We had Joy we had fun … We had Seasons in the Sun

After completing LP2, I was thinking…next what?? What is it that is worth a mention in this space?
One day while driving on my way back from office, I suddenly remembered a conversation that I once had with one of my friends. While I was talking to him about my schedule and friends, he suggested me to do a write up on it. But that time I had postponed the idea for some long pending thoughts which took a priority over it. But now that I am over with them, I think this blog would seem to be missing something major, if I do not post this piece.
So, to begin with--- this writing is dedicated to the most amazing people I have ever met in my life ---my mentors, my friends, my supporters, my argumentative group, the pranksters ----- so guys and gals ….please give a big round of applause to “the teen deviyaan”: D--- Ms. Joyita Sinha , Ms. Banani Swain and last but not the least Ms. Shreeja Saxena , who has recently lost her singlehood status. ;).
I won’t start with the background here as to how I ended up in a PG as it’s a long story in itself ….
So, I will start with my Gurumaiyya i.e. Shreeja Saxena. I met her after 5-6 months of my stay in PG. Until then she was either at her hometown or travelling to Pune for her work. One day, I was as usual, having my dinner and she suddenly came from nowhere and there was commotion all around … The girls hugged her as if she had returned from a war front . Nevertheless, we exchanged “hello” glances and I got back to concentrating on my area of interest (food to be precise).
Then after sometime she came out and started talking to me in “English”. I was wondering if she always behaved so formally!!!. The next day she again set off on her trip to Pune for official reasons, so we did not talk much .It was only after her trip that we got to know each other and her asleeyat (her true nature) unfolded .
At first glance and meeting, she would appear to be a real lady (in British sense), who will mesmerize you with all her charms, her smile and not to forget her professionality waali English… Slowly and gradually you will realize that, she is a great prankster and happy go lucky personality, who won’t let you realize the tough times she had been through. And mind you, she is fiery in her own way, who, if rubbed the wrong way, would erupt like a dormant volcano. A fearless and crystal clear soul, who will go out of her way to help her friends and will give tough competition to guys for her bulging biceps and girls for her sexy figure.
Girls in our PG call us twin sisters “Badi Shreeja”(the original one) and “Chhoti Shreja” (its me :P). The reason being, we both are lost souls, always roaming here and there engrossed in our thoughts and the major reason being, both of us understand each other’s conversations or pretend to do so lest anyone would get a chance to make fun of us. Whenever the whole PG group is in argument mood on any topic, we both are there to support each other.
The next in line is my sweet and sexy lady Banani Swain. A soft spoken girl who talks at such a speed and so many words in one go that even parrot will be ashamed. She is like a breath of fresh air in a PG accommodated by firebrands like us , where any outsider would hear sweet voice only in two cases – one , when Banani is speaking and the other , when I am singing :P (I know someone is going to raise her voice of disagreement on second one!!!). Such a pure soul that even GOD would think ten times before hurting her .Because of her soft nature , she is an easy target to be overpowered by any one , but her charms let her take over the baton and the other person gets tamed , without him / her realizing that.
It is generally said that ritual of smoking and drinking together sometimes result in a person finding best of his buddies. In our case (i.e. mine and Banani’s), it was our passion for good food and cooking that brought two of us closer to each other. The ritual of cooking together, eating in the company and staying awake till late night, having coffee or adrak waali chai , listening to radio or latest music had become daily routine for both of us.
Third, but the most pertinent figure is our Bengali Bombshell …Ms. Joyita Sinha .The first thing you will notice about her is her luggage. She is a human ant, who will carry stuff ten times heavier than her weight and more often than not , the bags will be so large that you will see only the strolleys moving and will have to actually search for the person (i.e. Joyita), who will remain hidden behind them. She possesses some other peculiar characteristics like the fuck off look on her face when she wakes up early in the morning. And you dare wish her or make her talk that time and she won’t hesitate even once to show the middle finger to mean it. It is only after she has her morning tea that she comes back to her senses and start behaving like a human being. A person who leads arguments in our PG and who will compel you to agree with her with all her deadly weapons like twinkle in her eyes and a standard fake smile on her face ….
These three girls have been instrumental in making my stay memorable in Hyderabad. All three of them have guided me, chided me and also argued with me and have significantly affected my thought process. The best thing about this group has been unconditional affection for each other, but at the same time, accompanied by sense of detachment too. I know that it sounds contradictory, but my personal experience has made me quote this statement.
The times spent with them have been memorable and would be cherished by me throughout my life.
All four of us in some way are guided and ruled by the same set of principles, which have bound us together. Weekends have always been the time we would look forward to...as those 2 days gave us time to spend and discuss about our week that went by and the thoughts we are / have grappled with so far etc etc . You name the topic and we have discussed it . I remember a very silly but hilarious incident that kept the all of us awake throughout the night.
That Friday night, I had escaped to my room pretty early, which was quite unusual for me, considering the unsaid protocol that we had for staying late at night for chatting. I watched movie till 2 a.m and then as expected had hunger pangs. So had to drag myself upstairs for preparing some snacks …..As soon as I entered in the common hall, I realized that there was a creepy silence and some faint noises were coming from Meghna’s room.

Before commencing on my inquiry, I decided to abide by an old saying “Pet pooja phir kaam dooja”. Holding my snacks in one hand and my water bottle in another, I just dashed into her room and saw that there were only two people staring one time at the laptop and next time at their hands. The look on their faces and explanation given by two of them (Meghna and Shreeja) to each other were hilarious. These two gals were trying to figure out what destiny has in store for them (destiny when I say , I am talking about determining how many marriages are they going to have and children from each one of them and a foreign trip , if any ) and that too at 2 in the night!!!. So while I was munching my food, I also got involved and started pleading them for taking a look at my hand. They very confidently confided to me that I am going to have only one marriage (ALAS!!! Only one ??) and also did family planning for me ….The truth was that none of them had any idea about hand reading and they were first timers!!!
As this pleading and explanation sessions were going on, entered the Lady DON and the Tendulkar of Astrology: Ms. Joyita Sinha. Till that time the three of us were grappling with our lines of destiny and seeing Joyita, we found solace in her. So before I proceed further, let me tell you that Joyi has been passionate about Astrology since the time she decided to come on Earth. Even when she was born , instead of crying like a new born baby , she was looking at her palms and wondering what “dasha” is she in and what time is best for her to cry …:P. She is a great reader and loves to read newspaper daily (Hyderabad times, page 3 - only astrology column). This trait of her to read only this topic went unnoticed for quite a long time, but my dearest Banani, who is a keen observer too …brought this in limelight.
So, back to the story again, the reason we had not sought her expert opinion till now was that she was talking to her sister and thereafter, we assumed that the lady might have gone to sleep… But, now that she was in the room, all 3 of us encircled her and she sat in the middle like a preacher, telling what laid in store for us .And mind people, every word falling from her mouth was like a Brahmastra for us, that could not be taken back and which is inevitable, considering her lifetime experience :D.
While all 4 of us were arguing and counter arguing on the lines and shouting at the top of our voice on each other, Banani entered the room. Till then, she was watching Dasvidaniya and had been busy in shedding tears (Imagine it was just 4 a.m.). While she was planning to go to bed , she heard our noises and out of curiosity came out to check what was happening . As expected, the moment she came to know about the topic, she joined the bandwagon. Suddenly, Joyita wore a very serious look on her face and showed Banani a specific line in her palm , declaring that the chances are very high for her to settle abroad permanently!!!... While Banani had mixed emotions, Shreeja suddenly started looking at both of her hands and then again , feeling dissatisfied , showed it to Joyita asking of her probability to go abroad and settlement . When Joyi replied in negative, she seemed disappointed (like a child after seeing her performance score card) and started counter argument with her, comparing her lines with Banani.
The whole of gang burst out in laughter, seeing her actions and I, like a true companion , deliberately wore a sympathetic look on my face, while the truth was I also wanted to laugh like a retard !!!.
This session went on for the whole night and we went to bed in the wee hours of morning. I in the mean time also had a cup of coffee after snacks (after all argumenting saps up a lot of energy ;)).
This is just one of the memorable times I have shared with my PG group. There are lots of them, which I will keep on sharing every now and then.
While I am writing this piece, the group has withered away, because of lots of reasons .., primarily being the circumstances. Shreeja as I said in the beginning got married and is now settled in Jaipur , Banani shifted to Bangalore because of her job . Joyita is still with me and sometimes we sit and discuss like the old times. But unlike before, it doesn’t turn up to be a night out, more so because of our hectic schedules. Even to this day, our day does not end until we meet each other. The times have changed and people have moved on, but all four of us are in touch and I think with the passage of time, the bonding has become deeper .I am also confident of the fact that this affection has matured to such an extent that even of we do not talk to each other regularly, it still wont affect our friendship, for the very reason that in our hearts we know that we care and remember the other three consciously or unconsciously…..
Some one has rightly said “Life is not defined by moments that you’ve breathed, but by moments that have taken your breath away” and I do believe in it.My past 2 years have been testimonial to this saying!!!