Bidding The Adieu...

Finally, the day I had been expecting for four years came. Today was the D-Day I had been waiting for during the past four days. Today, I vacated my room in my college hostel. Strange it may seem, from the very first day of my life in NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, all I wanted was to get out from there. I felt I was suffocating in there.

But as July dawned upon us, and we were running busy with projects and vivas, did I feel some pang deep inside me??? Then I began to count the weeks and then the days... Finally, today it happened.

As I stood among the mess that was my room (227... How I've come to love this number!), yesterday night, I knew there was something inside me that was hurting. I hated to admit it. Not much of a college to miss but the hostel was sure a heaven! The things we had done there. All those days and nights. And I stood there among what was to be separated as useful and trash, packing bags.

Meeting everyone before I went was something I thought I would never do. It was a conviction of years. But after all the packing, I found myself going to MH1 to meet my friends there! It wasn't bad. But it sure felt good.

And I found myself sending messages to everyone of my friends in my cell.

"Njan naale ee campusinode vida parayunnu..orupidi ardramaya ormakalum, oru pidi nalla souhrudangal nenjileti, kochu kochu pinakangalum vashiyum ormichu kondu... Thank for being part of my campus life... Wishing u the very best..."

The response was overwhelming. I got replies from people I never expected. It was one of the moments when ur heart fills with those infinite emotions. And I got an unexpected call; a call I had been trying to make for months! It was Manju. The things farewell does to people. Time is indeed a great healer.

Some things have an awesome timing. It was 1 am and I was going back to my room. As I pass the deserted TV Room, I take the remote and switch on the TV. The channel is Kiran and the song is "Oru Ratri Koodi Vidavangave..." from Summer in Bethlehem. It couldn't have been better!

By the way things were going, I had thought that the actual leaving would be really emotional. But it was just the opposite. No one was there. It was just Kiran, Gokul, Anoop and Praveen. The bags were put in the car within no time and I was already leaving in 10 minutes. Nothing as I expected. Had even thought that the journey back would be nostalgic. Well, for all the 120 kms, I was just concentrating on the road ahead. Not a single thought about the place I had left a few hours ago! But sure I'm going to miss it in the coming days....

FOOTNOTE: Thanks- Manju, for calling me up. Not once, but thrice. I know I wasn't my old self, but then a lot of time passed; many things changed.

Thanks- Nandu, for the farewell lunch. I loved the cutlet, the fried rice and the fruit salad!!! But I hated that chewing gummish round thing. :-) Thanks to my sisters Asha, Anusha, & Nami for being there. Anu, I'll kill u one day!

Thanks- To Chilleroidz. We rock dudes!!! From that first time in Surya to this day, it was a journey we took, together, knowing we'll be out there for each other. And to GODS. U rock too!!! All those wonderful memories we etched with u.

Thanks- To all my friends who made my life complete in this college.!!!

TOENOTE: I'm just wondering what I would have been doing, if I was in the hostel right now. Most probably in 223, enjoying life or playing cards in WaterWorld. Instead, I'm here, blogging. My back hurts like hell due to all the driving!!!

NAILNOTE: After cancelling the plans and tickets for four times during the past two years, today I again booked tickets to Gujarat to go in September. Hope I would make it this time. Hopefully, I would be there during the Navratri. Waiting for the Dhandiya and lots of sweets!!!

Meme

For those wondering about what this title means, I would say just try going to Wiki. Now to the story how I got this.

I was chatting with my girlfriend yesterday night and she asks me-

"Hey, tell me a word that means new ideas, philosophies, etc"

"Uh me? Y do u need this?"

"For one of my friends. He wants a name for his blog"

"Ok. What about Jugaad?"

"Nahi jaan. I want it in English. U r soooo intelligent na!!!" ( No exaggeration)

"Wow!!!" She has got the wrong notion about me. Y don't I honour that. And I was Googling for a word for the next 15-20 minutes. After all, it was a matter of my intelligence!!!

And at last I strike at Meme. It is not exactly what she wanted. But I like the sound of that. I smile to myself. And I proudly announce it to her.

"Uh??? What is it?"

She didn't even know that it was a word suggestion. Might have thought that I had typed it in mistake! So I send her the link in Wiki.

It takes a few minutes for her to reply. And is she talking about other things???

"Did u like the word?"

"Woh sab chod do! Let's talk about something else"

WHOA!!! What was it? Is it really gross???

State of Affairs

I finished my Course Viva on July 2nd. Now, I'm an Electrical Engineer finally. And I'm sitting at home, having a GALA time (This particular word in remembrance of Usha ma'am, our Biology teacher from KV. She was always behind my long hair and my poems.)

"Manish, u better cut ur hair. Or else I've got an old dissection scissors in my lab. I'll cut ur hair. Or else, I'll bring ribbons and tie ur hair"

She was a sweet lady. :-) Cheers to u ma'am!

I wake up at 11 in the morning; have my lunch at 12 and then log onto the computer and browse. Google is an awesome thing. Man, Larry Page and Sergey Bin are two awesome guys! Between, for those who care, Google is going to launch their Linux based OS, named Google Chrome (the browser was just a part, I guess). It will be available from the second half of 2010. Will MS have to jump out thru the Windows??? I'm excited

Back to my routine. I've my lunch at 3 and watch movies that I downloaded the other day. Bit Torrent is another awesome thing!

And at 5, I land at Punkunnam and I'm there till 8. It's the old KVians hangout. By the way, MLA Road looks awesome now after all the rains. Cheers!

Nights are for computers again. Till 11-12, I'm again online, reading articles, playing games, blogging. What a life!!! I love this. I don't wanna join any company. :-) Would love do continue this.

Maybe, a SMS Vyshu send me today will do good here. Some of u might know this already. Don't show off. This is for those who haven't heard this. :-|

MOM: Wake up son. It's time to go to college.

SON: Y Amma? I don't want to go to that college.

M: Give me two reasons y u don't want to go to ur college?

S: One, all students hate me! Two, all teachers hate me!

M: Oh! That's not a reason. Come on, u've to go to college.

S: Give me two reasons y I should go to college.

M: One, U r 52 years old!!! Two, U r the Principal of the college!!!

~~~~~ ~~~~~

FOOTNOTE: I've two backlogs to clear before I get out of that college. That's on 14th and 23rd. The wonder that is Calicut University, the results would be out only by Jan-Feb!!! For those with the combination of placements and backlogs, SMILE. There is nothing u can do other than that!

TOENOTE: Infosys have asked for a statement about the current state of affairs. :-) They just want to know if we'll join on the said date, i.e., Sept 29th. Well, if u r desperate enough to join, u can get a certificate stating ur current (read pathetic) situation from ur principal and scan it and mail it to them. Phew!!!

NAILNOTE: I'm going to join for Mock CAT in TIME, Thrissur. Meanwhile, here is a list of things I want to do in between:

• Learn to play guitar
• Get a new music system for the car
• Learn Spanish ( Gonna go out wid Penelope. :-) No kidding! )
• Learn Salsa ( I need a partner who is willing to relocate to Bangalore for the sake of this)
• Join Lights & Life for the 100 days Photo-Journalism course
• Buy a new Nikon D90. I want it real bad. (It would cost around 1 Lac. Donations accepted)
• ....................................

Love Story...

On the 21st of last month, it was my sister's engagement. It was a relation that had stood the test of time and many adversities. Now when I look at them, I see how happy they are with each other. They make a perfect couple and sometimes I feel envious of them!!!

I always wanted to fall in love; not just fall in love, but wanted it to be perfect. After so many crushes, infatuations and relations, I stand here, all alone, wondering what it takes to make love perfect.

Love is a crazy world, all those roller-coaster rides of emotions, the highs and lows, the longingness, the fights. I HATE LOVE!!! It just comes to ur life when u least expect it, changes u over-night, ur world is totally different and when u begin to believe that love is perfect, it just leaves u, all bleeding from ur heart.

To begin with, u have all these expectations about ur better half. The biggest mistake in most relationships, whether love, friendship or any other kind of relationship is that u expect things. Expectations hurt!!! I wanted her to be mature, jovial, understanding, adventurous, flexible... The list was a lil' long.

Then someone, no better than the rest of the people around u, walks pasts u and does something really stupid that changes ur life forever. It could be a smile, a word, a hand, anything really silly, something that hundreds of others had done to u and u had never noticed it! She wouldn't be meeting even half of ur long list of eligibility criteria yet u forget all about ur expectations and goes out full on to woo her. Ur world shrinks to that single person. U don't have time for friends or partying anymore. U look up for all the offers available by every single mobile operator and makes ur messages and calls free 24x7. U spent ur whole day in ur room, cuddled on ur bed, whispering to the fone. U ignore the loud knocks on ur door, shout at ur friends & ask them to just go away, & that u'll have ur dinner later. U listen to songs that u could dedicate to her, write ur own love poems, for someone who never ironed his dress, u start to frantically search for the iron box, u wake up early and stay up late, u watch movies that u would have hated otherwise. The things that love can make us do!

When was the last time u went out with ur friends for a movie? It seems ages ago! But u remember all the times u went out with her, the friends who had come with her, and her friends' friends. And u have time & money to call everyone in her friends circle but then u realise that u had forgot to wish ur friend of many years on his birthday. "FUCK", that would be the automated response. But u still go on thinking that he would understand. U come to luv her perfume, asks her a thousand questions on what she likes about every single topic on this earth, u do all the crazy things u thought u would never do; anything for that one smile, one touch of hers, one kiss. U luv those lil' things she does, like pulling at that lock of hair that always falls to her face, the way she makes a face when she plays with u, the way she dress, walk, talk, laugh, cry and what not!!!

And things seems to be perfect. U go on to talk about ur future, the paint of ur future bedroom, ur honeymoon destination, all those stupid silly things that u would later attribute to immaturity. Then the questions comes:

"How much do u love me jaan?"

Like time, with no beginning and no ending. Or was it, I would stretch my hands and till they meet??

"What will u do if I die?"

My world would be torn apart. I would go mad. Don't say this jaanu, I can't even bear the thought of it.

"What if our parents don't agree?"

We will convince them baby. Is our love that weak that we can't convince our parents? After all, it's our parents na!

Then it happens. It started as a small fight over a silly thing and ends up in the breakup. The name calling starts and accusations flying all around. The usual list of addressing would be selfish, immature, egoistic, pessimist, sadist, jealous, MCP, bastard, bitch, loser.... The list is endless to no end! U go back to ur old friends who were just waiting for u. They had seen this over and over again and always knew that it was bound to happen. They ask u for the reason and u tell them, "It was suffocating. She changed a lot afterwards. We wanted to go on our separate ways. There was something missing in it. We hope being independant would help."

U forget what u saw in that person when u first met her and got together. Regardless of what happened, they are still the same person u met and have a right to their dignity.

Someone acts as the Agony-Aunt or the Agony-Uncle. They tell u, "U were not compatible yaar. It was never meant to be" U nod ur head and take another sip of ur beer and smile weakly. And u walk back to ur hostel, just like the good old days, laughing, signing, playing and suddenly u brush past a girl unknowingly. U turn ur head and say sorry and she smiles back at u.

"OMG!!! Man, she is beautiful."

Does anyone learn from his/her mistakes??? I don't think so. But life still goes on.... Vikram Kapoor had rightly said, "There is only one thing worse than not finding love; that is to find it and lose it. For it marks u for ur life..." I HATE LOVE!!!

FOOTNOTE: I've made a few changes in my expectations about my better half. She should know how to whistle, hoot, drive fast, climb trees, swear out loud... Being adventurous and happy to do crazy things would be an added advantage. Jumping over walls is an example. ( This might ring something for someone from the past :-) )

TOENOTE: How much does rumours help in making and breaking a relation??? After yesterday, I wonder.

NAILNOTE: Sorry, there is no nails left. Due to all the tensions from my luv-life, I nibbled at them not realsing that they were from my foot!!!