I distinctly remember my first day at Oxford school. I stood outside classroom VIII-A, saying "may I come in" to the lady who was my class teacher. She did not hear me. I remember the boy sitting in the first bench saying something to me. I could read the lips- "zor se bol". The looks were enough to confirm that this guy was south Indian. For somebody from the south who'd moved to the north, this was a very very comforting factor.
I think what brought me close to him in the initial years was the south-India-familiarity factor. We grew closer in the days ahead for reasons beyond sharing Tamil as our mother tongue.
We were both entering our teens when we first met. Our friendship was not without its share of skirmishes. He was and has always been an embodiment of all that is conventional and I have been at the other end of the spectrum. He was the perennial front bencher and I was the proverbial last bencher. Our teachers often wondered how we stuck to each other. Our friend- Scientist (Mridul) completed our gang.
When I look back at my life@Vikaspuri, I always have a smile- primarily due to this gang. Our regular visits to Rathore for the chaat, our half yearly vists to Satyam, the very regular sessions at Arjun park, visiting each others' places regularly and definitely on Diwali... And girls are a definitive factor in the life of all teenaged guys... and in adult life of course...
These 2 friends have always been there- to share the happy and not-so-happy moments in life... to share happily that I cleared this entrance test...or to complain that my love interest is marrying somebody else... To happily share that I got my dream job... or to happily reminisce at this that I was at a place we visited together.... These were amongst the first few people who I informed from the Thiruvananthapuram airport that I finally got hitched :-)
I will always thank God that he has always brought some wonderful human beings into my life.
As I stood clapping watching you go on your knees and put that ring on to Radhika's finger, I knew that my next entry on the blog was for you ;-)
This is for you, Gautam... I wish you and Radhika a very happy life together.
This is for you, Scientist. You suprise me hamesha... As I type this, my eyes are moist... You are absolutely mast... Your strength is an inspiration...
This is for you, Anusha... Kid, I want you to know that you are the only reason I have ever envied Gautam for...
