Nostalgia

Hii folks,

Having spent a good 45 days at home after passing out from IIMA, life for me has returned back to normalcy. 'Normalcy' in this context means a routine mechanical life; one in which you know what you have to do in a day and then complete what is to be done. There is neither a sense of adventure nor a hint of novelty that I would any day love to be involved in. Life has become mechanical to such an extent that I find it difficult to make time for activities like blogging that I so love doing. But thanks to some good songs from the upcoming movie 'Mausam', I finally have the good mood to indulge in some writing.

Facebook now is a 'virtual' country with a population of a billion and is fast threatening to challenge our beloved country's position as the second most populous country in the world. I hate Facebook, but I can't ignore it because there is no disputing the fact that its one of the most user friendly tools to network and be in touch with friends and acquaintances. It recently helped me get back in touch with my long lost school friends; bringing back invaluable moments of happiness and pain, ecstasy and agony back to life and in the process making me nostalgic like never before. To an extent that now I can't resist the urge to meet with old pals and relive those moments of fun.

Reliving those moments help you realize the fact that with ageing comes maturity because with ageing, you experience many things and events that have something or the other to teach you. And yes, you also want to be a child again and live life without worries and the burden of responsibility that now tend to bog us down. As a blogger, isn't it a good idea to share with you some funny moments that I would like to relive now? Yes.

Circa 1992

I was playing with 'Nippa', my first friend who was a girl. And from then on, my saga of ups and downs had begun with the opposite sex. No offence intended; its probably a fault in my wiring that I have now come to realize that I can never anticipate or understand what girls do or mean. Well coming back to what happened that day; it was my first encounter with our ancestral cousins which are often lovingly referred to as 'Monkeys'. Me and Nippa along with some of our common friends were playing on a fine Sunday evening when we saw a 6 feet long guy trotting along with his pet monkey.

Me(Addressing that guy): Bhaiyya, is this monkey yours?

Guy: Yes chote, its mine.

Me: Will the monkey hurt me if I tease him?

Guy: You wanna take a shot? Go on

I made faces and teased him like hell, fully aware of the fact that the guy had him in chains. But little did I realize that I had managed to piss him off so well that a seemingly gentle one had turned to an aggressive monkey all set to show his might. It was trying hard to jump on me. Moments later, when the guy lost grip on the chain he started chasing me. I ran for my life. Well, the reason I remember the sequence of events is because of two things:

1. Though I managed to escape, I could see Nippa laughing aloud at me while I was crying out in fear. That hurt me

2. After 5 minutes when I came out of hiding, I was told that Nippa was on the way to hospital because the mad monkey which was clearly on a rampage had bit her before being brought under control. That hurt me even more (sob sob!!)

Moral: Never mess with our ancestral cousins. Never.

Circa 2000

I was literally begging for a cool 'bike' that I could ride on and go to school. The fact was that I wanted to brag and impress girls because not many boys then had the luxury of riding a cool red Hercules MTB to school. That bicycle then was priced at 2000 bucks and that wasn't a small amount to spend for a non-commissioned technician in the IAF (my father). So when he did buy me that, I was over the moon.

Kiran was a good friend of mine back then and she had come to my home for the first time to ask for my notes, as she was absent for quite a few days in school. Our families were very close. I was just beginning to think of having a friendly chat when my mother hijacked her. They were both having the usual gossip (pun intended!!) inside the kitchen and here was me, cribbing over the fact that I lost a golden chance. After a while...

Kiran: Thanks Sandeep for these notes. I will return it to you tomorrow in the class.

Me: Oh yeah, yeah. Take your time. By the way, can I drop you home? (Looking back, that was a blunder!!)

Kiran: On your cycle? No way, I will walk home. (She was staring at me, wondering how the hell did I manage to feel as if I had a motorcycle)

Me: Oh! Its ok. You know my cycle is new. Just bought it a week back

Kiran: Nice. Bye

And she left. Two hours later, I was riding my cycle aimlessly on the road enjoying the pleasant whiff of breeze flowing even as the majestic evening sun was calling it a day off. I saw her on a distance with another girl. A stupid me was thinking of doing some stunts and I did manage to show off some quite well. Moments later, I went and greeted her.

Kiran: Sandeep, do you really want me to praise your bicycle riding abilities? I know you bought a new one

Me: Ah....hmmm...Oh no! Its not like that. I just wanted to.....(The following words never mattered as both of them were laughing at me)

Moral: Never show off when you don't know how to. Or even if you know, never be a dumb*** like me to use a bicycle. Does someone recall a similar scene in the movie 'Boys'? I won't blame you though!!

There are countless such moments that I would love to share. But am I the only one to be living with such exciting memories? No. There are people who probably have endured a myriad of painful heart wrenching experiences. There are people who inspire themselves to get up every morning and do what they are supposed to, just because they don't have any other alternative. And there are people like me who are fairly comfortable with their lives and still find waking up and going to office a routine. But isn't that a corporate life is all about?

Its all in the mind. Isn't it?

signing off,

taureansandy