Friends

Today is friendship day. A day dedicated to celebrate the friends in your life. Friends hold a special place in my life. Ever since childhood, i have been fortunate to have been surrounded some really nice people whom i call friends.

My 1st ever friend was made in the townships of Baroda. We became really good friends and are still in touch after 25 years of friendship. I still remember both of us playing cricket in car garages and fighting for the right to bat first.

Coincidentally, both our families got transferred to Haldia in the same year and both of us landed at this unknown place in West Bengal with nothing but each others friendship to hold us together. We made some new friends in our 1st year there and one of them sparked my interest in WWF(Now WWE) wrestling which is my favorite sport to watch even today. From there on, three of us became really good friends playing and studying together most of the time. However, as fate would have it, my 1st ever friends dad was again transferred after 3 years in Haldia to New Delhi while my dad remained. The departure of my 1st ever friend really made me sad but i held on. I made some new friends as i entered class 4. These ones were good at studies and i would be lying if i say that i was not jealous of some of them being toppers in the class.

School days were fun as we sailed through them playing cricket, football(yes, i used to play football as well) and studying. All this fun ended for me when my father got transferred to Mumbai as i entered 9th standard. I did not know whether to feel happy about the fact that i was going to Mumbai or feel sad that i was leaving this small town and the friends that i have made here. Nevertheless, i had a good farewell party and off i was too Mumbai. I never made much friends with the local kids in Mumbai. Maybe just because i was not one of them. My years in Mumbai were however not uneventful. The little friends i made taught me how to steal money from my parents wallet without getting caught, watch late night porn movies and everything that my parents would not want me learning. But my best days were ahead of me.

I enrolled into an engineering college in Ramtek, Nagpur University. I was extremely nervous when i entered the college campus to begin first of my four years of engineering and hostel life. The only comforting fact for me was that my elder brother studied in the same college and was in final year which meant a lot. Having a brother in final year helped me avoid all the ragging while my batch mates suffered through it.

My friends in engineering taught me most of the things in life that has made me a better person. They celebrated my dad's promotion with me, they were as much as happy i was when i cleared my 1st year backlog papers along with my 3rd semester exams. Every joyous occasion, be it anyones, was shared by everyone as if it was their own. I did not even know how to eat food with hands, they taught me that. While in engineering, I learned to celebrate life and more importantly i learned to respect friends and friendship. We used to sleep on railway platforms because we never had enough money to stay in a lodge. We used to travel by trucks to Nagpur to save mere 10 rs /- on bus fare. I never said "Thank You" to any of my friends but deep down i really look up to them and respect them for turning this "No good idiot" into someone worthy.

When we left college, we promised to keep in touch and most of us has honored it so far. Even today, we look up to each other for advices, confiding secrets and sharing our griefs.

While most of my friends went into jobs, fate however had different plans for me. I secured admission in Welingkar School of Management for MBA. I quickly became friends with most of the hostelites who were mainly from Delhi. The bond that binded us together was the same bond that binds most of the guys together "Alcohol". We never missed any opportunity to catch a few drinks together. Be it exams, mid terms, presentations we drank and passed through them all. My friends at MBA taught me how to communicate with people, how to sell myself in an interview and more importantly how to make CVs. If it had not been for them, i probably would not have been where i am today. They always believed in me more than i did in myself. We always studied and partied together. They were there to celebrate with me when i got my first job. I called up my friends before i called my parents to tell them i had got a job. They were there for me throughout all sorts of problems i faced in my first job. They helped me make my CV when i was looking for another job. They made me respect friendship even more than i did before. I am very much indebted to them for having belief in me and for tolerating my drinking rants.

All through my life, my circle of friends have taught me many things in life which makes me the person i am today. I never believed in the concept of a best friend or a BFF. For me, all friends are the same. Some friends are more dear than others but i choose not to choose between friends. Now sitting here in Bangalore, as i celebrate friendship day i have only two things to say to all my friends "Thank You for being my friend" and "Love you all".

Jo hota hai ache ke liye hota hai

Well, it’s been more than a year since I last updated my blog. Lots of things have happened and changed since my last blog. Some of my friends changed jobs and moved to Mumbai while I moved out of there; some of them lost their jobs as well. Almost, all of them have a reason as to why their jobs or bosses suck. My elder brother and two of my very close friends got married in 2009 and for a change, all of them are happy. Food prices and stock market both skyrocketed in 2009 as well. For some of my family members and friends, the year that went by was good, some of them feel it was bad and for some of them it was a mixture of both.
Let me tell you what all happened with me in 2009 and then I will leave it for you to decide whether my year was good or bad. The year started with a 5% salary cut thanks to recession and the cloud of uncertainty over the job never drifted away from the skies above. My house owner robbed me of Rs. 10,000 over some false claims while returning the security deposit. Laptop got screwed up permanently, mobile also went defunct like always (nothing new about that I guess considering my history with electronic items). My weight touched an all-time high of 100 kgs at one point of time and come to think of it, I haven’t even reached 2nd half of the year yet. The tragic story continued in the latter half of 2009 with an incident that I cannot reveal publicly, but most of the people reading the blog would have an idea of what I am talking about. The incident took up most of the 2nd half of 2009 and believe me it was not easy being in my shoes then.
Now looking at the year 2009 from a completely different perspective. I was the only person from my joining batch who survived the layoffs that happened in the company in December 2008. While some of the colleagues and friends went into 2009 without jobs, I was let off with a mere 5% salary cut. Since, I had a job in hand I could digest the loss of Rs. 10,000 which my owner robbed me off. Plus, I saved some money by staying in a cheaper accommodation for a month to recover my loss. Thanks to downsizing by the company, I managed to land a couple of excellent projects which otherwise might not have come my way. These projects ultimately helped me secure a job with HP. As far as mobile is concerned, I managed to get a new one. The incident that happened in the latter half of 2009 also had its share of positives with biggest of all being me able to actively participate in my brother’s wedding from start to finish and assist my parents as well. I was finally able to meet and catch up with my relatives after god knows how many years. The proactiveness with which I looked for a change was also much higher than it would have been otherwise and it ultimately resulted in where I am today. Also, I am glad that the incident happened at the beginning of my professional career and not a later stage so that I could learn lessons from it now when I don’t have anyone depending on me. By the time 2009 ended, I had a new job offer in hand with a much better brand name and of course much better salary.
So, my 2009 was good or bad? Depends on how you look at it. While, it’s good to be optimistic a certain amount of pessimism is also necessary to be able to push your limits and drive yourself. It’s like the saying goes “Optimist invented the aero plane, pessimist invented the parachute”. Lots of things have happened in my life over the years that I wish shouldn’t have happened or happened other way round. Did I regret doing those things? Yes. Do I still regret doing those things? No. Life is too short to live with regrets. During all these happening in my life I never lost one thing and that was HOPE. For me, the words hope and optimism imply the same meaning. So for all of you reading this blog hope is not just a four letter word and “Jo hota hai ache ke liye hota hai”. The most important thing is to believe in yourself and never lose hope.

Well, that’s it for now. My next blog will most likely be titled “Envy” or “Grass always looks greener on the other side”. Keep tuning in and don’t forget to give your feedback.