Shillong Wedding!

Those small little things

Oh! What joy they really bring!

Going to places hip & happening,

And taking the autographs on a sling.

Reminiscing stories of the boys' wings,

Ah! All those funny Whatsapp pings.

That poorest of jokes which out of nowhere springs,

That makes you laugh until tummy actually stings.

Oh oh! And when you nudge the bride to demand a diamond ring,

And the groom innocently puts on a act of poor hearing!

And of course, when two best friends decide to go bling,

They add to the party that extra zing.

Not to forget those long car drives where all loudly sing,

As phones lose network and don't go tring-tring!

Oh! What joy it really brings,

To remember all those small little things!

At 144, Ilford

We all have a few crazy people as friends. Don't we? And whether we like to admit it or not, the fact is we tend to enjoy their company the most, most often. Reasons for which are not difficult to fathom - craziness brings out the child in us and it feels good to get in touch with the innocence in us every once in a while.  

I have a few such crazy friends and I am quite proud of them being that way! But I realised this weekend that I have now the privilege of making that list a bit bigger, and all thanks to the new Flesh-n-Blood at Ilford. These men live their vibrant lives in 144 CityView Centreway apartments, and indulge majorly in two activities: Cooking awesome Indian food, and Ironing their washed semi-dried clothes. And that is precisely the reason they are crazy; and you will gradually know as you reach the end of this post why I call them my crazy friends.

144 is the hub of all activities and enthusiasm for me, although the inmates often like to enjoy deep slumbers even on a sunny weekend afternoon. So what if they are living in London where sunshine is a luxury, as Indians they like to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon sleeping cozily tucked inside their quilts! That is all. No more arguments taken.

However, they leave no stone unturned the moment I arrive - in pulling my leg and making me eat. I sometimes wonder if I end up a few inches taller and fatter with the amount of leg-pulling I undergo and with the amount of food I consume in the few hours that I spend here. And, that is one more indication of how all these people have slowly walked up the ladder of friendship. Every subsequent visit to 144 has turned out to be longer than the previous one in the last three months. A few hours turned into half a day, an evening turned into a full blown overnight-stay; and now almost all my weekend was spent at 144! There is more laughter, more fun, more pampering, more indulgence, more music, (will be) more wine, and a lottt more food! Being an all-guys household I do not understand how all those mouth-watering yumm-looking dishes are doled out every single night! Well, as long as they keep 'em coming, I don't mind to be very honest.

Carefully avoiding all of the personal details of my new friends at Ilford, I'd only say:

AN is a disciplinarian who loves to pamper and pull my leg both with the characteristic straight face that he leaves you confounded often and quite effortlessly so; HRS is an obsessive neat-freak who likes to iron out creases not only on his bed-time clothes but also in everyone's mind who steps into his home - creases of shyness, and hesitation! Poo is the ever-green Mr. Speed of the entire lot - always running about the house with a thousand things on his mind and a few of those thoughts that pour out from the sides only leave behind pearls of laughter! RK is a dad, probably the oldest among the group but when you see him trying to fiddle around a dirty bag to help choose which shoe-polish to use - the liquid one which is quicker but not good for the shoes or the cream polish which is time-taking but better for the shoes - he reminds you of a cute paranoid school going kid who's busily readying himself for another Monday morning. And the funniest and warmest of 'em all is JD. He is a bundle of jokes and funny remarks of which all of us are equal targets and you wouldn't realise when the target has been moved and who's eventually laughing at who!

And all of this happens at 144 amidst cooking and ironing. Irrespective of what movies are playing on TV, which songs we are listening to, and who's coming in and going out - the fun revolves around preparing evening tea, making chappatis, readying the curries and daals; and ironing every single piece of clothig that you can possibly lay your hands on!

So not only do we all end up having a lot of fun, we also end up coming across so utterly crazy and happy, in our own unique ways! And that is all friendships are about.

Weekend

Flowers were white

The day as bright;

Some conversations over coffee

Filled my weekend with delight!

Colours called F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Life can get busy, and sometimes you feel out of place, out of pace in it yourself. And, you find yourself in times when you stand in front of the mirror and ask, ‘umm, where are you headed? what are you doing? is this what you want?’ and go on till you find yourself exhausted. It is quite ordinary though to have these questions pop up, every once in a while, and experience might suggest that such episodes allow you to reflect, retrospect; you tap your compass a couple of times and set it back to the right direction. I think not only is this natural, but also absolutely necessary to happen.

And, people have different and personal formulae to react to these questions. Some take a few days off work to relax and unwind; some visit family & relatives; some take to traveling to a new place by themselves; and some meet friends. I fall into the last category. Almost always.

Call it a miracle, every time I have felt the slightest discomfort and an eerie uneasiness about life, these few friends – my core group – suddenly decide to appear (or join me, meet me wherever I am.) Friends from all over the country and the world come together, and voila! - you find yourself amidst laughter, poorest of jokes, lots of camera clicks and the warm feeling that life’s back on track again begins to sow its seeds. Of course, it is not something I can quantify very easily. This core group that I speak of, is made up of choicest gems of people I have met in the last 8 years. Some at the very beginning of my glory days (read: engineering college!), and some I met along the journey that I started those 8 years back. I must also add, I have been blessed with the time and energy to make it to these meets that are so meticulously planned, which only goes to add the adequate dose of colours in my life!

I am not going to write a thank-you note for my core group here, or go on to acknowledge how special these bunch of people are to me (I call it core, it is only redundant to type anything further!). This post is only to reiterate to myself and my readers how friendship is perhaps the most important ingredient of life’s rich recipe, and how liberating it is to celebrate its bright presence in our lives, every once in a while!

After all, someone rightly said – Friends only know to walk into our lives, and thereon to just stay!

Old City, New Girl - the sublime discovery

#written on a rainy evening sitting by the window in my apartment in London, posted only now.

When I landed in London, along with two pieces of luggage I arrived here brimming with excitement and my dreams sprinkled all over. I was going to be in a new country all by myself and the uncertainty of how days would unfold gave me a high every time I wondered about it. The time had come - to experience newness in life, to open my mind to a different culture, to explore and discover a new me. That was the dream, after all. And I was not going to let go of this wonderful chance, I said to myself as I stepped onto the streets of London on my first evening. 

I spent my time walking amidst castle-like buildings and sprawling lush lawns. I found company to visit places on the outskirts - small towns like Twyford and Henley-on-Thames, Brighton's beautiful (and sunny!) pebble beach, Wimbledon, the Roman Baths; and sometimes even to share the pure joy of uninterrupted shopping as well. Other times, I would hop on tubes on my own, turning every direction my heart would beat for and I was hardly ever disappointed.

But, whenever I sat down to capture and pen down my thoughts about London, I'd invariably find something missing. What could I possibly say about this beautiful city that wasn't said before, that wasn't captured (even preserved) already. So I always kept it for a later time and date, hoping I'd figure out the Midas touch that made this city so special for me.

In just over two months I had fallen in love with London. I began to share a very special attachment towards it, like the city was my own. And it made me wonder to the point of enticing me to find out the real reason for my unconditional love for this city. Was it my exciting job, my weirdly wonderful team mates at work, my small and cozy apartment in Stratford or was it my independence. I kept thinking - closed-lip when out and aloud when in a shower - what has this city really given me...

Actually, the answer was right in front of me all that time. Only, it had taken me a while to reach to that realization. 

During my first week in London, I met someone - a colleague, friend, companion - whatever name you'd want to give. A complete opposite of how and who I am. Disciplined, sophisticated, having some clear goals in life, living with reason and logic - but at the same time, he also knew to enjoy life and its eccentricities, just the way I did. And it made us tick from the very beginning. Our innumerable conversations sitting at a dining table are perhaps some of the choicest of moments I'd savor for the rest of my life. 

I wonder sometimes, would I have enjoyed the train journey home from work as much everyday had it not been for his company; would my visits to Hyde Park have remained as magical had he not come with me to share that bench by the lake in the rain; or would my knee have hurt more had he not walked with me that evening and taken care that I get home safe in one piece... or would that Sunday afternoon be any funnier had we not turned up wearing clothes in the same colour-combo (absolutely same, believe me!). 

When I had come to London, I knew it was going to be all 'me-time' - away from the usual hustle-bustle of my life back in India, away from all things and people familiar and I'd take a step closer to understanding myself better. But now I know, the joy of discovering oneself lies in sharing oneself - one's happiness and sorrows, one's dreams and hopes, one's successes and failures - with someone else. Now I know, the strange love I feel for London is actually the warmth of love for this friend - with whom I learnt to share my fears and fantasies, my trials and tribulations.

As beautiful a city as London truly is, it can get equally tough on you. It is fast and keeps you on your toes - quite literally. And, in the daily drill of chasing our goals, unintentionally sometimes, we forget to notice the small joys of living. So, for a few moments, take your mind off the innumerable post-it notes stuck to your laptops/PCs at work, refrigerator-doors at home and try to find the special, unique feeling that puts a smile on your face; that makes your city, your life even more beautiful for you! Who knows, you might find a friend for life just the way I did! 

The Debutantes

It was my first year of engineering at BITS. Shruti and I were sitting in my room reflecting and fiddling with a pen and paper. We had a few classes that we very conveniently gussed to enjoy the part-winter part-summer afternoon gorging on Lays potato chips and a few five-stars, chatting about how much our lives had changed since we stepped into this isolated yet truly magical town of Pilani.

The exciting topic of our discussion those days was this new Poetry Club that two of our friends were very keen on starting on campus - with the mission of - "bringing all poetry lovers under one roof"! Enthused that we definitely were every time we talked about it, that day, we both would clearly remember, also unleashed our innocent creativity out of us, as we laughed and penned together this 'cute' and absolutely close-to-heart poem. Dedicated to both of us, from the both of us.

Dated: Sometime in Feb, 2004.

The Sky and The Ocean

The sky and the ocean
Share much more than just friendly affection,
Each being other’s reflection
Complemented one another with utmost perfection.

At the horizon when they meet
Their beauty makes hearts skip a beat,
The ardent line of smile they spread around
Leaves everyone spellbound.

Every cloud in the sky
The ocean appraises,
Every wave in the ocean
The sky apprises.

What lies beneath the ocean and above the sky
Deep secrets they share and light moments that fly by,
What makes them laugh, what makes them cry
No one knows, though many try.

And they share a love so eternal
Which is beyond praises so lexical,
They fill everyone’s life with glee
Oh! yes dear, it’s you and me!

Well, what we did after writing this was even more childish! We cycled out of our hostel to show "our" poem to a poet-friend and garner his compliments. His smile said it all, and we beamed with joy! Later that evening we rushed to others too with the poem in our hands like kids running with their pastel-sketches or first paper-planes! Gosh, we really did that, didn't we!

It marked the beginning of something new - a new feeling, a new outlet to emotions, a new perspective, and a new perception of each other. It still brings back fond memories of our 'young' days when all that really mattered was to have extended lunch hours in the mess till the mess-bhaiyas asked us, politely enough, to leave; to cycle around the campus touching every single road; to control that irresistible-talking-phenomenon the night before a test; to sit under our tree till wee hours chatting; to misplacing cycles in Meera Bhawan for the greater good. And ahh, so many more! Kiddish that we really were back then, it nevertheless gave us the adrenaline to go crazy and keep that crazy side of ours alive even now!