Hamping away !!!

"Maa nenu Iroju Vizag podam anukuntunaa"....... it was time 9pm and i had just returned home, My mom shocked to hear this at my sudden announcement, but as habituated with my eccentric behavior, slowly asked me.... vizagenaa nijangaa ?? .

"Shhhh!! ...Daddyki chepaku ... actually hampiki andaru sckl friends tho eltunaaa"
"Enthamandi..."  .... "6"..... evarevaru.....sampath, ranga, neeraj...praneth." she started to count ..... "aaa aunu maaa .. waale plzzz daddyki chepaku... banglore official visit meeda potuna ani cheptaa.."...." sare nuvvu decide chesnanka inkenti... akada water aithe undadu kada...mundey meeru urike unadru"

"Maaa undavu..." right from my first trip to karamchedu my mom has always been terrified that  i might get drowned one day....

So after hurriedly stuffing my bag with some clothes ...i hurried to the bus stop which was just near by.. i also stuffed my formal shoes least i leave any clue behind...that am nt on a official visit

Filled with Anxiety, Fear of something unknown ...these two things have come free with my god damn job!!, i hate my cell phone and internet even after taking a one day leave which was below my legitimate share of holidays something troubled me.....always... i wanted to break freee from all these shackles atleast for these 2 days, i prayed to god that i somehow lose my phone...

After 1 hr everyone of us met, everyone excited except me... the anxious me was still there ...this was not the usual me, we got into the bus, i preferred sitting with abhilash as usually we didnt get time in hyderabad very often, and also because i cud discuss ground realities of the Akbar case right from ground zero.. ie Old city where abhilash happens to live... after the usual leg pulling, the bus started with abhilash explaining to me how he works on a complicated model of transfer of money from one bank to other

First day

I sat on my chair with a wooden table and the creaking sound of the fan for company. My parents had just left , was I nervous? Yes I was a bit, was I afraid? Yes I had heard a lot about ragging at IIT, more so about ragging at “IIT DELHI”. This was my first day of the new life, rather the first page of my new book in filmy style. Hostel life was not new to me and living away from my parents was also not . but this was completely different, in some far off land with people around speaking in different language, new climate, new food , sounded exciting for me, I was not the one to easily show off my emotions, not an introvert but “Not Expressive” type would be the correct word I guess. I had very high expectations of this place before but seeing the room I lived was a reality check, the room was a double one that meant I had to share it with someone else and my side of the room was just enough for a table and my cot and the chair to fit in. I didn’t even know who my roommate was, I hoped it was some girl then there were no Co-Aid hostels so again a reality check, I was thirsty after all those thoughts, I didn’t know where to go for water then I remembered while entering the hostel premises, I had seen a water cooler.

I was in the ground floor and the corridor in which I stayed was a very dingy one with very dim lights resembling some jail. I kept walking sunlight came in thankfully , turned left , there was a long path from where I stood ie the actual entrance to the living rooms and the water cooler. There were scores of parents with their children giving them wat to do and wat not to do checking if everything was in order, some inspecting the building and the facilities, I was feeling like a loner amidst the ocean of new faces, after walking for some time i kept turning back to look at the lawn and the people sitting there trying to figure who my prospective roommate might be, I reached the cooler there were two yellow color taps, but there was neither a glass or anything to drink with and after standing for 2 mins or so I couldn’t figure it out how to drink water , after some a person a boy rather with unshaven face, a full shirt one hand rolled up and another left freely one torn book in one hand and the by the dirty looks he gave it had to be a senior and the way he ignored me and said “Excuse me” calmly went bent down pressed the tap and drank his tummys full with his hands and went away not even noticing me. “Ohhh!!” I thought I followed him doing exactly wat he did, but had to take breaks to gulp the water first, after my last gulp there was a line behind me giving me dirty looks as if I was an outcaste there. Sensing that I mite be in trouble swiftly made my way to my room.

There stood a person with a trunk and bedding and not clearly visible, I could see only the dark outline due to the dim lights was he standing in front of my room ?? after some steps yes he was!!! As I went closer he was short clean shaven rather a boy with spectacles and boyish smile spoke extending his hand “ hi Benkatesh” he said, “ohh hi Venkatesh , abhilash”…

“nono BBenkatesh “ he stressed the B ,…”Ohh I thought Andhra nunchaa” I asked him enthusiastically
Seeing his stumped look anyone could have guessed that he was not from my place, I opened the room and he got in the other half of the room and started unpacking he had a bedding that resembled one of a military one, seeing him I also started to open my luggage just then someone forcibly knocked on the door and it opened “Oye Fucche chalo ground pe “ thundered a short guy, but by the commonding language he spoke he was a senior “ Shit !!! I thought has it started ?”

Then we were made to make long queues with scored of seniors of all shapes & sizes controlling us as if we were the prisoners and they the jailors, slowly we made our way out onto the entrance of the hostel on to the road there were many seniors waiting there as we were walking I noticed someone he had to be a south Indian and the way he parted his hair his dark complexon and t shirt he had to be from my place !! , as I walked closer to him I said “ Annaya” , this word meant big brother in telugu but the min that guy heard this all hell broke loose “ Kya??? Kya bola ….saaale kala koi bhi milega tho maddu hojayegaa kyaa chal line main khade ho” he thundered that was enough for me to piss in my pants, but how could I make a mistake, may be really he was not a telugu looking back I walked in my line

Suddenly the person in front of me a lanky guy with a very new moustache fairer even by north Indian standards with specs turned back and spoke “ Hi am bhasin “, I was stilling looking at him then realizing my mistake “ Ahh… am Abhilashh…”…..”which Branch ?” he asked. “Mechanical “ I answered , “ohh sahi same here main bhi Mechanical”…”ohh great my first classmate I thought. Suddenly a senior from behind thundered “Chup chap chalon line !!!” our conversation died there and we walked away with the evening sun on our faces

ZNMDB!!!

5 am I- 210......Indore....not a soul awake ...i and a guard who is watching SHRI krishna are the exceptions.....2 things happened in the last 2 days which had some effect on me one a workshop on "career & self " ....at first look it looks like the most boring thing to do....yes it was boring..but there was this questionnaire we had to fill it up,actually in pairs of two, but as our class was Odd numbered and i sitting in the ist bench was paired up with the prof, actually i wanted this ....because may be i wanted to share those secrets with the prof because i was too shy to do it with anyone of my fellow class mates, and in the middle of the questionnaire every thing was coming tumbling down, my darkest fears in life, the things i want to reverse in life. A i wanted to tell this to the prof was because he knew nothing about me and he was the last person in the class who would be affected by my feelings and when i read the completed form ...i felt different !!!, i felt fresh...

then the 2nd thing i saw "Zindagi milgei na dobbara" i had deffer ed seeing it due to lack of sleep, and reviews that it was drag and slow, but it was nothing of that sort at least for me it was so refreshing seeing it, the characters were so fresh, so different, i guess they were also in the stage of spitting it out everything out of their system, obsessiveness it was as if the biggest " Gaali" on earth " A life of my own"....over the years i have simply forgotten about my life what i wanted what i loved , stuck in the whole vicious cycle of expectations from others, obsessiveness, Strings attached ...... i thought ...sorry am thinking...now onwards cmon life bring it on in katrina's words "Zindagi mujhe surprise karti rahe or inspire karthi rahe......"

i just want to sit on the top of my hostel block with wind on mi face.........................................

Melting Moments!!

"Gr8 shot sammy boy....!!" shouted ashwin, it was winter, i had come home for dussera holidays and it was SSome time after which i was playing cricket on my home pitch, in the lane where i used to play in my teens regularly....but this match was different as someone was watching.....someone special i guess...which till that time was unthinkable, to me atleast...."oye samrat saale ....bowling hain apni ab fielding bhi karega yaa phir natak shuru" it was ashwin again...Tring Tring....phne ringed....it was mummy calling, my house was just few feet away down the lane ...we had chosen not to play in front of my house which was the the usual playground donno for how many years, as over the years many of neighbors started doing well and now literally everyone owned cars, smashing someone's mirror was the last thing on our minds .

"aaan maa cheppu ikade unna kinda ashwin apts mundu adutunna vasta le wallu vache varaku vastale ipuudu 6e gaa aindi ...inka chala time undi maaa ,,,kk" we were expecting some guests that day ...Damn these relatives, i didnt wanted to waste any of my already scanty holidays on these relatives ...these i guess are some of the ill effects of being a social animal..

"Aindaa saar mee phne call evarrra a gil frind naaku telikundaa" shouted one of mi frinds " mummy bey saale...arey na cheyyi anthaa baa ledu ...bowling vere evarikainaa iyraa...."...i said rotating my arm showing some discomfort. "Cmon man nee natakalu apava ...evarki iyalraa ...evarunaaru.."...." Anirudddhhh......ahhh!!" i said reluctantly...."Whaaatt aadikaa nee yabba inka pilaaa peon gaadu...ayana of all the people Ani endukraa..."...."Iyyu bey...neekante baane estadle"....saying this snatched the ball from Ashwin and tossed it up to Ani...who was surprised ...."wat nenaa....kanni"...."ehhe try man eyyi oye...." patted on his back...he was taken for 2 wide wide 6 1 2 4 and last ball .... ashwin already fuming RED i signalled to him as if telling him that everything was under control.....he signalled back .....(..l..)

Last balll.....hit the wall on which the wickets were drawn ....then the started the great indian arguement of whether the ball had hit the wickets.....i guess from here only indians learn the art of appealing for anything and everything as the aussies learn sledging right from their home. it was more than clear that the ball had not hit the wickets but as someone was watching game i had to act fast..."arey out raa babu....clear out..." after many arguements it was given out and u shud have seen the proud glow on Ani's face....after sometime the game ended and i patted on Ani's back as if telling him that he was the worthy Man of the Match if any were given....
Amidst all this Din, chatter i took a glance at the silent spectator who had been watching our game throughout.....Yes she was watching....our looks met and the 5 seconds looked like years we exchanged glances and she went inside...."vastunnav gaa film atnunchi ate party ki eldaam late cheyaku andaru waiting akada"...."aaan vasta nuvvellu..."....i wanted to escape from the chatter of the relatives so had planned a movie.
"Thank you" came some voice from behind...it was Ani...Aniruddh...."enduku thanks..."...."arey for giving me the bowling...".."arey adaa u deserved it man ashwine iyamannadu..".....
So freea bayataku eldaama dinner ki intlo mummy wallu kuda leru uriki ellaru pelliki repu gani raru....Siri inka nene unaam...to this my ears stood up......Chance to go out with the silent spectator but mummy relatives o sideu.....movie with ashwin oo side....Tring tring Mom's call ....Damn i thought " jus a sec aa maaa...enti ..aunaa i couldnt stop mi excitement...okok sarle nenu ashwin tho bayataku elesi vastha ok naaa naaku vaduule dinner".....couldnt stop my excitement the relatives were not coming for some reason....now to handle ashwin...the big problem was Ani. Siri and Ashwin were in the same Apartment making it all the more difficult for me....

Entii vastunaava ...lets go to Ohriss neeku driving vachhu gaa car teedaam ...."ante antha baaga raadu chala years aindi kada IIT lo cars allowed kaadu kada so lost practise..."....." parvaledle Siri ki vachhu....wash chesukoni vastava ilane eldama....was thinking damn car driving enduku nerchukoledraa waste fellow 10 class odi mundu siggu ..thu "sarle maa intlone wash chesuko.... we ran upstairs 2nd floor rang the belll trinnnnnnnn trinnnnnnnnnnn sirrrriiiii after 15 secs Door opened and there stood Siri in a blue jeans and pink .... my jaw almost fell down.....i was never such close to a thaaaat beautiful thing.....in mi life "enti enduku gola chestunav....open chestunna gaa nenemaina supermannnaaa...." ...."aunu nuvvu superwoman ve analanipinchindi kani ee okka chance kuda waste aipotundemonnani bhayam"...."daaa samrat naa roomloki....i couldnt dare to see her lest i got caught staring by her brother.....There was a huge picture of the family all four of them Wow the smile.... it was enough to bring a smile on anyones face....then wy was she grumpy that day.....i wanted to ask her brother...

Am I IN"DORE" or OUTDOOR......

...yaar main soch raha hoon ki secy ke liye khada ho jaoon .......then silence prevailed for few seconds...( and i am not used to this type of silence usually people used to jump in situations like these) .....one voice came up who was known for his pranks throught the campus, "haan haan khada hoja ...magar kis keliye...dnt u think abhi late hochuka hain"......i also knew that it was a bit late, but one thought always troubled me "will i pass out of this campus without indulging mi self in the BIG "P" word....naaaah the answer came out frm within. but at this new place i always didnt feel that comfortable, somehow i felt out of place .....may be the high level of** professionalism** in the air mite be the reason. loneliness was the new word, but somehow after many rounds of introspections i thought "change is inevitable and adjusting to that change is the key"......and i can tell u am still trying for the larger good.

And coming to the elections any chances of me indulging in "regionalism" to garner some votes were also not going to bear any fruits ( for obvious reasons). it was two days away from the elections, then during one of our usual long walks to dinner, i reluctantly asked them (one the prankstar and one the grand old man of our group ( nothing to do with his age but the receding hairline i guess is to be blamed for it.) for help in going around the campus for the so called campaigning and to mi surprise they were more than willing and started chalking out the strategy " abey tu pehle batata thaa main tuje aur sections main mere jaan kaar sabse mila letha abhi bhi kuch nahin chal chalthein hain kal".....one by one the friends trickled in and suddenly there were handful of people who had become the support system which i felt was non existent in the first place. then what ...something changed i guess the old iitd days were back ...i started on a high note i was determined to go down fighting and started roaming around the campus and while interacting with people of all shapes and sizes " haan zaroor vote dalenge" reverberated the corridors, i knew that most of them were lying but now more than the result i was enjoying the process to the fullest mi two friends ...my god u should have seen them were masters at catching the attention of the opposite person the way they interacted with the people around walking tirelessly with me, i was doomed to lose ( dooomed i guess is nt a good word bt had to use) , i was the underdog who would put their money on a losing horse , but the way mi small group supported me chalking out strategies giving me tips how to talk, i felt like a first yearite back at IIT D ...heheh given pep talks constantly by the seniors....and wat more the result i had given the other tough fight and could have easily won if the so called section mates and hostel mates had stood by their words and here i stood wondering on the nite of the elections after the results was my new worrld of friendship here starting to form ......may be ...may be not but there were surely some "NON-VERBAL CUES"......

"WING"s of fire...

Mi wing, may be due to some " External Factors" starting with the word P was more all less intact right from my 2nd year ...and to tell u that we had an awesome time for would be an understatement and here goes some of the snapshots......

The first one that comes to mi mind was "The Deutsche bank fiasco".....this was our 7th sem and we stiil had no idea of what was in store for us ( read as Rescission) in the upcoming placements. D* bank was not allowed to come on campus for some misdeeds it had committed in the previous years. so every year we used to go to a grand 5* hotel where the D bank guys would conduct a pre-placement talk ( nothing official about it) , but majority of the guys knew the competition was very tough and that there was a very little chance of getting into D bank. but the "High tea" follows

that too in a 5* hotel was the major incentive for most of us. we went had our stomach fill and then came back , then the next day some of mi friends hatched a plan to play a prank on Rakesh saini (the guy who never missed the hostel tea at hostel) so the plan had to be executed frm mi room "C-29" and rakesh room was "C-26" and the instrument was some fucha's phone ( least he knew the number), so we dialled his number...tring ..trimng

" hello is this rakesh (covering the phone with a towel), i am calling from D bank " ......the reaction " yes sir yes sir rakesh iam yes sir speaking"......
D: " ya we had called u to tell that ur resume has been shortlisted for tomorrow's ist round of interviews, u had come to yesterdays preplacemet talk right , hence the interviews aill also take place in the "central hall" where talk had happened (this was a blunder the talk had not happened in central hall but some other hall ....but apne excited raka ko ye sab kahan yaad araha thaaa) after some high level bakcoddi ...our raka was convinced that he had surely been selected ....the first thing he did after the call, could hear his door opening bang then .....i was somehow having the feeling that he was coming to i room ....so we quickly re arranged everything as if seeing some serial....thadakkk mi door opens ...." samraattt saaale dekhaaa DB main select hogaya, kal interview hain"......then i replied as if surprised " kyaaaa....kaise hua ...hadd hain yaar"

R: haan saale tum log mujhe c.hutiyaa hi samajthe raho main aisa hi select hojaungaa..

not able to stop his excitement, one of mi friends asked " abey aise kaise ho saktha hain tere resume main kyaa hain jo tuu select hogaayaa...(at this point raka suddenly had doubts for the first time for 2 secs how cud it had happend ....so i feeling that the prank could go wrong interuppted " arey hoga kuch achha sa project hoga jo unko acha laga hogaa, abey ye unique logon ko hi lete hain" ....to this raka felt all the more convinced and said " arey maine ek project kiya thaa summer main DMS se wo achha thaa shayad wo unnhein attract kiyaaa hoga kya pata"..to this came a confirmative nod from all of us " hmmmmmm hosakta hain"

"sahi hain bey ...congrats yaar"(but to tell u in iitD lingo it was "jhaantoosaa " project as told by one of mi friends. not fit to be even on any resume
"phoddena raka" ...."party chaiye humein tho badiwali"........came all the messages one by one . after this raka ran down stairs to take a suit from some friend...5-6 hours paased ...it was 8 in the evening and raaka was still preparing for the interview and we felt it was enough so i went in to tell him the truth and after i told him that we were playing a prank ...to our shock he spoke" haan saalon tum sab mere selection se jealous ho aur tumari sulag rahi hain ki mera kaisa hogaya....maine uskaa voice suna thaa uska same thaaa phne pe bhaag jaa yahan se tumari sab pata hain mujhe dont try to fool me ".....to this i was speechless....here i had come to tell him the truth and he is not ready to listen to it, even after one year of persuasion raka was not in a mood to listen ......so i left

One day passed, 2 days passed.....wisdom seemed to dawn on raaka .....but he didnt knew exactly who did the prank...and as a stubborn widow gave the choicest of abuses to the person who had hatched the plan...and the effect of his abuses....my offer got deffered by an year and two more got placed in the fag end of the year.....

X-D ......part2 :)

"Arey abhilash chusi bey aaa statue padthadi door sarigga eyyi, " i cautioned ..lash, to this , abhi "edraa idaa naa mo**a $%*&*^** naa M*&^%4 thuuu" arey devudu bey...i asked him, dengay raa na m***a....then we walked a few steps...then "Laggi" varun was coming up the stairs ....."arey laggi endi bey (jolly) paisalu epudisthav raa" asked ...lash, to this varun shivering "ichestannna repu"......a scene from a telugu movie a local don demanding money flashed in front of mi eyes....abhilash was like the unchallenged authority when it came to ......u know what all " too much raa abhilash entha daring raa andarki uccha"...................................this was in 2001

come to 2003 kaaram chedu when everyone of us was ruunning and jumping up and down

sampath:"abhilash raa eldaam neelllaloki"

...lash:" ehhehee vodannaaa sallaga untayyii neelliu"

S:"ayya malli ikadem chestav batalenduku ippinav mallla ey raaa too much chestav siggenduku evarunaru iida.." ....Lash:" yeee vodannna nenu idne baagunna" draping his checked towel around him and acting as if drying the already dry towel