Glad U Came

Well, it’s been a while since I have scribbled something, the last time being when I was still doing my MBA and having a ball of a time, and now over 8 months later (man, suddenly I feel old), I am in this God forsaken place, doing I don’t know what (work wise), so pardon me if I over indulge a bit.

I am have been meaning to get around to letting those creative juice flowing again, but as always, I have been an exceptionally lazy bumm of late, and was only convinced of writing this one, only after a very dear friend of mine (yes U “Maam”), told me that she would love to see me get back in the game (and as promised, I am gonna embarrassed U ;-)).

Got shit loads to write about, but its kinda difficult to decide, from where to start, so I’ll start with the last major event, since March 2011. Well no prizes for guessing, that it was THE Farewell at WE SCHOOL, n the events leading upto it. If MBA were one helluva of a joy ride, THE farewell was a 18hrs period, comprising the quintessential elements of the entire 2 year span (no wonder then, a major of it is just a blurr).

I have never really been big on nostalgia or the display of human emotion, so I had assumed that, WE SCHOOL n the memories associated with it, would be the simple case of “out of sight, out of mind” like always. I had made my peace with things, said my goodbyes to the people I wanted to, mindful of the fact time and distance will dilute whatever bonds had been made. Obviously I was wrong (man, I can still recollect that when I was leaving, almost the entire batch was there n I know, I wasn’t exactly the most friendly guy out there. Lol. A testament to the sheer SPIRIT, WE had as a batch), n surprisingly one or two bonds, have only gotten stronger (Glad U Came – I ).

It’s always easier, to look in hind sight and say that u could have done things differently, undo the mistakes which u committed, undo the hurt which u may have caused without intending to, but then, life won’t be as colourful as it is now. The sweetest relationships are those born out of the cocktail of confusion, a bit of heart ache and some amount of idiotic behavior, which u are not normally associated with (Glad U Came – II). And boy, did I have my fair share of it all, especially the latter.

Jump to June 2011, and my arrival in Hyderabad, the initial euphoria and later, hitting the mother lode of all free falls (and NO, it had nothing to do with a girl/woman). I tried a concoction of my own remedies, but the only thing that seemed to work every time, without fail, was a bond whose origin can be traced back to, where else but to WE School ( I am sure u r starting to turn red from embarrassment by now). N while I admit that, what I am about to say may seem like a bit farfetched given that my history is filled with more than a few nefarious acts (more than any one man is entitled too, but it was fun ;-) ), but this angel like friend (n I use the term with utmost sincerity, without flattery n without any hidden motives but maybe a tinge of flirtatious effervescence), with her usual impeccable timing of msg’s, calls and simple yet significant acts of friendship, was able to solve the dilemma which I have had for a very very long time and regain the calm/peace of mind, that I was looking for and no matter how many times I say it, I won’t be able to express my gratitude in its full essence n YES, U r the ultimate friend a guy can ever wish to have (Glad U Came – III).

Champions

March 2nd, 2011 probably the most pure and primal form of joy I have felt in ages. I still remember in the beginning of 2nd year, when I played cricket for the first time in years n not being able to complete 3 bowls without huffing and puffing. From that day, to today has been a journey that I will remember forever.

This may seem like gloating to some people, but believe me, the amount of hard work that I have put in, in the last few weeks, has been the hardest I have worked in 2 yrs of MBA. Since day 1, everybody has been able to create a niche for themselves, something they excel in. I on the other hand, failed miserably in the only thing I was good at i.e. women. Call it a blessing in disguise, or a gift from the juniors, that they organized the cricket tournament just in the nick of time. Practicing in the hot baking sun at 2 pm, playing 3 -4 matches just for practice, trying hard to get back into some sort of shape, n then suffering a hamstring injury, just 10 days before the tournament.

But I have to admit, while the practice sessions were just for fun, on the match day, stepping on that field, I could feel the passions returning for my one and only true love, bowling as fast as I possibly could. All the aches and pains seemed to have disappeared while I was on the field. And what a beginning it was. Watching the batsmen smash the opposition all over the park and then, holding on to my first ever caught and bowled, WOW.

The tension of the 2nd match, where every bowl counted, heart’s pumping, tension flaring, bodies aching and minds racing, not going whether u were gonna qualify for the next round or not?? The ecstasy of getting into the semi’s, applying a rather generous amount sprays, just to be able to get the hamstring to stop aching, before every match, man, that’s when I knew it was my single opportunity to make a mark for myself, to prove to myself, that I was still good for something.

Being the only one dimensional player in the team (I can’t bat worth shit, n fielding isn’t exactly something I am too keen on, ur typical Indian quickie ;-) ). The most satisfying feelin was when, in the finals, the penultimate over was given to me. I thought I had been wacked out of the park for a huge six, I shouted in anguish, held my head and then somehow managed to turn around just in time, to watch the long on fielder (Mithun man, I owe u 2 wickets) take a simple catch. That was the loudest shout of anger, anguish, relief n excitement I have ever given out.

Man, it was one crazy day. Thanks to everybody n the team for keeping their faith in me. Thanks Jamil bhai, for keeping calm when I was wacked for 2 consecutive sixes, thanks Lodha for ur words of encouragement after the match with BD, Shruti for calming me down after the Trojans created that ruckus over the catch in the finals, Mithun n Doshi for holding on to those catches in the finals, Ravi for dismissing the explosive batsman in the first over to make things easier for me, and my two dear friends Purvi n Pooja for getting us food n water n cheering for us n those wonderful pics.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH, WE WON.

An impefect world

The belief in the theory of Karma states that, the gud or evil u do in this life, comes to bite u in the arse, in this life or the next, once the Chakra or the cycle of life, comes a full circle. Plus, that in order to attain salvation, one must be humble, help the weak and be unselfish enough to see beyond own personal gains and work for the greater good of the society n hence, humanity at large.

Well, I may not be the most religious person around, or for that matter anywhere close to the most righteous person around, but in my experience, the only way to attain any kind of peace of mind, is to do whatever comes to u naturally, whatever makes u happy and whatever doesn’t leave any scope for regret in the future. When God made no two ppl the same, it is almost hysterical to assume that, they would have more or less the same way, by which they can cope up with defeat or loss.

Now imagine, having a certain arrogance abt ur demeanor, a certain unjustifiable swagger abt ur attitude, a certain coldness to emotions of attachment, love, dependence and care for others. Having the belief that "No matter what u say, NO matter what u do, IF i want u, there's not a damm thing u will be able to do, to resist the temptation" . Some may call this boasting, but its not boasting, if u can back it up everyday. The key to happiness, is askin ur self this simple question, before doing anything "WHATS IN IT FOR ME". Again, the answer might be different for different people, but that answer will lead you to true bliss. An imperfect world, requires an imperfect answer to survive in.

Return of the URBAN LEGEND

Many many years ago, in the foothills of the Shivalik mountain ranges, lived THE LEGEND of a man, who was the epitome of all that is morally wrong with the world, a sadist beyond comparison and a cold hearted womanizer. He lived life to the hilt, was happy like a baby and gave two hoots about what the world around him thought of him. But as with good things, the GOLDEN era was bound to end. The lessons learnt were forgotten, the rules of happiness were bent and the darkness of the heart was replaces by the sunshine of kindness, love and compassion. Soon THE LEGEND became a myth, the reality became folk lore and what was never supposed to be forgotten was forgotten.

Over the next few years, life played more than its fair share of tricks on our man, uprooted him from his paradise, spitted him in a God forsaken place and to top it all, gave him a conscious to feel, a heart to love and a desperate need to have a special someone in his life. He was broken, bent and twisted beyond recognition, shown the depths of loneliness, screwed by the very ppl he trusted and the worst was yet to come. For the first time, in his life, he REMEMBERED THE DATES OF those cruel events and just couldn't block them away, as he had all his life. They nagged him, ate him away from the inside and made him dependent on ppl, other than himself.

When all hope seemed lost, when the darkness almost seemed vanquished, when the GOOD had almost defeated EVIL forever, SATAN blessed his favourite child with everything that had been lost. HE took away the emotions, the care, the love and most importantly, returned to our man the ability NOT only to forget the ppl he hated, but also to forget the ones he LOVED, to become immune to their sufferings and to focus ONLY on his own happiness.

Thus, with just enough time to spare, from the depths of hell has once again risen THE URBAN LEGEND from Chandigarh, to cause unprecedented heartache and to wreck havoc amongst the fairer sex called women.