Aug 12, 2008

A world of frens.... (cond. of the previous post...)

My frens have always been a blessing for me.Having stayed at a hostel both during school and college,I have had the oppourtunity of meeting a vast variety of people and can say my frens list will include all types of people! As thoughts thus flowed in, i started flipping through the pages of my pink and green slam book.I opened a page randomly...whose name was on it...?




If I have to mention all names here,then i may surely miss out on few,so I don't want to take the risk of a bad memory!I'll jus mention a few of them. The page i held had the name 'D.Sai Latha.'



I remember during my childhood days,in 2nd std, Dsl would wait for me outside the class after finishing homework or test,whatever! She was in B-section and myself in A-sec. After that,we would go ut and play together! Then...as we grew a little more,Deepthi,Prashanthi and myself were such good frens...we would do every damn thing that kids do together.We would go for brushing together,play together,have our wash after games together,study together...chat unto eternity...etc.etc...As we grew,Prashanthi left after 1oth std,Deepthi took the Maths group,and I made my way into the Commerce group. I guess now one is doing her MBBS,the other has joined IIT at Delhi,and I am here at Chennai! Would love to get together with them.Whenever we meet after a long time,there's so much happiness in the air and the chatting goes on endlessly!!




There were so many more frens at school.More than individually,as a group all of us were very close like a family,we did everything together,knew the other person inside-out and had our share of fun, fights,cribbing,pranks and punishments together.They were those days of innocence and carefree living...how i wish, i could back to my childhood atleast for a day,just for its innocence,a plain heart and carefree moments..!




In my 10 th,Gauthami and myself become fast frens.She was a sweet,simple gal with a frank heart,and she had an ability to make ppl laugh,which is why our class gals used to like her around! We would go for long walks together,and shared a simple closeness and there was so much of understanding between us with very few words! That was what i really liked.She was a gem! She too left after 10th std. That was the last time, i saw her. But that gal had a lovely way of keeping in touch,whether by sending surprise cards and letters to school or by tracking down different new phone no's and speaking to me! And when we met up at Parthi after 5 yrs,we still shared the same healthy frenship having the same closeness and comfort!





I still rem'r how during our last two yrs,Shri devi(Yamini) and myself,when we want to quieten a noisy situation, would sign to each other 'Ready,one,two three...' and would start the song ''five star..five star..." in our screachy voices at the highest pitch! And lo! everybody would stop and turn around to see wats happening!We would do it anywhere,classroom,bathroom,playground!!....Sheer madness...but good fun.(the gals who continued 11th and 12th there will understand what i am speaking about!)And how can i forget the way Shardha ma'am would scold us for nothing! I rem'r one day, while she was scolding us,something had set us all laughing uncontrollably which annoyed her more.She made us standup,we continued laughing so much,our pens fell out of our hand,books fell down from the chairs.Her anger was rising.She sent us out of her class. We still could'nt stop ourselves from laughing .... Suman, Sridevi, Divya, myself and some others.Finally,i guess,she sent us to the office room to meet the principal!



And the Commerce gals will know what i mean,when i say that till today 'the dust-bin incident' is the most stupid incident which was blown out-of-proportion ;-)!

We witnessed some of the most hilarious incidents then! In a way,it was good, as we had numerous incidents to recollect and laught at when any of our moods touched low!



During college,my school frens who joined the same coll as me became more close knitted.We were now like a family for 15 yrs!All of us were there for each other through thick and thin.I guess,space and time will limit me terribly,if i have to write about coll memories!


I remember,during 1 st yr,my fren,Ch's roomies would treat me as one of their own roomies,and i was always welcome there,inspite of the room rules! And then,they would treat me like a kid and pamper me with all their food and goodies,etc.Ch was a really nice gal,her chubby cheeks and smile added sweetness to her already good nature.



Then,there was Babes's habit of being frank and open-minded which went a long way in correcting so many of our small faults which looked big then!She was the talkative,bubbly gal !With her around,there was never a dull moment!



I can't forget the times Disha,Smrithi and myself spent together. Whether,it was debating and having fun during the marketing and advertising class,or watching each other struggle to keep eye-lids open during the sleepy Economics class(which was always after lunch!),or crib about Radha ma'am endlessly or wonder if we would finally opt for radio -jockeying after finishing final yr,since our marks woul'dnt fetch us anything else!!( This would be the topic always,when we get the news that ma'am was going to get our law papers and read out the as usual thrash answers that we had written in them!) We would always play the fool in class and never pay attention. And then we would sit together to work out problems.Disha would have been those stray few to pay attention and she had real patience and sincerity while sitting with us to do Maths and Accounts.Till date,I remember her commitment to academics.




Another thing which I have to mention is the way they would tease me and pull my leg! I had a tough time to keep Smrithi from telling our coll batchmates about the stupid embarassing bangle incident which happened at school!( i wonder till date,why did i ever do that!) It would only add fuel fire to the fire! But, believe me,in a way,unknown to themselves and myself,they were teaching me to take everything lightly and have fun! I would join together in the fun,and i mean it when i say that i miss all that fun today.



Abi,Shalini and Meenakshi were fun-loving and all of us would never run out of topics for discussion. We spent some real good times together (am sure u ppl rem'r 'Tuesdays with Abi' ;courtesy:Tuesdays with Morrie)!



Pooja was the calm,quiet peaceful gal.With her philosophical bend of mind,she had a good word for everybody and a practical solution to any of our problems then! Devi was hard working and helpful inspite of her Band practice sessions.She had an ever-ready helpful attitude.





Our schoolbatch when we came to college came to be known as the most outgoing batch and also the batch which would so meticulously plan out different lovely things, but then would see hell while executing our plans:-)!!Numerous incidents and situations at school were coming to my mind...Time and words were'nt supporting me to pen them down.





I had come out to the last page of my slam book of school frens. My eyes were wet,my lips curved into a smile,my thoughts were still full of them,as i removed the photoframe of our farewell day,both school and college ones. As,i looked at my classmates and frens,i realised how each one of them were unique and how each one of them had their own way of makink ppl happy,helping them out and thus finding a place in ppl's mind forever.Life at hostel,with its share of constraints and limitations had been spent in a smooth and joyful manner because of the presence of frens.




Yes,we had lived together like a family.We had everything an usual family would go through-our share of fun, tears, silly fights, cribbing, closeness, sharing sorrow and joy together...whatever it was,at the end of the day,we would know that one was there for the other when really needed.It was a silent understanding.




''purni....come and open the door"...It was my mom.She had returned home.Memories of other frens were coming to me,as i wiped my eyes and went to open the door...'another day for the others'...i thought..and opened the door.

The smell of rain...


It was a warm sunday afternoon. I was sitting on the sofa and watching tv,surfing the channels randomly. None of the channels seemed to hold my attention...at the moment.My mind was wandering.As I got up to get a movie DVD from the adjacent room, I felt a cool breeze amidst the warmth,rushing in past the window,banging it in the process,and carressing my cheeks.The breeze,I thought,was a blessing on that warm day. I went out and looked up at the sky.Yes,it was drizzling.I loved the light drizzle.

I love rain...love the feeling when I am out with my friends on their bike,and it suddenly starts to rain unexpectedly....love the smell of wet earth...and like to feel my smooth skin made wet by the cool showers...and ya,I like to gaze at the rainbow too...It was such a fascination for me since childhood...Iwould strain my eyes to see the seven colours and check if they are in the order of the VIBGYOR!!

The light drizzle was turning a bit heavy ,but I wanted to go badly to go to the terrace and get wet. And since no one was at home,I had the freedom to go out in the rain,without hearing the usual "come fast,you'll catch a cold.etc!"
I ran up,stood at the edge of the terrace and gazed at the blue skies.It was just a passing cloud,so the skies were clear and calm. Gazing at it, brought in calmness and clarity to my mind,slowly pushing away my blues...The cool rain and the gentle blues was a calming balm to my eyes and mind.My spirits were brightening up...and I was feeling good.

With nobody at home,and my mobile switched off on purpose and the neighbours away,their dog asleep; I felt like I was the only one around,that afternoon,thanks to the location of our house,it was away from the noisy hussle and bussle of the Chennai traffic. The world around me was enjoying an afternnon siesta ,sleeping cozily,not wanting to wake up to the feeling of 'Monday blues'!.It was getting quieter now.The rain had almost stopped...


I was enjoying the company of myself,without any disturbance.I usually enjoy my company alone,like to have my personal space and time,without any one's interference.Time was slowly explaining to me the true meaning of ''Solitude is Bliss"...Yes,it was real bliss..and ya,solitude is different from loneliness! Lonileness comes when you have drawn a circle around yourself or when you are so cold so as to not allow anyone to befriend you! Solitude is when on purpose,you want to spend some quality time alone with yourself. You are social enough, have good friends to spend time with,but prefer spending some time alone! Its gives you a lovely feeling,it brings you those moments of complete silence ,calming your thoughts and mirroring what you really feel within...The first time I discovered this feeling in me,it was so genuinely good which made me want to explore more such moments with myself. It made me happy apart from the usual happiness I got by spending time with frens and family.



I looked up.The rain had stopped.The sun was begginning to peep out again. My eyes were searching the skies...slowly...yes!there it was!...the colourful rainbow in all its splendour...I knew that a colouful rainbow emerges when the rain has almost stopped and the sun is out.

There was something about the rainbow which made me think that life is made colourful and interesting only when it has got both, moments of blues as well as sunny moments together!



I closed my eyes,made a wish silently and came down! It reminded me of childhood days,I remember,as kids ,why?even in our grad days,we gals would run up to the terrace as soon as we hear that there's a rainbow,and make a wish...closing our eyes tightly and seriously think of the wish and then come down with our faces beaming, as if that wish would be fulfilled that very night!! Lol..in a way,it was plain fun!:-)



I came down.Made a hot cup of tea for myself, and sat back sipping slowly on it. The taste was wonderful,the aroma relaxing .I had added ginger and s'thing else to my usual cuppa tea.It felt good.

Remembering my frens,i dusted and took out my old slam book of school days,from my rack.I had forgottenn all about it.Today,somehow i wanted to go back to those good 'ol days...Flipping through its pages,memories gushed into my mind...Memories of my frens....