Friendship is about...

One more forward mail from Meera. Sorry about the translation part. I know I suck at it. :P

Friendship is not about “I m sorry“, it's about “Dei un thappu than ithu..“ [Hey it's your mistake only]

Friendship is not about “I m there for u” or “I missed u“, it’s about “Enga poi tholanja?“ [Where the hell did you go?]

Friendship is not about “I understand “, it's about “Ellam unnala than“ [All because of you only]

Friendship is not about “I care for u “, it's about “Pannada unnai vitutu enga poven naan?“ [Asshole, where will I go without you?]

Friendship is not about “I m happy for your success“, it's about “Kelambu un treat“ [Let's go. Your treat]

Friendship is not about “I love that girl“, it's about “Dei machi, ava unakku anni..“ [Buddy, she is your bhabhi]

Friendship is not about “Are you coming for outing tomorrow“, it's about “Dei naalaiku trip porom vera engayum poi tholaikatha“ [Hey we are going for a trip tomorrow. Don't go anywhere]

Friendship is not about “Get well soon“, it's about “Ivlo kudicha ipaadi than agum“ [If you drink too much, you will get sick only]

Friendship is not about “All the best for ur career“, it's about “Pannathu varaikum pothum, kelambu vera velaya paru“ [This is enough. Look for another job]

Life can't get any better than this

A few of the 1000 reasons that made me happy.. Not necessarily in order..

The clock strikes ten. You are still in bed. Your mom comes and says, "Mani 10 aachu. Innum ennada thookkam? Daily ivlo neram thoongura?" [Eng:- It's ten already and you are still sleeping. Why do you sleep like this daily?]. You reply, "Five more mins mom, please" and pull your bed sheet back to cover your face. Your sister is home for her vacation and she joins the party too. Two women and one man. You know who wins? Nevertheless you fight hard and manage to get extra 30 mins of sleep. Those 30 mins makes you feel like you are in heaven.

Your sister pulls you out of the bed and orders you to go brush your teeth. You follow her order and once you are done, your mom gives you Horlicks. You are 24 but you still feel like a kid when you are home. Horlicks - It makes you taller, stronger and sharper.

You gulp it and run upstairs to your room, give life to your PC and go online. Hardly six or seven hours since you last checked your mailbox but your inbox has 15 unread mails. You no more go orkutting, only twitter-ing and facebook-ing these days.

You suddenly realise that you have a test in another 30 mins. You hurry to the bathroom, take a shower and dress up. All these takes you only 5 mins. You rush down, eat your breakfast and come out of your home to find that its drizzling. Fantastic weather to go for a 30 km ride in your lovely bike. You switch on your ipod, plug in the phones to your ears with max volume. Ready, steady, go and you speed on.

On your way, you witness the most rarest scene in your life. A mini lorry nearby goes awry and it does a two 360 degree turn but still manages to come to a halt after hitting the bulwark. You know that you are lucky, if it had lost its balance, your bike would have been under the four wheels of the mini lorry. You thank God and raise your throttle.

Your average speed on road is 80 kph.

You reach the test centre on time and take up the test. You do the test exceptionally well and you are satisfied with your performance. You come out, the rain had just stopped pouring. Awesome weather again to ride back home. You light a cigarette and it makes you feel good.

You plug in your ipod again. You are one person who cannot live without music. You sing along and ride your bike at a moderate speed this time.

The onward journey took 25 minutes but the return journey takes an hour. The roads are always open for you. The ride makes you feel as if you are walking in air.

You come back home in an ecstatic mood. Your mom has made the best delicious food available on earth that you long to eat. But you yell at your mom, "Ma, unakku ethana thadava solrathu non-veg seyyathannu? Oru thadava sonna puriyathu? Weight pottutte poraen ma. Inimel veg mattum sei." [Eng:- Mom, how many times should I tell you not to cook non-veg? I am putting on weight. Please cook only veg hereafter]. You roar at her for cooking non-veg but eat the non-veg alone.

You come back to your room. Lie on the bed and think how fortunate are you to have a life like this.

You don't go to office for two months but still you get paid.

You ask your dad for some money, he never asks you how much and tells you to get it from his wallet. You happily take extra dough and freak out.

You know that someone who lives a 1000 miles away, who hasn't even met you in person nor talked to you, loves you a lot and you are her dream boy.

You are 24 but you have a daughter who is 19 years young.

You visit your relatives very often. Play with your nieces, cousins who are kids, you mock at them and they mock at you back. Beg your niece for one lil kiss on the cheek.

You listen to a song and you can relate that song to someone you love.

You forgive people who hurt you the most. You realize that it's only coz of them you came to know what life actually is.

You live a lonely life at your native. You don't come out of your room during weekdays and you never come home during weekends. Weekends with friends, non-stop laughs and non-stop fun. You go for a long ride in car with them every Sunday.

A movie on every weekend with your friends. You have theaters in your area but you travel to the nearest city to watch a bakwaas movie.

No matter how awful you look with your grown up hair, mush and beard. There is always someone who tells you that you look awesome and charming with the mush and beard.

You know you are the happiest man on earth right now and you also know that this happiness won't last forever. You smile.

Your friends console you when you are sad.

You have a brother who is not your blood.

You meet your cousin daily to have thiruttu dum even though you are busy. You have seen people envying both of you for being the best cousins in the world.

You are single.

You have the guts to tell your mom, "Ma, naan bar ku poraen. Pride hotel la puthusa DJ aarambhichirukaangalaam. Naan poye paathuttu varaen." [Eng:- Mom, I am going to bar. Looks like they have started DJ in Pride hotel. Let me go and have a look]. Your mom gives you a stern look but you pay no attention and leave home.

No matter how cautious you are, you always get caught red-handed for smoking by your mom, you sister and your cousin sister. Yet you handle the situation wisely and escape narrowly each time.

You recently become a bookworm and you start purchasing a lot of books, esp Indian fiction. It gets shipped to your home and you open the parcel. Your mom reads the title, 'I too had a love story' by Ravinder Singh and she gives a look as if you had bought a porno magazine. You ignore her and start reading the book. Oldies will never change, esp your parents.

You are a hero in your town.

Your phone bills come crashing down like the stocks market.

Suddenly you wake up from deep sleep. You smile and say, "Life can't get any better than this.. "

P.S:- I feel elated and excited about my life. I will be quite happy even if I die the next moment coz I know that I have lived a wonderful life so far and my epitaph would read "The man with no regrets" :)

45 days and 46 nights in Bangalore

Life is funny. Ain't it? For those who don't understand, let me explain you with an example. About a month back I was asked to take up a project at Bangalore. I was at Chennai when I got this offer. I didn't wanna come to Bangalore due to some personal reasons but I had no choice. So I came here on 7th June 2009 leaving back a lot of memories at Chennai. I joined work the next day and life was getting better. It's been a month and half since then and a lot (really lots) of things had happened in my life. Now I have been asked to go back to Chennai, which I am not willing though but again have got no choice. I badly want to be here for some reasons but nothing was left in my hands now. The few things are worth a mention which I have written in this post.

5. Rajku's Pulsar. The biggest problem in Bangalore is commuting between places and man the public transport here is so pathetic. I suffered a lot during the first week but I was lucky to get Rajku's bike the next week. It was so helpful to me that I hardly remembered my baby(Honda Stunner) which was left unattended at my home. Rajku's bike was indeed special, the reason only a few of my friends know. Thank you Raj. I must also thank Karthikeyan aka Tapsu for roaming with me (to get the bike) during my first weekend in Bangalore.

4. Arun (My roomie). I am always fortunate in two things in life. First thing being friends and the other is roommates. I have had the best roomies anyone will ever get, be it at college (Karthik Sankar aka Oomai), at Chennai (Nivash, Faisal and Imran) and now at Bangalore it was Arun. It was a tough task for him to have me as his roommate since I am Mr. Untidy and Arun is exactly opposite. One funny example. I had to get up early everyday and rush to office in a hurry. I neither fold the bed sheets nor arrange the bedspreads and I leave my clothes scattered all over the room and go. The room will be a complete mess when I go to office and when I come back home I see them properly arranged and everything will be in place. Where in this entire world will you get a roommate like Arun. That's him. Now you know how hard it would've been for him to manage someone like me as his roommate. I have known this guy for 13 years and he is still the same. He is one of the best friends I have in my life.

3. My team. The first day at office was ho-hum. So the first impression of my team was not so fascinating. Most of them were Gulutes which made me so furious. But when days passed by, they got so close and I loved being a part of the team. The jaunt we guys went will remain as a beautiful memory forever. I was not so fortunate to be with them for some more time. I got released from my project and had to pack my luggages back to Chennai. My boss called me after reading my previous post. Holle.. Holle.. Nagerholle.

"I am really sorry Fahad. It's so unfortunate to release you suddenly. I read your blog and remembered you. So called you up to say thanks. You're a nice guy Fahad."
"Oh come on Prabin. I know I am a nice guy. Tell me something else. Tell me that you will take me back in your team" I thought of telling him that but instead just thanked him and hung the phone.

I had a brief chat with Usha the day I was released from my project.

"Hi Fahad. Sorry about your release. We'll miss you. I missed you a lot today."
"Hey Usha. Stop kidding me. You really missed me?"
"Yes Fahad. While coming back home, I missed you so much.:P"
"Hey half ticket. Now I know why you missed me. It's coz I was not there to drop you at home in my bike. Right?"
"Yes. You're a genius."

I never thought I would be working with a team like them and not in my wildest dreams I thought I would be sent back so soon. I had worked in my previous project for 18 months and now I am having the same feeling, the feeling when I quit my previous team, these guys made me feel the same way in just a span of two months. Thank you for the wonderful time. I will miss you guys.

2. Aravindh aka Blacky. As I mentioned earlier I am always fortunate in two things. Wherever I go, I get the best friends. No matter which part of the world it be. I was lucky to have him here and he was there for me all these 45 days. I must thank Raja for bringing him into my life. If not, I would have suffered a lot since I was lonely here. My relationship with this guy can't be narrated in words. It's divine than the true spirit of love. Tamilla sollanumna enga natpu kaathalai vida punitha maanathu. (Guys please please don't think that he is my boy friend and FYI I am staight :P. I am mentioning it clearly here coz of late I watched two hindi movies and both the movies had gay characters. Damn India and its gay rights). If there is one guy (other than me) who wishes me to stay back in Bangalore, it has got to be this guy Blacky. He knows everything about me and even though he is not so experienced in life, he was a good instructor. Machi don't worry. I have a great respect for this place. One reason being you and other reason you know. I will surely be back and we will have a rocking time once more.

1. During my brief stay in Bangalore, I guess it was 7th July, by far that was the worst and best day of my life. I was completely lost. People get completely lonely, when they lose themselves. I wasn't myself. I was getting lost in my own darkness. I didn't feel the happiness nor sadness. Blacky told me that until I find myself, I will never recover and nothing will happen before that. Losing me was easy but finding myself was really harder. The pain I went through couldn't be explained in words. Then I saw a girl. I have seen her many times before but this time it was different. I found myself in her smile. Her smile was a solace to me. She seemed like the most beautiful girl on this planet with the most infectious and captivating smile. She has got something. Something that can make a sad guy forget his worries in a jiffy and make him happy the next second. That moment. I still remember, my world went upside down. Just a couple of minutes back I was in so much pain and after seeing her everything just vanished like a flash. That was the day I started admiring her. I don't know her personally and we hardly talked with each other. I have seen many beautiful girls but she was special. Special in her own ways. I liked her so much that I went home, showed my mom her picture and said "find a match like this girl if you want your son to be happy forever". My mom just smiled and she knew what I meant. Some six months back I didn't believe in Almighty but Miyu proved it wrong. Till the moment I saw this girl, I didn't believe in destiny and now I was wrong again. We were destined to meet. I was made to come here for a reason. The reason being her and Blacky. I have come out of my worries completely now and they seem like a dust to me. Thanks to you Girl. The world is small. We'll meet again. Amen ;)

Update:- Before leaving Bangalore, I sent her a message thanking her for her role as one time succorer in my life and straightaway came the reply. "Hey fahad..." I didn't read the entire message. The first part alone made me float on air. A million thanks to you girl. Have a mast mast life.

Preaching to the converted..

This world is full of surprises.. Ain't it? One such surprise to me was this reply to my posts “Welcome to Chennai Airport” and “Good bye Chennai” by my bestest friend Karthik Vasudevan a.k.a KV. Just have a look at this link.

http://karthikvasudevan.com/

I should have posted this long back but I don't know what stopped me. You rock machi. You are a top bloke mate. Cheers. :)

Good Bye Chennai

I seriously don't know what to write up here because my condition isn't just hunky dory. This day is one of the most depressing days in my life. I believe sharing is the best medicine for sorrows. So I am here sitting in front of my pc, to write down my effusion.

Thus far, I was the most happiest person on earth. The time was 5.15 PM. I was sitting in front of my pc at office. I had no temparament to work. I took my bike keys and came out of office. I drove back home recalling the past 20 days of my life. September 19th. The day iyer landed at chennai. I was completely excited of his arrival since I am meeting him after almost nearly 2 long years. Karthik has been more than just a friend to me. He is my counsellor, my legal advisor, my best pal, my well wisher, I can just add on and on and on. My life was in complete isolation before he came down. From day one of his arrival the word "solitary" ceased to exist in my dictionary. We hanged out all day, to all over chennai from every muttu sandu to citi centre, lone streets to spencer plaza, beach to mayajaal, and the list goes on as we explored the entire chennai together and with Nivash. I have been in chennai for more than a year, I can count the number of hang outs on the fingers of one hand but with this guy, I haunted everywhere. Just a thought and next moment we would be in Satyam or Citi Centre. Money was 'just' money. To be frank, my bank balance was 67,000 and odd (inclusive of his salary) on October 1st and now it is just 4000 and odd. So just imagine how much we guys would have enjoyed in a span of just 10 days. Forget about the money, money is not the lone thing for enjoyment but being with this guy is. Three booze parties(even though all the parties were at home, I reckon most of my guys would never forget them just because the liquors provided were of high caliber), trip to pondicherry, and many more. It took 35 minutes for me to reach home which was very unusual (normally it takes only 20 minutes). I entered and found noone in the house. I called karthik, he was on his way from Spencers. Twenty minutes passed by and it seemed like two hours. He came and there was an uncommon silence. "Mama innum koncha nerathula kilamburaen da. Pogave manasu illa (I am leaving with no interest)" he said. There was silence again and he headed home.

Nivash and I kept numb and Hidayath made his way home at 9 PM. We went to karthik's house which was at the next block and his mom made us dinner. "Dai catch an auto and come" I told Nivash. He went and came back in 10 minutes. We guys went in bike and karthik and his mom came to the airport in auto. We reached the airport well ahead of the schedule. Even though he was leaving us with no interest, he didn't show it out. We guys couldn't speak. We went to the restaurant and had coffee. Karthik was talking something about england which my ears desisted to listen. I was thinking about me and made a decision tightlipped. An hour passed and it was time for him to leave. I was here at the same airport some 20 days back with full excitement and joy but now things are different. I took the visitor's passes for all and we went inside the airport. We checked the tickets and passport, everything were fine. Here comes the most toughest part of all, bidding adieu. "Machan time aachu naan kilamburaen (It's time to leave)" said Karthik in an uncommon tone. He went with his baggages for the security and we were waiting for it to complete. I hesitate to send off people or the best way to put, I don't encourage myself to be in such positions. We never went inside the airport when he went last but this time we wanted to go in and send him off. I ended up watching a bald headed guy sending off a woman (must have been newly married or committed). She was speaking to him in a highly monotonous voice and I never cared to listen to what she spoke. She was in tears. She hugged him closely, kissed him and said "I love you" and these three words were perceived by my ears. She wiped her tears and went, turned back, gave him a flying kiss before vanishing without a trace. This was completely new to me. I can comprehend their situation and it was a fellow feeling. If it was me, I would never let her go, but I don't know anything about their circumstances. That's life na. Karthik came back and a final hi 5 from all of us and he said "Thanks for the wonderful time da", after a couple of minutes he was gone. "Wonderful things are never permanent", I told myself. It was the most painful and lacrimal send off. We made our way back home. I couldn't sleep. I have had this feeling before when I left hostel, when I left my college but then I cried and now I can't. Men don't cry, do they? Cherishing the moments I spent with him and our guys. Machi thanks for the time. Atleast for these 20 days, I was never alone. We miss you and the good times we had together. Back to the solitary life and yea Solitude is eternal.

P.S:- I am sorry for being a gasbag and publishing an unwanted post.

Welcome to Chennai Airport

Statutory warning:- Cigarette smoking and drinking liquors are injurious to health, unless and until you have them with your friends. ;)

The clock was ticking. I have never had the merriment expressed by the animation of countenance before. It's 8.40 P.M. I was working in the second shift. Sorry. I was busy working in the second shift. Can you imagine? Chatting with friends, working on issues, BMC, Mercury ITG, PPM, answering the phone calls, talking to personal calls in my mobile. All at the same time. Just 80 minutes left. Damn. I must leave early today. Too many weird thoughts struck my mind. I must be there on time. Gosh. Suddenly a message popped out in my gmail.

Nivash: mamsae

me: ennada?

Nivash: if possible call hurmath & ask abt the details. I don't know where he is.

me: okay

Nivash: ok done.

machi am so much excited abt karthik's arrival

from last week.

Mama sarakku vera varuthu. Champagne and Jack Daniels

inda hurmath kudikara naaye ithukku thaanda varaan.

Namakku oru sottu kooda kidaikkathu maame.

me: dei. ithu ramzan maasam da. avan adikka maataan. sarakku ellame namakku thaan. Cheers. :D

mama naan inikku romba santhoshama irukkaen da..

namma uyir thozhan rendu varusham kalichi varaan plus inikku ennenne therila romba santhoshama irukkaen. solla vaarthaigal illa maamu. I am deliriously joyful.

Nivash: appo night sarakku adikkalaam.

me: dei already late aayiduchu. airport poganum. iru naan kilambi veetukku varaen.

Nivash: okay. come soon mama. bye

It was already 9.45 P.M when I bid sayonara to Nivash in Gchat. I could have left office early but there was one person who stopped me. Yes. It was my friend. The clock striked 10 when she said good night. I was like okay. It's high time I got to leave. There were two reasons for my exhilaration. As I told Nivash about them. One reason being my friend and the other was Karthik's Arrival. I hunted my keys, made sure I logged off my pc and there was nothing left on my desk.

I plugged in the keys, kicked and started my splendour and operated it at the maximum speed. I stopped at a petty shop. "Boss oru packet Kings" I said to the guy in the shop. "Oru packet ah? Oru naalaikku onnu adichale adi othaila irunthu seruppu varaikkum parakkume. Oru packet nu therincha enna solluvalo? Parava illa. Inikku its a special day and over gujaals ah vera irukkom. Onnum solla matta. Ketta samalichikalaam. Freeya vidu maamu. Vaazhkai vaazhvatharke" I cogitated. It was 10.30 when I reached home. Had a quick shower and I reached Aravind's place with Nivi to take the Omni. I am not an expert driver when it comes to any four wheelers other than Maruti Zen. I remembered the dialogue "Evolovo Pannitom. Itha panna mattoma". It was difficult at first but I managed well later. "Enna vandi da ithu. Itha otrathukku pesaama oru lorry eh ottidilaam. Cha" I parked the car at the airport. The time was 11.30. We went and checked the flight arrival status board. Thank god. The flight was late by 30 minutes. "Seri mama. Seekiram vanthutomnu ninaikkiraen. Namma velaya aarambippom va". This was nivi. We started our usual job. Taking snaps in different postures. It continued for some 15 odd minutes.

One thing I really admire about the airports is its environment. Some people excited about receiving their friends or relatives and some depressed about their friends or relatives leaving. Not to forget about the beauties, the stewardess who cat walk the entire airport giving visual treats to the passengers. "Mama Gantrool" I told myself. Lufthansa LH758 landed at 11.55, 30 Minutes behindhand. This was my first experience of receiving a friend who was coming home after a long duration. I was not aware of the immigration and the procedures that follows it. So I had no clue when this guy would come out. We waited, waited and waited. After nearly 20 mins, some weird looking guys, supposed to be business men came out of the airport one by one. I consulted a guy holding a placard. He said that these were people from the business class. Then came the crew followed by the economy class people. "Anna antha black t shirt ah paarunga. Semma figure na" Aravind whispered in my ears. "Dai venna, olunga karthi varaana paaruda" replied me. 'Eine welt voller Ideen' It was written on a plastic bag of an outlander. Wtf was that, I thought. I stood there for 50 minutes. How should I call this? Is this intense desire or impatient expectancy? Vaazhkaila intha mathiri naama yaarukkume wait pannathu illaye. My legs started to ache. I spoke to myself "Dai porambokku. Seekiram vanthu thola da". My thoughts started to waver. "Namma nanbana rendu varusham kalichi paakurom. Ithukke nammalaala 50 nimisham wait panna mudiyala. Appo avan avan than kaathalikkaga varusha kanakka wait panraan. Avangala enna solrathu. Then I told myself, "Dai ippo intha ninappu romba mukkiyama? Moodittu karthik ya thedu da. Avana thedriyo illayo. Avan kondu vara sarakku pai kannula maattutha paaruda dabur".

Out of the blue, Karthik manifested from doors. The ugly, unattractive, displeasing guy had turned into a stylish, modish, smart, trendy and contemporary guy (with the sleeky earphones from the iphone hanging through his neck) in just two years. Strange isn't it, but this happens to everyone who goes abroad and returns back to his homeland. Almost all. "Dai macha, Welcome back to India da." I said. I felt his happiness, the joy, the excitement from the ecstatic smile on his face. I handed him the rose which I bought at the arrival platform and Nivi put a sandal garland and we took like thousand snaps with him. Hurmath joined us and we left the airport at 1am. When we reached home, Karthik's mom was waiting at the doors."Vaada kutti. Apdiye irukka" She hugged him with a bright smile on her face. I loved watching her expressions. The expressions of a mother getting to see her only son after two long years. At long last, we had our dinner, the typical iyer family's sambar and rasam satham with the appalam and vaazhai pazham. Nivi's eyes were focussed on the bag which had the sarakku. We chit-chatted for sometime and while leaving, nivi cautiously took the bag and the time was 2 A.M when we opened our doors. As usual took all kinds of snaps with the champagne and the Jack Daniels for sometime. As this experience was new for me, I thought of posting it as a blog. It took two hours for me to write this and my mobile displayed 4.01 A.M. I thought of getting some sleep but couldn't. May be because I am all buoyed up tonight. It's 6.23 now and I haven't slept yet. Peace Prevails. :)