I always thought if I was becoming Conventional after every post! One thing which I learned was that, a writer would be tagged as “Crass” the moment he drags his plot with too much repetition without reaching the destination ….
It’s been around a month since I Blogged! It would be inappropriate if I make all my avid readers wait further & make my Blog a quiescent one…Well well!
I could see a lot of speculated news in form of comments from many, in my previous post! Lol… So before it shapes into a much bigger one, let me begin!
Was it a dream or reality??... The Moment she flexed back, the shock numbed my senses! I couldn’t believe it was real…That was the first day, where I hadn’t slept in the class even for a minute! From Ashwin to Nithin, the news had spread among our gang! As if it was the time for jubilation, Nithin asked me for a treat!
I went home with all smiles in my face! Sharan was too eager to know, what had happened in the class! The moment I started to narrate, she couldn’t control her laughter!!...To be frank, no one could believe if it had actually happened, including me! Lol… But our excitement levels were high...Sharan exchanged her cell phone & requested me to somehow take Anjali’s picture…Then, I was using a basic set & more than anything it was huge excitement to take a Camera Phone to the Class !..There were only very few girls & guys who had an Mp3 cum camera phone in the class..
I still recollect the subsequent day in our class! Never before had I seen her in such beautiful attire …She was wearing a While Salwar which had some embroidery work in it. Her beauty was much beyond any description! But, the moment I saw her face, I was let down...Her face looked saturnine and pale, & her sensual lips …twisted with disdain …But she was definitely a marvel to stare at! All my excitement went down, the moment I smelled something that was going wrong with her …I couldn’t resist but share it with Ashwin who was sitting near me !..Despite my lachrymose logorrhea, Ashwin kept teasing me …But he was an adjuvant who always had an answer whenever I was in sheer need…
While I was trying for a spark to catch up in my case, Swaroop was a step ahead! He tried all avenues to speak to Janitha… In one instance, he dropped his mobile or something while sitting behind her in the class, in a notion that she would atleast turn back & look @ him!....From watching her every single move inside the class, he was successful in finding her place where she resided & also her Orkut Profile with great difficulty! This crazy idiot would have at least visited some 500 odd Profiles in Orkut in order to find her…By that time; we all had somehow known each other even if we hadn’t spoken a word…
Some gentlemen said once upon a time, “There is no friendship that exists, the moment you find a real treasure”… Yes, finding her Profile was like finding a treasure…But something which went terribly wrong in his secret finding, was sharing each bit of information among each one us in the Gang !..The new entrant to our gang, Mr.Nithin was a big time flirt! The Moment he got the news of Swp having found her profile, without any notice he collected her Profile link silently & sent her a friend request from his profile… Swaroop hadn’t given a friend request for 2-3 Days …The next time he opened her profile to give one, he witnessed the Shock of his life !!.. Nithin had already become Janith’s friend & on the top of it, they have had an exclusive chat too!!...
More than 3 weeks had passed since I came to Chennai & I was terribly missing someone back home! The Blog would be incomplete without mentioning about her…For me, she was my life for the last two years (i.e. 2006 & 2007)… I hadn't stayed a day away from her since she came to my house... It was an inseparable bond …She was none other than my “Honey”, my little doggie… For me, she was like my sister & for my dad & mom; she was like their daughter… You know what? Even I hadn’t slept with my Dad & Mom after my 7th … But this little one always preferred lying beneath my Dad & Mom in their bed!
I have never seen my Dad showing so much affection on anyone except me & my mom for the last 17 Odd years in our lives.... But she changed him drastically forever… I couldn’t believe so much days had passed without her in my life.. But every day I called my mom, I made sure I enquired about Honey … Once, I’d even asked her to keep the Handset in Honey’s ears as if she was gonna speak to me … !..
….. Another strange thing that happened during our Shankara days was our visit to the Famous Kapaleeswarar temple @ Mylapore…Not even a single time did I go to the temple in spite of repeated plans..I guess, towards the End, Maddy, Swp & Ashwin visited the temple for once…. You might think, what has it to do with our story??!..Well!.. Our connection with the Temple has volumes to speak post Shankara life @ Chennai…!!....
Now back to Anjali! Well!!... Hope, I am not dragging! Let me break the Suspense! Alas, our predictions were right! She did look @ me occasionally during the class hours …This kept my nerves tickling & at times I had goosebumps!!....Days passed & this continued...But unfortunately I never took any productive steps to be in touch with her! We tried all possible ways to secretly take her picture, but everything went in vain… Once, I tried speaking to Anjali during our Tea-Break…. While Janitha & Anjali was having a chat, I gushed in & excused myself... They were mum… I had to somehow initiate the Conversation...I asked where our Examination Centre would be in Chennai…Immediately I received a response from Janitha, saying it was already there in the application form...In fact we had applied for Palakkad as our Centre...But,I had to pretend in order to avoid an embarrassing situation..I was trying to equivocate so that I could cover up the situation without much damage.. I walked off without hearing a word from Anjali...Only thing which I saw, was a smile in her face towards the End!
Our Anjali -Janitha, Janitha -Anjali episode would never end! I could go on writing about more funny incidents which we faced, inside & outside our class! 3 Years from then & now it sounds really funny even to imagine! Running behind your crush in the Teenage days are real fun & doing it secretly is all the more fun! Lol...
Our final week @ Shankara was pretty bad… We rarely attended classes together…. Sometimes I used to attend the class with Swaroop, sometimes with Ashwin or Madhav…Our preparations were not in its peak or crescendo …Ashwin was the only guy who did regular studies.. I was undoubtedly the laziest chap in our whole group …. More than studies, I roamed around Chennai with Sharan, whenever I didn't have class!
One of another Aunt of mine was at Maddipakkam … I hadn’t gone there even for a day since I reached Chennai … Towards the end of our Session; I visited their place & decided to stay with them for a day or two …..My Cousins, Narayanan (...I call him Nanu aka “00”….)…& Gayatri…( aka Kayu…!!) were really angry on me for not having met them since my arrival.. Infact Nanu was instrumental in finding the Mansion addresses @ Mylapore for all of us before we arrived...Even if my connection with Nanu & Gayu has nothing much to elaborate in our Shankara Episode, there are lots to mention about them, especially Nanu in the Epilogue…
Our 40 days of stay has numerous incidents to mention, both inside & outside our class! Any Left outs? Oh! Yeah… there are plenty… In fact I haven’t mentioned about many other characters & incidents …
We had an ardent A.R.Rahman fan , Zeezhan , a mobile party ( a girl who couldn’t stay without her mobile even for a minute ) , a fat golti ,Kranthi , Kudumees (2 Traditional Iyengar guys who were the Jody No:1 of our class ) , Sania Mirza ( Nithin’s secret crush ) & many other interesting characters !!......
Our last class @ Shankara before the model exam; except for a few nostalgic moments, was pretty normal. I looked closely at some people, trying to memorize their features aware that I might never see them again. Some others shook hands for the same reason. As if we knew each other for ages, I pictured our Batch mates at a 10-12 yrs-from-now, Shankara reunion. Fat aunties with babies in tow & fat uncles who would have turned as CEO’s or CFO’s or bureaucrats or might be still writing C.A Exams!! …So where would we four be??.... Scary thought! Skipped the idea…..
…. With heavy heart, we boarded the train… In all gumptions, a Malayalee society on wheels, quaffing Chai /Coke, talking politics & coming up with solutions for social, political & family issues …They would laugh so loud that even few others would invariably smile …… The Sleeper class train was so heated up that we had to change our attire to casuals…Once the train commenced, we started our usual discussions on Movies, our Trip, our Coming back after exams etc etc!!.. The Next thing I remember was that I was sweating profusely, feeling claustrophobic ….the time was around 2.30 am...3 more hours & we reached Palakkad! The first thing I did back home was embrace my darling honey! … She licked all around my face making it clean & shiny….….
2 More days from then, we met together & took up the Common Proficiency Test! Back home, Dad asked if I would get through… Ended up in a word! G.O.K (God only knows)…
Epilogue.........
I couldn’t accept this has happened to her…
I couldn’t accept this has happened to her…
The last time I cried was on the 10th Day, post my Grandfather’s demise way back in 2005 ….It was a gloomy afternoon when I received the call from my Aunt…My little doggie; honey was no more….. I cried the whole afternoon lying in my Bed…. More than me, my Mom couldn’t accept her lose…
Post CPT, months passed & there were drastic changes that happened with all of us…..Dad got transferred to a place called Chittur & we had to shift our base from Palakkad …We left Honey for the time –being with my Uncle @ Wayanad, as we didn’t have adequate facilities to keep her with us in the New Place…Various incidents happened that made her health disastrous…My uncle had no other go than Mercy kill Honey ……
Results were out & I wasn’t lucky enough to clear the so called Proficiency test...Unfortunately, so was Maddy…Swaroop & Ashwin left for Chennai for their articleship while we kept preparing for our second attempt...The Year was a debacle in all terms, for me & maddy…
Life had to move… I shifted to Chennai & joined for ACS & B.Com from the University of Madras…Within months, Sharan left for Bangalore to join ICICI.. Life changed… New friends, new place… There were times when I was mentally down...God always had an answer for me in form of someone when I was in sheer need…This time; it was Nanu, my mentor, my motivator & more than anything a great brother! Our relationship grew stronger & stronger after every week…Another person whom I cannot forget is my Periyama with whom I stayed...She was more like my mom.... Supporting, encouraging & above all a great person…
The last time i saw Anjali was at Satyam Multiplex, when i went to watch the movie Chak De India somewhere in Dec 2007.... We just parted after a mutual Smile...!!...
The last time i saw Anjali was at Satyam Multiplex, when i went to watch the movie Chak De India somewhere in Dec 2007.... We just parted after a mutual Smile...!!...
After few months of joining Articleship @ Chennai, Ashwin shifted his base to Kochi for good…He could neither withstand the climate nor the work culture...
Swaroop had a different life… He had joined one of the top firms in Chennai, Manohar Choudary Associates… We met occasionally @ Kapaleeswarar temple which later turned out to be our regular meeting place on Sundays!
Madhav quit his college after clearing CPT & joined for articleship, back home @ Palakkad….. None of us were together… one after another; we were in different places… I still remember the last time we four met together… 3 Years before, @ our School to get our +2 Mark Sheets….
....... This is all about us… Our Beginning into life ........
Our 40 most cherished Days of fun, friendship, books, love, lust, music, movies, desire, struggle & sacrifice in our life….
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