Friends!!!

FRIENDS!


What is it about this word that the very mention brings in all sorts of emotions in you.And I sure that the first thing that comes is a smile on your face. Yes, that is the power of this 7 letter word. It is also a word which gives you lot of hope, a sense of belief that there is somebody on whom you can count upon. A hope that when the whole world deserts you, he/she will be there, rock solid.


According to me there are 3 phases in a person's life:


Phase 1: life in school!


This is the most fun part of any person's life. This is where the foundations of the most strongest relationships are laid. Those days of carefree fun and frolic. The worry of homework, the competetion in sports. The various groups that are formed with fancy names and the desire to be in all such groups. The first appearance of the moustache for boys and for girls, errrr.... The fight amongst yourself but fighting for you when confronted by a different class/division. The geniuine happiness that you feel when you see your friend get an award or recognition and also the tinge of jealousy when you see your friend getting something which you also desired.


The first crush and the teasing of friends whom you know have a crush on your class mate. Sometimes you tease two people, who have nothing for each other, so much that they actually develop love or is it puppy love for each other. ( I can see lot of people smiling already). The excitement of getting to know more about the opposite gender and also worried about being caught doing so by your friend initially. Then sharing your desires and darkest fears to your friend who though cannot do anything, still listens to you giving you the feeling that you are the king who can conquer the world. Teasing and troubling the teachers, getting punished together, sometimes inviting punishment of being asked to leave the class as a welcome break from the class and to run to the canteen to grab a "Dabeli" or a sandwich.


The tension and worry about the exams, the last minute checks for any important questions that you might get from your friend who can afford to have tuitions from a teacher from the school. The wait for the results to be out. Everybody having a favourite who will secure the numero UNO position in the class. A bit of jealousy shown by the person in the 2nd position. Man, do I miss those days!!


Phase 2: Life post college,early years of professional struggle and marriage.


This is the time when friends disintegrate. Lose touch with each other not because they don't want to. The sheer pressure of the profession and in most cases the family, keeps them away. The same guys who would meet up everyday on a railway track throwing stones and discussing their future would suddenly not find time to meet up even once in a week or worse still once in a month. Lot of old things take a back seat and new things become the priority. The new job, the next promotion, the new house, the bigger car, ensuring your house is in order, ensuring your parents who are now retired are taken care off, ensuring you provide the best of everything that a father/mother can do for their children. In all these, the friends take a beating. The love is the same, the urge to know who is doing what is there, the desire to meet up is there. The only difference between then and now is: Earlier we used to have nothing other than time and now we have everything other than time.


Phase 3: The getting back


This is an awesome phase. This is the phase which sometimes brings tears to your eyes in a happy way.( khushi wale aansoo). I remember having cried like a baby after watching Rock ON, in the process giving a shock to my wife who thought that I have gone crazy. Called up my best friend and cried along with him on the phone and did manage to meet up again and relived some of the old memories. I also remember a time when we all played antakshari over Yahoo Voice Messenger with friends scattered across the globe


People who are now grown up and in the mid thirties, there is a sudden desire to connect again. The desire to show your spouse and kids your childhood and then relive them all over again. Get back to people with whom you had grown up with, fought, made up, wrestled, pinched,poked, ate,played,complained about. Friends who are now heavier on the abdomen and lighter on the head.Friends whose faces have changed quite a bit, some who have not changed a bit at all. Voices are heavier and more mature but still has that childlike innocence when the conversation happens amongst the friends. You can still hear that chidlike exhuberance and energy.


I know that I want to meet up all my friends, I am also sure that they all feel the same way and I am very sure that one day we will all again become what we always were: Friends For Life!!!


Love,


Social Recluse

26th January- Childhood memories and more

26th January! Republic Day in India.!!

Today as we celebrate the 62nd ( or is it 61st considering we became a republic in 1950) Republic Day, could not help but recollect some memories which revolve around this day! Memories which are mostly from the childhood and some in the later stages of my teens.

As a child, I, like most of the children used to look forward to Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti & Children's Day. However the reasons were far from being patriotic or any other such feelings. At that age, the reason was plain and simple- a day off from school!! As a child then and i guess even as adults today, we never feel the need to question why are we getting a leave as long as we are getting one.

As a child, I dreaded getting up early in morning to go to school. (This habit has still not left me. And no, I am not saying that I still go to school, i was referring to the getting up early bit.). And used to look forward to a day where I don't have to feign stomach aches or anything else to get a holiday from school. (wow, am sure I am coming across as a role model student). But the funny part is that on Republic Day, when dad would wake me up, I would get up without any qualms and plonk myself in front of our royal black and white Crown TV. And then the magical moment would come when dad would come and key in and open the shutters of the TV ( yeah man. the tv used to come with a shutter which had a key. Inspiration for child lock for channels. Man, would have loved such a TV today), and we would get to see the parade and the various tableau from different parts of the country.

Suddenly shouts of " Keralam, Keralam" from mom and dad would make me realise that I was doing what is called in today's corporate world as " Power Nap".( I always had a futuristic vision :) ) Those cheers would get us prepped up to see what is it that Kerala, my home state, has to offer on the Tableau for that year. And they were consistent in the boat, Kathakali and Kalari payat show! Consistency is good, but boring! hmmmmm.

One of the memories which is not so pleasant is of 26th January, 2001. This was the time when we were in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It was on this day, that nature took a fancy to do a rock and roll early in the morning at around 8:45, which resulted in what is called Earthquake. This rock and roll would have helped nature take some pressure off itself, but it was not a great day for the people. Epicentred in Bhuj in the western part of Gujarat, it was a massive earthquake which lasted for approximately 2 mins. I was working part time at that time for a call centre and had taken the night shift to prepare for my exams. I had finished my night shift on 25th night and reached home at around 8:30am on 26th morning. When I was untying my shoe laces, I suddenly saw the TV cabinet moving towards me and the speakers of our new Philips Powerhouse(yeah, the double cassette player with 800 watts PMPO, the loudest at that time) drop down from the walls where it was placed. I convinced myself at that moment that I am already asleep having not slept the last night at office( or did i??). Suddenly mom and dad came out and asked me to go out. My bro who was around 12 years at that time was asleep and refused to get up as he was enjoying his hard earned Republic Day holiday. Finally, mom, dad & bro were out in the open. And where was I? I had rushed back into the room to hold the colour TV from falling. It was not even 2 months that we had bought it and did not want anything in the world to deprive me of watching images in colour. The next thing I remember is dad shouting at the top of his voice asking me to get the heck out of the house. And I did so without a whimper and a small prayer on my lips that nothing should happen to the TV. Thankfully, it was one of the very few times, when my prayers were heard and actioned upon, in my favour.

The rest of the details of the days that followed  26th Jan 2001 are too depressing to convey at this point of time. Maybe in a later post.

Today it is 26th January, 2011. I am 33 and i still look forward to the holiday which comes in the middle of the week! The parade has been given a fleeting glance and yes, Kerala is still consistent!  News channels try to raise the patriotic fever by trying to do one upmanship over the other. Strangely everything will be quite tomorrow. But this is a topic on which I want to write at length some other day!


In case any of you have been brave enough to reach till this line, without taking the Power Nap, let me wish you all a very Happy Republic Day!

Love,

Social Recluse

Strange to Different

Yipeeee!!.

So finally it is happening!!. And no, I am not about anything earth shattering at all. I am talking about taking my first baby steps into the world of blogging.

Why blogging could be a question? My retort to that: WHY NOT?

One simple reason could be that in case you are uttering your musings and thinking aloud, people would give you a look which might not be for your liking- come on man, are you NUTS???

But strangely, put the same musings and thoughts onto a blog and suddenly people look at you differently.- Wow, you BLOGGGG???? (note the stress and emphassis lingers on G)

 Strange but true!!  So, I have decided to make the transition: people looking at me strangely to people looking at me differently!!

I am here to pen down my thoughts about anything and everything that i feel and i don't feel about. Right/wrong, Good/bad, Ethical/ Non Ethical, Moral/Immoral, Black/White. hmmmmm. thats not the aim of this blog. The aim would be to give people something to take back, some food for thought. You can comment/ discuss/debate/trash/appreciate what i write and trust me i will love you for all of them.

Will it be fun to read- WOULD SERIOUSLY TRY TO KEEP IT FUNNY!!. Will it be thought provoking- WOULD WANT TO !! Will it be worth coming back to the blog- WOULD HOPE SO!!

With that promise and hope, i rest my case here for today !!

Love,

Social Recluse