#52WoG: A Friend #Arundhati

I wont be writing about ‘A Friend 1’ and later ‘A Friend 2’ because I strongly believe that there is no other friend of mine who deserves to be appreciated and shown gratitude for being what he is.  

Dear Sameer,  

I have known you for a decade. You have always been a good friend and PHILOSOPHER! You know why the philosopher is in capitals. We met each other through our blogs. We used to chat online sometimes and once I decided to surprise him on his birthday by calling him. We used to wish each other on birthdays via phone calls and chat about anything under the sun. But its only since the past 4-5 years we have started discussing our joys, sorrows and anger. I have always called you my Instruction Manual. Anytime, I would be technologically challenged I knew he was just a call away.   

We finally met on 27th September, 2012. I remember the date because I met Sunny a day after. Sameer had accompanied me (a bundle of nerves) when I went to meet Sunny. He dropped me at the station and calmed down my frantic thoughts. He has always been a backbone. Be it breakups, family problems, work issues ... I have always seen him ‘listening’ to me. Also, because I rarely let people talk. Hehe! I can’t imagine a world without my support engineer! Hehe! I really want to thank you for the person you are, Sameer! Extremely reliable, caring, straightforward and loving. Be the way you are always! Wishing you all the happiness and love you deserve! Because you really deserve it. I can’t write much because you know I am better at expressing myself while talking than writing. Happy Birthday, Sam! And cheers to a decade and many more.  

Love, 

Your Best Friend ... Aru 

#52WoG: A Friend (1) #Kavya

She wasn’t tall, but the class teacher asked her to be seated in the last bench. Destiny and its wonders! She was the tomboy of the school and I never understood the concept of tomboy, I was of the opinion that she is posh (ok assumed) because she hailed from family that owned one the first and biggest supermarket in Mysore and consumers of that store were the elite class. 

In a classroom of 80, we were the only two girls who chose Sanskrit as our first language; we had to shift classes during the language periods. In the other section, we were strangers in the neighbouring class and often ragged in silly ways. That’s when we got close, entire batch of students opted for tuitions as the Sanskrit teacher resigned in the mid of the academic year. We both didn’t and it was considered foolish. How can one not join tuition classes conducted at home from the same teacher who was our new Sanskrit teacher? Who’d not want the brownie points, well both of us didn’t. 

Our rebellion attitude got us close, I am sure. We are close since 1998, we hardly see each other, not even once a year, nor do we speak daily, I don’t even know if she is on whatsapp, most of the times we end up not even wishing each other on our birthdays but the moment we meet, nothing matters. 

There are 40+ friends from school on my Facebook profile, about whom I know a lot because of the updates they share, her presence on social media is close to nil, but even without conversations there is a bond, that speaks for itself. 

Thank you Neha, for friendship beyond connectivity, boundaries and conversations!

#52WoG: The City You Live In #Arundhati

Mumbai: My heart beats for this city. My Mumbai, My Bombay! It is truly said that Mumbai is a city; Bombay is an emotion. Mumbai, a land of dreams, opportunities, happiness, drama, noise ... one can see every array of emotion in this beautiful city. Bombay, my city. Its hustle bustle, the people, the warmth, I love everything about my city. It is truly a city that never sleeps. Go out for a walk at 2 a.m and you will still see people drinking tea at a tea stall. The beach, the salty smell of the sea, the warmth in the weather is also seen in the people. I have visited other cities and have never been able to get over the life as a Mumbaikar. I start missing the sound of traffic, people, within four days of my trip to any other city. My first introduction to Bombay was Chowpatty. My grandparents (paternal) would stay very close to the beach near Opera House. Evenings were meant for long walks on the beach, making sand castles and eating chaats. A weekend would be spent visiting the aquarium, the museums and gardens full of greenery and slides, swings and see-saws. Every summer vacation, we would visit my maternal grandparents in Pune and within a week I would start grumbling, “Apan Bombay la parat kadhi jaicha?” (When do we go back to Bombay?) As I grew up, started going to college, I was introduced to the daily train travel. The chaotic train timings, crowded trains, fighting to get down at your station and finally huffing and puffing my way to college. Exploring Bombay by visiting different places, monuments, theatres, malls, heritage buildings, beaches, amusement parks, NGOs and slums. I was very upset when we had to write ‘Mumbai’ instead of ‘Bombay’ officially. I felt like the word doesn’t describe the true essence of my city. Truly, Bombay is an emotion! Though it is not an easy city to live in; it is addictive and fascinating! I am very possessive about my city...BOMBAY! My most favourite places in Bombay are Juhu Beach and now the Bandra Worli Sea Link.

Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan... Zaraa hatke zaraa bachke yeh hai Bombay meri jaan...

#52WoG : The city you live in. #Kavya

If Bangalore is a stressed city and Mandya is an angered city, Mysore would be take a chill pill yaar city. People here are laid back and this attitude defines the city – Pensioners paradise. Forget bar culture, the only culture you will find here is agriculture. By 9:30 p.m. people finish their dinner and tuck themselves under blanket, it has been that and no one complains; one who complains makes a trip to Bangalore over the weekend. You can reach your destination within thirty mins time in this city, not because the place is small but because there is no traffic.  

During my engineering days I always dreamt of working in Bangalore, I loved the hustle bustle, the chaos and the traffic, but destiny had different plans and I landed up at Software Paradigms Infotech, no one in Mysore knew about the company then. Today, I am a known name in the organization. My take home was funny compared to what my friends had, but I let them laugh. I had no plans of working for a long time, but again destiny had different plans. Ireland just remained a dreamland and I married a guy who takes the city very seriously; so much that he cancels travel if it is more than a week. When there were issues related to “expanding” family, we made plans of shifting for better medical facilities, but behold - destiny again had different plans – Shelly and Missy arrived. Twins embraced me, I embraced mother and mother-in-law and they have embraced the city, long back.  

Thank you Mysore for the job that I love, that gives me recognition and nurtures my creativity like no other.  

Thank you Mysore for the man I am trying to love, who gives me huge hope as a father.  

Thank you Mysore for the twins I am learning ways to love, making sure I stay grounded with family and the city.        

#52WoG: Express Gratitude to 3 People #Sameer

Just 3 people? That was my first reaction when I read the subject for the week. Simply because there are many people I am thankful for, each one for a reason of their own. Some of them have been covered in my earlier posts as well. But since the title says 3, I am simply going to list the first three that come to my mind.

My mom – Now this one is pretty obvious. If there is someone to whom I owe my entire existence, that person is going to figure at the top of any damn list. Mom, I am thankful to you for all that you have given me, making my life easier, and all that you have not given me, teaching me how to be patient and wait to get my due. You are all that I could have wished for, and more. :)

Bunny – This is what I used to call my ex. The reason she finds a place here is because she was the first girl ever to tell me that she loved me and wanted to spend her life with me. More than anything else, she was the one who gave me the confidence that I was worth enough for someone to want to spend their life with. Though you are no longer a part of my life, you will always continue to hold a special place of your own in it.

My college friends – Yes, I am mentioning them as a bunch here because, they were collectively responsible for making the dreaded engineering college days one of the most cherished ones. We went through highs and lows together, the crushing defeats and the exhilarating joys. Those were the days when wide-eyed naivety mixed well with newfound cynicism and a persistent optimism. We all emerged a lot stronger and wiser, and I have you guys to thank for that.

#52WoG: A Friend (1) #Sameer

This is a rather difficult one. I had a tough time deciding which friend I wanted to write about. Not because I have a lot of them, but because I have very few of them, and they mean a lot to me for a variety of reasons. While someone has been with me since my childhood and has seen me go from what I was to what I am, someone crossed my paths in my formative years and knows me in a way that many others do not. Yet someone came to know me largely in a professional capacity and has grown to be a close friend over the years. It was indeed a tough choice and finally I decided to write about someone who has witnessed the most amount of change in me (as a person) over the years that she has known me. 

It is said that friendships forged during childhood usually turn out to be the strongest ones. I do not agree completely to this one, though I agree with it in principle. I think the amount of change in circumstances, personalities, situations that one sees over the period of the friendship is what tests and forges a friendship. And in this respect, there can hardly be any other person in my life more appropriate than the one I am going to talk about today – Arundhati, or Aru, as I (and many others) call her.

Next month (or maybe this one – I don’t remember exactly), it will be a decade since I have known Aru. I was newly introduced to the internet those days and used to do a lot of random blog-hopping. On one such afternoon, I came across her blog. Liking what I read, I left a comment (with a link to my blog, of course). She read mine, commented and we kept in touch via blogs for some time. After that, we moved on to chatting (Yahoo Messenger was HUGE those days, if anyone remembers) and then along came Orkut and Gmail/Google Talk. Admittedly, the earlier years of our friendship were nothing much to talk about. In fact, we used to talk only twice a year – once on her birthday, once on mine. :D I was also much more of a heavy duty philosophy fellow back then as compared to now. This wasn’t something she liked too much. :P We started talking more regularly after a fallout with a common friend and since then, we have not really looked back. She has ALWAYS been there whenever I needed someone to talk to, to offer (or not offer) her unique brand of advice, or just to hear all the crap that I can spout (philosophy dies hard, you see). I have tried to be there for her as well. We both have seen each other go through many ups and downs, and it has been an eventful journey so far.

I cannot begin to explain how thankful I am to have a friend like Aru, and I won’t. She knows, and that is enough for me. This is just to tell her (once again) what she means to me. However, I can definitely say that having her around has made life a lot more fun, and happy. As we complete a decade of this wonderful (and at times, blunderful) friendship, I have only this to say – Stay crazy, we already have enough sanity around. :)

#52WoG: The City You Live In #Sameer

Now this is something that is a no-brainer. Having lived in only one city all my life makes this easy for me. Mumbai (I have always called it Mumbai, no Bombay business for me) was, is and will always remain THE city for me. Being born in this city and having spent all my life here makes me very grateful for all that I have experienced so far. Now, one can write reams and reams about how this city is the best, or the worst, depending on how you look at it.

I can only speak about what this city has given me, the experiences that I have had here and what it means to me.  

First of all, this city is my birthplace. As someone who sticks to his roots and has absolutely no nomadic traits, it is natural that I am very attached to Mumbai. Simply put, I just don’t know any other city this closely to fall in love with. Not even my native place, which used to be my summer home every year, holds the same charm for me. Secondly, the people in this city make this city worthwhile. One may complain about the ever-increasing crowd and how the city is bursting on the seams under the load, but one can never deny the human spirit of this city. This is the country’s financial capital, but it is not drunk on money. You can see a super-rich skyscraper right next to a slum, and both are equally instrumental in making this city what it is. Thirdly, I love the freedom that this city gives me. Nobody really bothers you unless you bother them. Everybody generally minds their own business, until they need to poke their nose into yours. When you are stuck or struck by something, you can count on the Mumbaikars to try and help you out. They may not always succeed, but they will try. Numerous disasters have struck this city, and we all know how this city has rose back and tackled them. This is something that this city has taught me – to not make a fuss of tragedy and to get back to business. That is something I will always be thankful for.

And now for the most important reason I love this city for – the sea. I doubt if I will be able to love any other city like I love Mumbai. But if I do, it surely has to have a seafront. That is how much I love the sea. It has been a witness to many of my cherished moments – of both joy and grief, of companionship and loneliness, of love and longing. It is a fairly long travel from my place to Marine Drive, but once I reach there and see the evening sun dissolving into the horizon, it is worth the trip. Bonus points if I have a hand to hold when I watch the sun going down.

And yes, this is perhaps the only city where distance is measured in minutes and hours instead of miles and kilometers – a boon for a geographically challenged person like me. :D