it on the 1st day of his wedded life! 

As I deal with my slight sense of loss, I pray to God to give me the strength to understand that I cannot call him up at 2:00 AM asking for attention or throw an unwarranted fit since I am feeling unloved. I cannot claim my right on the front seat of the car or pick up things from his house like they are all mine. 

At the end of it all, I know we are special friends and much as life may change, the love will remain.