Heartfelt....

To be a part of a group of friends is really wonderful. It’s humbling to be a part of 2 groups of great friends, as in my case. In the previous blog, I'd mentioned about a very close bonding among 8-10 of us friends, especially during the final semester of our engineering. I am also part of another group of friends for the past four-and-a-half years...A group of friends who have been and are my soul-mates, from whom I have never hidden & cannot ever hide anything, no secrets between us…Jealous?? Read on...:-))).

This group just happened. Sajjina, Surekha, Swapna, Sujatha, Deepti, Poonam & I struck up a bond right from the first day of college.I knew saji from my junior college days, she & I were both in 'Computers' & since we stay nearby we stuck together from the first day-both in class as well as for traveling. Saji knew swapna because they were in the same class in XI & XII and that is how I came to know swapna. Surekha & swapna used to travel together in the train, both were in 'IT'; thus I met Surekha.

We used to travel to college & back home together. Then sujatha n deepti also joined us in the train travel. We met poonam through swapna & surekha since she also was in IT. Swapna was more forthcoming during conversations in the initial days & surekha was the quieter one. And later on came a time when only surekha & I would talk & the others simply had to listen, especially in the train...I haven't named the blog "Chatterbox" for nothing, you see ;-)The train travel was the cause and our bonding, an effect. We used to have lunch together, talk a lot about anything & everything under the sun and soon became inseparably close. We could understand what was on the other's mind by simply looking at the person... There have been loads of memorable times. In fact, every moment of our togetherness was & still is, memorable & unforgettable. We had (still have) silly fights between 2 or 3 of us, which would be solved by the rest; enjoyed spiced-up gossip thanks to sujatha ;-); bird-watched, courtesy deeps, swap n me :-); gone after silly pussies to please saji…
We have cheered during the dance performances by Surekha, Swapna, Poo and Suja. I remember how much fun we had during the dance make-up sessions too (wot say, gals), my excitement after their dances as I ran backstage to give them a hug:-)…
Swapna, Surekha, Deepti are the only people who have had the privilege of watching me dance or rather, unko ‘bardaasht’ karna pada, hai na?? ;-))
Great memories, indeed…
We loved to dress up on sari days & stop to get a photo of all of us together on the way to college.
We have also had those intense moments when the tears flowed nonstop for reasons best known to us.

Swapna, surekha, sujatha, deepti & niranchala had come to my place after chechi’s (saji’s sister) marriage. They were home only for a few hours but we’d a great time. We went through all the photographs, beginning with my parents’ marriage, then my brother’s n my childhood photos, my brother’s thread ceremony pics and then our college sari day photos. We chatted away to glory & enjoyed every moment of it :-).
We have had 3 get-togethers at surekha’s place. My goodness, what commotion we created in the house!!! We watched TV, saw a movie (alaipayuthe – the tamil original of saathiya) ate great food, sang, played carom & talked. The second time we went there to see her nephew arjun (ajju). Cho chweet :-))…
We also had a meet at swapna’s house. What a wonderful place! There is so much of quiet, greenery & serenity – lovely surroundings. And then, we had awesome food, clicked photos and there was some girl-talk, as usual;-)
There was a meet-up at sujatha’ place at vashi. We really enjoyed that time and especially as there was no one in the house besides us. We cooked, played, watched TV and chit- chatted.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the get-together at poonam’s place.

We have gossiped so much, talked endlessly when in pain & found relief & solace. Traveling by train to & from college was a joy because we could be together. Walking to & from Nerul station was lovely only because of each other’s company. We have had get-togethers, went for movies together after every semester, chatted for hours on the phone…God, how I miss those great times!!!

We had a very difficult time keeping our emotions in check on the day of the farewell (1st April, 2006). As we left from college after the party/dinner and walked to Nerul station in silence, reminiscing the old times, the unsettling thought that we wouldn’t meet each other everyday struck us hard. We cried hard on the way to, and at the station and continued till we were seated in the train. Then, slowly, and with a lot of difficulty, we consoled each other, smiled and promised to ourselves that no matter where we were we’d always be there for each other, anytime – day or night. And I’m proud to say that it is so.
Of course I miss them all, especially saji because I used to spend the whole day with her. But I can’t do anything about it except continuing to keep in touch with her. Same is the case with swapna, sujatha, deepti & poonam. Swapna's not in Mumbai but we always feel her presence, she's right here, with us, just as in college...Of course we miss her but all we can do is meet her when she comes down to Mumbai (she's come only once after starting her job)...
We did meet at vashi when swapna was here in December ’06. We discussed everything that had happened here after she left & she told us of her experiences at Bangalore. We then had lunch, ate ice creams & golas & clicked pics on surekha’s magnificent, new digicam.
After engineering, we all had to go separate ways. It was so depressing and disheartening to be away from friends who you have been meeting for every day for the past 4 years. I couldn’t be with saji with whom I’d spent almost every moment of the 4 years of engineering, be it at college, in the train or at classes. Swapna went to Bangalore for her job. I still remember how badly I was shaking (because of crying) while typing a good-bye message for her. Fortunately, Surekha & I meet daily as we are in the same office and, let me tell you, the feeling is wonderful – to have someone who knows you inside out be there with you in the midst of a sea of unknown people, is, to say the least, great.

Today, we all mail each other from our offices. We write about 3 mails per person per day & send it to all 7 of us. It feels so nice, seems like college-just the way we used to tell each other everything that happened on a particular day in our class, today we mail each other about anything & everything happening in our lives, no matter how major or trivial the stuff maybe.
It's very difficult to put forth one's feelings for someone in a few words. The most eminent of writers would fail such a test. I have tried to translate into words what I have felt during 4.5 years of my life. Believe me, there’s no way I can do justice to my feelings this way but I derive immense pleasure and contentment when I do it this way. It feels great to look back at those times & go through all those emotions once again.

God has blessed me in a big way with such true friends that I probably can never thank Him enough. And, thank you, each one of you, for being a part of my life, my existence. Heartfelt thanks, guys…Love u all:-))