*** F.R.I.E.N.D O.N.E ***
"Hey, wait"
I turned back and there he was walking towards me ...I knew he was in my class, but not his name...after all it was only two days into my first semester of engineering and i did not even know the name of the guys sitting on the bench next to mine. It was already 8.45 and in those initial ays, one did not want to be late to college.
By the time these thoughts transpired, he was beside me...
"Hi, this is Arun. You are in EC arent you?"
"Yes..this is aravind"
"Ok...mind if you accompany me to the vikasbhavan bus depot? I have to submit my concession form"
"Ahh well...ok" I knew I wasnt going to like this guy; he was making me late for college.
Little did i know what lay ahead.
That was how i met Arun, one of my closest friends til date. Our friendship has had testing times, trials and tribulations....but it has survived and flourished to this date...
During our first year, we used to go to his house for combined study. All those visits are still fresh in my mind...the first time all the more so... Since it was the first visit, I did not know his parents or his family, and had to be sure i'd impress them. As soon as i reached his house, i took out the assignment sheets, and books and started jotting down. The reaction on his parents face was one of absolute bewilderment. They looked at me like someone from outer space. I guessed i was not studious enough, and increased my pace. At this point they said, "hey aravind..stop..have some juice...relax for some time and then start"
I then realized that in my eagerness to impress, i'd just made a fool out of myself...and both of them have remained as unassuming as i saw them on that day. Be it coming to college on an arts festival day and making a fool out of subru or be it throwing crackers on rekha (arun's sis) during diwali.
As time went by, we (a lot of other close friends as well) got together a lot more to do "combined study"....whereas in reality we sat late into the night playing computer games, or joking; but the majority of the time was spent on gossipping...I know you wouldnt believe it, but we had a great time at that...we analysed relations, people, happenings in college, politics, movies; almost everything under the sun. Late into the night, we would take up whatever vehicles were at hand and would go to a thattukkada at poojappura and have thattu dosa....those times were magical...
I dont remember the exact semeseter, but at one point of time, he began to see less of us...he had an affair... He had to spent more time with her...And at that point of time, I started hating lovers...and the DCH dialogue suddenly pops up in mind..."When you are in love, you dont have time for your friends, you only have time for each other"....Anyways, the relation progressed well. Our close group of friends knew from day one that it was not going to end well. His parents would never agree to such a kind of a relation, and he was so attached to them that he would not go against their words...But then when was falling in love rational; when was it based on logic?
we still had the combined studies,outings and fun going on, but the magic was missing...After college, he got into a good B-school and left to do his MBA...after which he got placed in one of the best IT corps of India...and continues to work out of hyderabad....
And yes, his love got married. He was devastated...I could tell that from his eyes. He had tried in vain to get consent from his parents. For quite some time, he tried to put on a facade, but then we friends know better. It is on that sole point that we still disagree. He shud have never attempted something he knew would never happen...
Inspite of all this, he remains one of my closest friends....
*** F.R.I.E.N.D T.W.O ***
Unlike Arun, i donot quite remember when and how i met Balaji....but today he is on the same circumference of close friends as Arun is...
The best thing with this guy is his honesty....if you are wrong, he would tell you so. You want a fair opinion, you go to him. And if you want to know which mallu films are hits, how many are coming up and whos acting, you go to him...he is a walking wiki on movies.
We've had quite a few tussles, especially after the all india tour, of which i have written before. And interestingly, he now shares accomodation with a person with whom he had the worst fight..and they are best friends now...He has turned Professional as well I guess
Between us, we had told Arun about the problems his love affair might throw up, but...Anyways, all that is past and now we all live in different cities, separated by physical distance, but united and close by the bond of friendship which holds us dear.
*** F.R.I.E.N.D T.H.R.E.E ***
Unlike Arun or Balaji, Manu was not in the same class as mine, for the first year. It was only when the third semester started that we came to know each other up close.
I had heard quite a stories of him being the chocolate boy of his class, with quite a few gals going gaga over him...of course that was to be expected; he was handsome. But the sad part is that girls have always given him misery.
He was head over heels in love with a muslim girl in our class. The feeling was reciprocated to quite a large extent. We always thought that would culimnate in marriage, but that was not to be. During the next semester itself, she fell in love to another classmate, having given manu the reason that he was not mature or bold enough. He brooded over her for long...and finally gave up on her...They are best friends now...
Once into his final days at college, he was introduced to a girl from a different college through a mutual friend. Naturally, he again fell in love...we warned him well and good. The girl's character was a touch doubtful, and we were pretty sure she considered him a pasttime. Initially the relationship went against what we speculated. It seemed all would en well, but it was not to be. He asked his parents to talk to her parents, but things turned all the wrong way and it ended up pretty badly....
To put it in short, he has a devastated love life...and I only hope the next one he finds doesnt live him dead....
