Honeymoon Dreams....

At last he got married!!! And, this was the day we were eagerly waiting for… nope, before you make any wrong conclusions lemme make it very clear, ‘He’ was my friend Paras’s neighbor and this is a story that happened almost a decade back when we all were in our early teen age and were loaded with fun and energy…

Before I go further, lemme give you people a brief introduction about the place where it happened… Mohan Nagar, a very old residential complex at Dhanukarwadi, Kandivli W. and we stayed here for about 5 years at my Dad’s company quarters. My days at mohan nagar were fantastic and this is the place which gave me friends like Sheldon and Haresh…

This complex has a huge campus and a round shaped garden, in between two huge zigzag structures facing each other. These buildings were also further divided in to wings. Because of the zigzag shape, it was very easy for us to peep in to other people’s houses especially during the night time and many houses could be seen completely from within from the terrace! My friends had this immense ability to find a spot for every house, from where you could almost see everything!!

Paras, one of our fellow mates had informed us that his neighbor is getting married to a beautiful chic and we were all set to witness a real first night all live and exclusive for us. We were 5 in total including me, Haresh, Sheldon, Paras And last but, not the least Mitesh… We were sitting at a location from where we could see their bedroom much clearer than the new Samsung LED TV! Lolzzz We had Lays, Coke, Kurkure and Samose with us and  just waiting for the couples to start….

Here they come and she is very very beautiful… He made her sit on the bed and started romancing her…we couldn't see her face... but, could see her backless red blouse with her beautiful skin completely visible...  we were on cloud nine… at last we are just about to witness something which we had only seen in Hindi Films… :P

 He started talking to her and was just about to kiss her… he took her in his arms and while he was about to kiss Mitesh shouted at us as he wasn’t able to see what was going on…

“abbey… thoda udhar hat na saale…tum log akele akele maja maar rahe ho... mujhe to theek se dikhai bhi nahi de raha….”

Haresh was very angry this time… we had similar kind of blunders from Mitesh even before. Now, all our attention was shifted from the romancing couples to this idiot who’s always a spoil sport. Then there was a huge mess… we were showering abuses on Mitesh asking him to just shut his bloody  mouth and watch the play… he wasn’t ready to listen… our arguments and abuses became louder and at last we somehow managed to shut his mouth and while we were again ready to concentrate on the game, we were shocked to see the couples looking at us. They were shocked, embarrassed and traumatized… so were we… obviously this is the worst thing that can happen to you on your first night…they saw our snacks and coke bottles too…

He suddenly realized what was going on… he started abusing us loud and clear... and went inside the room quickly... We were all frozen... and didn’t know what to do… Haresh suggested that we should run, I said we should wait and at last he came with a newspaper and some glue… he closed the windows and then he covered the glass with those papers….

End of Honeymoon dreams and I am sure, Mitesh will not forget the way we gave him third degree torture that day!!!!

Nostalgia ...

It was raining heavily outside, and I was standing in a queue along with my dad for admissions to FYJC at Vivek College. I was getting calls from my friends continuously asking if I am done with my admission procedure… they had some plans to go somewhere… my father as any other dad had a hatred for mobile phones and he immediately asked me to switch off my phone. I had to obey his orders as he was the boss.

It was annoying to stand quietly in a queue with no friends and nobody to chat around. Moreover my mobile was also switched off. That is when I actually started looking if there are any girls nearby. I found none of them interesting enough. Suddenly I saw the girl who was standing just in front of me. I didn’t notice her as I was on phone earlier and my dad was also standing next to me… she was beautiful but, a bit too fatty. She was short but still sweet. The first thing that I noticed about her was her eyes and I found them very expressive. Her hair was curly and she was very cute. She kept on going to her mom and coming back to line very frequently. She noticed that I am staring at her… I started enjoying this when I got a positive vibe from her. She had a hidden smile in her eyes, as if she knew what was going on in my mind.

She came and stood next to my dad. I started talking to my dad and without letting him know, I slowly moved forward and overtook him. Now I was standing just behind her. There was a beautiful fragrance of jasmine in the air. May be she was wearing a perfume of that kind. I enjoyed every bit of it. Now, from the place where I was standing I could read what was written on her application form. I read her name, her father’s name, mother’s name and address along with telephone number. I got to know that her native place is very near to my native place and she was a Keralite!!! I was happy about it. In between that as I said earlier, she moved towards her mom and the office counter and came back to the line. We shared many glances and it was amazing. I liked her. Not because she was beautiful or attractive, but, there was a glow in her face, there was a truth in her eyes…

Days passed by and I forgot about the girl I met at the admission line and college started. I made loads and loads of friends on the first day itself. Somewhere in between the crowd, I saw that pretty face once again and I recollected that day. I tried to recollect her name and details from my database (which was already overloaded!!!) and tried to speak to her. But, she was in another division and hence i couldn't speak to her...

There was a music competition one day and, I, as most of you know am a music freak!!! I was always scared of people and the stage. I never had the curage and guts to perform in front of the crowd till I reached vivek and thanks to my friends like Dhaneesh and Nirmal who always supported and encouraged me to sing and perform on the stage. I met many new people and made friends as soon as I entered the classroom, where this competition was going on. And, as I told you I was just one among the audience!

While passing comments and judging the performers sitting at the last row,I saw that same girl peeping through the window and struggling hard to see the competition. I looked at her and smiled. She didn’t smile back. There was a relation in between us. Unknown relation, which was well felt after that day in admission line. I felt a link in between us and may be with that confidence I asked her through actions and lip movements the reason why she is not participating in that competition. I thoght if she is a good singer looking at her face, and also she was a malayalee. She reacted as if she had never seen me before and also as if she didn’t understand my question. She was trying to avoid me..!! but, i somehow felt that she was there just to see me...

Then the competition was over and while moving out of the classroom I saw her standing with her friend. I, with the confidence that I earned from my previous experiences went straight to her and asked her in Malayalam the reason why she didn’t participate.She was shocked… she looked at me with her wet eyes and said

“I don’t know Malayalam”

“But, why? You are a malayalee… your mom is from Thrissur and dad is from Thalasseri right?”  I asked with my extraordinary communication skills (LOLss)

“Oh! My goodness!! But, how you know all that?” I saw her eyes twinkling with amusement.

“I know everything about you” I declared.

“Your dad’s name is Unnikrishnan and Mom is Shailaja Right?”

“But, how do you know all this?” she was totally out of the world.

“You stay at Borivali and your telephone number is 2833****”

Now this was totally unacceptable... She couldn’t believe that I know this much about her. Now, she wanted to know more about me. She thought if I was some unknown relative or, some old family friend. I told her I stay at Charkop and about my native. She somehow was not satisfied with that. She wanted to know more about me and she along with her friend came along with me to my bus stop which was a bit too far away from the college. She kept on asking me about me and my family and I answered all of her question and she also was eager to know how I knew so much about her and her family, and I kept that suspense undisclosed.

At last while boarding the bus, I told her how I read all her personal details from the admission form that day while standing in that queue and she realized what has actually happened. This incident will always remain very close to my heart…. :)

before it rains......

After a long wait the rain gods have at last showered their mercy on us… giving relief from a pretty long and extremely hot summer. During the summer, in the burning sun whenever I saw the trees still standing green I wondered how they are able to survive without water. Then the answer was here, when at last the rains came I realized that it was 'THE HOPE', a belief that it will rain even this year which helps these trees survive!!! And the rains too will never break that trust. Or else why should it come during this season every year? It is a bilateral relationship!!!

Even in my life I had to face the similar kind of situations as many of us. It is very difficult to have a home you can call  your own in a city like Mumbai. During my school days and  early college days we always had the company quarters, and  hence we, as a family  never  had any problem regarding residence, even though we had to shift to many places, and change many schools, residence was never an issue. The last place where we stayed in a company quarter was at the MIHAR APTS.  Kandivali (w) and this  was the best of all other places  we’ve ever stayed in… it was a 2 BHK posh luxury apartment, fully furnished and this is the place where I enjoyed rains the most…

Our flat was on the 7th floor and the window sliding was almost of 7ft in height. The flat as I told you was fully furnished and it was awesome... Whenever it rained the rain water used to flow through the huge glass window and it was an amazing view. I used to stand and watch rains for hours and admire its beauty and I felt as if the whole universe is having a huge party, with its rhythmic music and joy… it was truly amazing and I still cherish the memory of those days…

Then everything was over. My dad had to resign due to some reason and we had to leave that house. We shifted to a very shabby place. A chawl which was at its worst and quelling neighborhood… our financial conditions worsened and I had to search for a job at least to meet my personal expenses. The room rent was quite high even though the quality of the house was not that good. The rent agreement was of 11 months and we had to search for a new house every year. It was all chaotic to find an estate agent and pay him, pay the advance (around 50K!) And book the house by giving token money before someone else books the same house!!! That was the time when we realized the significance of having our own house in a city like this.

My dad was jobless for a while and I started working at Indus Markfin, at Washington Plaza, Goregaon (w), For Rs.3000/month. I was a tele-caller and I hated this job. We used to sell ICICI LOMBARD products and field workers used to go and get our orders signed. My TL was a very sweet girl named Viji and she knew that I hated this job. So, she used to allow me to go and collect orders that I got so that I can directly go home after that!!!

One day I got an order form a customer who stayed at MIHAR APTS and, I was really happy and eager to go to this place and collect the order. I told my TL that this is the same place where I used to stay. She allowed me to go and collect the order. I came home and changed my dress and took my cycle and headed towards my old Apts.

“oye oye… kidhar ghuse ja rahe ho????” asked me stopping my cycle with his lathi.

“arre yaar main idhar hi rehta tha” I answered with a smile…

He looked at me and from head to toe and started laughing, turning to his colleague he said

“yeh dekho… yeh saab yahaan ke rehne wale they…”

“woh sab chodo... kidhar jana hai tumko?” he again asked me.

“mujhe order collect karna hai C3 se” I again answered.

“chal entry karke ja” he ordered.

I felt bad. I was hurt. I don’t know why…. May be I was too young to understand what was happening. And while entering the complex I heard him say

“saala... hai to courier wala… humko chuna lagane ko dekhta hai”

I was in tears… moreover I was treated in the same manner even by the client.

This experience is something which made me realize that nothing is permanent. We as family had to go through extremely bad and pathetic conditions even after that… the one thing that kept us together and helped us to survive all this was HOPE… a hope that it will rain someday and everything will be alright….