Coming home...

 

  My stay in Kerala was unforgettable. Initially, I thought that I was in hell because the town I was staying in was dead after 8 o'clock. Ironically, it was the capital city, so I thought, how can it be so boring? Where were all the malls and fast food eating places? Why were there so many medical stores, book stores, and what was the obsession with gold all about? I went for a movie at the theatre there, and instead of trailers, there were nine or ten different gold showroom advertisements! I eventually found out that the main hang-out was the zoo or museum grounds? Malls were yet to be built and there was one burger joint, where we used to and still continue to be their best customers. Where had I come to? Is it too late to go back to Chennai? 
   Unfortunately for me, school wasn't any better. From a state syllabus school,I had joined an ICSE board school that too, in 9th standard, in other words, I was in for a rough time! It took me a while to find a good group of friends and for the teachers to realise I was not a spoiled N.R.I brat, but had some amount of grey matter and good sense. Luckily, I became friends with the other 'new kids' who were also from outside India and we could easily empathise with each other. By the way, we still keep and touch and they are still my very close friends.(Shout-out to Laks and Sidds!) 
   I remember how I met my closest friend till date and partner in crime. She had done something to her eyebrows and I had asked her out of curiosity and pure innocence, whether it was some kind of Indian custom. Obviously, it was not, but that had broken the ice, and we've been the best of friends ever since.(Shout-out to M.R.P.)! Even, in the apartment building I stayed, I made a great bunch of friends. We would play football in the parking lot every evening and would participate in the cultural functions enthusiastically.( Shout-out to V.View!!!) 
   So slowly, things got a lot better and I began to enjoy my new home. And when, I joined college, things really became amazing! I was able to do what I want and had, what I think to be, the best set of professors  who knew their stuff ! Those three years were the one of the best times of my life. I got a crazy, wacky, group of friends and we somehow managed to freak out without allowing the issue of "what will people think" get in the way. I made friends with my seniors as well as my classmates. Of course, it isn't the same way in which I see undergraduates enjoy themselves in a larger cosmopolitan city, like going clubbing or frequenting malls and so on, but we had lots of fun just the same; By organising some celebration within the department, sharing our lunches( fighting for the best food), walking around campus, or just talking and laughing about the silliest, tiniest and insignificant things. And after our excursion, we never wanted the good times to stop! (Shout-out to Eng Dept at M.I.C!
   Soon, too soon actually, it came time for our farewell, which happened on Valentine's Day (bittersweet I know!!). We all were devastated at the fact that we wouldn't be seeing each other on a daily basis. Thanks to Facebook, email and texting, we all still stay in touch, but it isn't the same as actually being together like before. Still whenever we meet, it's like coming home. And it's that feeling I get whenever I meet anyone from there, that intimacy and closeness can never be replaced and those people and that place can never and will never be forgotten. I have fallen in love with that town, gold showrooms and all! 

Shout-out to TVM!

"We're you're friends..we're you're friends to the bitter eeeeeend"

       

      No matter where you go and how awesome you think you are, friends really do make life worth it! Yes, I know it must sound very cliché and you must have heard it thousands of times; from songs, films and even ridiculously boring television shows, you know the ones that you watch because nothing else is on at the time. But even the best and most bustling city could redefine loneliness and when you're new to town, getting through that 'I don't know anyone and no one knows you yet' phase is the worst! And having gone through my own share of relocations to different countries, this is something which never changes, no matter what! Make one really good friend and you are set!

        It opens a social world like no other...it's similar to a domino effect, once one leans your way, the others consequently do the same, and suddenly you are unsheathed from that cloak of invisibility which you seemed to be disguised in. Your confidence grows and soon you start falling in love with the city you live in and somehow the world doesn't seem as dark and gloomy any more. All the whining, complaining, and bitching to your parents about how all the people in class are stuck-up and no one really gets you, goes out the window!

Of course, finding out who your true friends are is a whole other issue and battle in itself. It may take a while and may be initially hard to accept the fact that they could be using you or even going behind your back. But when you do find that person who holds your hand, or comforts you by stating that it's their loss to not know the real you, or could just simply listen as you rave and storm about, it really is worth it. All the hard feelings, bitterness and betrayal somehow vanishes and that space is filled. Because that person may not have been someone you liked initially or someone who didn't like you initially, or you had no idea you had so much in common because of what your “friends” told you...in the end, I believe friends somehow find each other, and somehow stick, through thick and thin, ex-gfs and bfs, quarrels with parents, bad grades and even worse bosses, demanding family life and even more demanding in-laws. 

          So this lucky no. 7  post is for anyone who believes in the existence of true friendship!And for all those amazing friends of mine, you know who you are, because I don't even have to tell you, the smile on your face will!