My Friend...

You would never know that he had so much in him, yes, I give that I didn't know him that very well... actually I never tried to know him that well. Partly, maybe, because he didn't want others to poke their nose into his affairs. Always maintaining a 'don't care about anything or anyone' attitude about him. Was that all a charade, sub-conscious or conscious... I don't know.

I still don't know whether I'll make an effort to know him better, given our behavioural traits, chances are that I will not know more about him whether I make an effort or not. But, off late, I got a few glimpses of the person hidden underneath layers of sarcasm. Those glimpses, to those of us who (mostly) only knew the sarcasm part, was quite... I don't know... interesting.

Something Nonsense...

This was the subject of a mail that I sent once to the (close to dead) class group we've in yahoo. Now, why did I put in such a subject line - well mostly because I didn't want to be mocked by some 'smart ass' saying that it's foolish thing to do. So, well, I thought if I say that even I felt that it was kind of nonsense, then others would not find much interest in re-iterating that.

But well, I was quite wrong there... quite wrong indeed. Well, I don't mean that someone did send a reply saying that it was foolish, not quite... actually, people replied saying that it was as far removed from being foolish as anything could be.

What was the content of the mail? Well... one night, some 3 years into work, conversation between me and my roomies drifted off into college nostalgia, how friends lose touch and all.. finally ending up with us trying to re-collect the names of our class mates in college. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that with a bit of effort, we were able to re-collect most of the people.

This was hot for a few days, and later it lost steam is now sitting somewhere in my inbox. I wonder, how long would it be before I forget most of the people on that list? But, in any case, I'm sure that there are a few people on that list with whom I will never lose touch... never.

Taare Zameen Pe.

I don't think that I've been so moved by any film like this one. So well taken, so beautifully done... truly a welcome relief from the general glitz, glamour, nonsense films that bollywood is so famous for churning out with alarming alacrity... aamir khans name coming in second in the credits was a nice touch as well.

I think I'm running out of superlatives for describing the movie... as my friend would say, too good yaar.

...and I did cry while I was seeing it.

Thaenum Vayambum

Before I left for the US, I went to say bye to a dear friend who, by chance (good or bad I can't say) happened to be in town then. It was very late so I was able to meet his parents as well. Talk went from very general to very personal and ended with his mom advising me to be 'good' while I'm in the US and not to emulate the 'Aviva' ad. Auntie asked me what I wanted and I just asked for something cold to drink, basically anything other than coffee or tea.

What she gave me was pure heaven. Actually it was honey mixed with water. I never knew that something so simple could be so tasty. Recently, my friend caught up with me in chat and reminded me of it, so much that I decided that I'll get honey that night and make it again. But, unfortunately I was not able to get honey till now. Finally, I got around to buying that honey and made it. But you know what, somehow, it doesn't taste as good!

Alone in the crowd.

I was recently on a river rafting trip with a bunch of students from my college. Most of these guys were young blokes - mostly, if not all of them, undergrads from the US. The group was a pretty large one. But, I was not able to related with even a single one of those guys/girls!

I did play 3 or 4 rounds of volleyball with them, I think I was accepted into the group without much ado, but when it came to subjects for conversation, it was like we were from two different worlds. Come to think of it, maybe we are. The way we were brought up and the social circumstances were completely different. There were a couple of points about their general interaction that I liked, but overall, I was not able to digest their behaviour. I'm sure it was the same for them as well.

Usually talkative, I was labelled as the most silent person in the group! This was a strange and interesting experience for me.

Pink Lemonade

It was Angela's farewell party. We got together at Mad Mex, a local pub, to (to put it in Angela's words) celebrate her leaving the country! As I don't drink, I was a bit hesitant at first, thinking that I'd be the odd one out. Angela re-assured me that it'll be fine and that I could just have water or something like that.

We didn't order much food. We were content with drinks, chips 'n dips. There were all sorts of drinks on the menu, a "Big Azz" margarita, Pink Lemonades and what not. Intrigued by the name, I ordered the Pink Lemonade, wondering how they made it. Out of curiosity, I even asked the waitress about it's contents. She just gave me a dazzling smile and replied that she didn't know how it was made either. The taste was, mmm... for lack of a better word, 'unique'. It had the taste of regular lemonade along with something I couldn't place. No matter how much I tried, I was unable to figure it out. So, I promptly stopped trying and began to enjoy my drink.

The waitress was apparently not impressed with our orders and tried her best to stay away from our table. There were 7 of us and consequently, the chips began to vanish quite quickly. And, as the waitress was no where to be seen, we had to send for her to get us some more chips. She was not too happy to do this as the chips come free of cost... :D. Some of us finally ordered actual food like the "House Salad" and the like which bought a semblance of smile on her face.

After many interesting stories and jokes, I called it quits as I had told my friends that I'd come for a game of badminton later that day. So after paying my bill, giving a hug to Angela and promising that I'll write often (which I intend to), I left Mad Mex (possibly for the last time) and headed off to the RPAC.

Share and share alike...

Are we all good at sharing? I guess not. Suppose you've a few slices of a pizza and have the option of either eating it or giving it to your friends, what would you do? Would you rather have the pleasure of eating it or the pleasure of seeing your friends eat it. I don't know.

If I were hungry, most probably I'll fall into the first category. But, there is a friend of mine who, I think, might have chosen the second option. I really haven't been able to figure out why, once a few of us argued against him saying that it was only natural that you don't share it, even with your friends, when you're hungry. But somehow, without rhyme or reason, he stuck to his point. And, though we accepted it and appreciated him for it, we were sure that we wouldn't do it as there was no logical reason behind it.

But you know what... though he wasn't able to provide any rhyme or reason for it... it makes you feel good when you share with your friends. You get a much better feeling than the alternative does (atleast I did). And maybe, that was the reason he was (and maybe is) doing it.

Friends...

I don't have a lot of them, but the ones I have are gems, absolute gems. For the life of me, I can't figure out how I ended up with them. But, I'm so thankful that I did. These guys and gals have helped me out in some tough spots, just by being there and listening to me.

Thanks for being there dears... :)