The Wedding Crashers : ver 20.12

Yes, it has been a while. And no, I still haven't forgotten about this website. But I'm gonna skip the part where I get all mushy from reuniting with my blogging side and get straight to the party here.

The moment our guitar wielding mate Rohin announced that his brother's wedding was to be held on January 1st, the predictable groans of "Not again" were quite clearly heard. That makes it 2 years in a row where we spent our New Year's day on a freaking formal wedding occasion rather than slumped on the bed suffering from a hangover resulting from a night of extreme partying and boozing that went all the way till the sun came up. Also, that makes it 2 years in a row where we spent New Year's day in Kannur when we would prefer being in a slightly more fun place(mentioning Goa here would be an insult to the place).

But in inviting us, Rohin had inadvertently used his friendship card which apparently trumps everything else in the world. And so the day came when we were heaving our luggage into Vijeesh's brand new GL 350 and headed off for a long drive from Kochi to Kannur, accompanied by ex-crazy driver Dilu, evergreen loudmouth Suthin, the gorgeous producer and consumer of laughing gas Sreeja, dream doctor Irene, dope-mistress Monisha and yours truly. Chicken-man Zubin and the Dutchess of Wipro Jency were heading out later that night with their ETA at about 4 in the morning.

Dealing with traffic was the daunting task for the day, but the man behind the wheel fought well and we managed to arrive with 1 hour to spare till the death of 2011. But whatever we experienced during the drive was instantly wiped out at the sight that Rohin greeted us with...namely, his fantastically awesome crib. I'm not exactly the architecture expert here, so the only technical terms I can use to describe the house are "huge", "magnificent", "trippy" and "majestic". After we were done basking in its glory, we munched, got ready and headed to the front yard just in time for the countdown. The rockstar midget Jazim had also arrived for a cameo appearance. Without any reminiscing in the year that was 2011, we raised our glasses after Rohin popped the champagne open(in some style, I might add) to the new year that was upon us. And boy, that was some fine celebration. We got to be in the company of the groom and the fun family for the night. The rest, as you can imagine, was a blur. But the arrival of Zubin and Jency prompted us to leave the palace with the company of Jerson and head to the hotel for some rest before the big event.

The morning arrived and we proceeded to getting ready, trying to look like the hottest men and women ever to have walked the face of the earth. And we pulled it off, at least a little. We proceeded to the wedding hall in some style, backed up by the Merc. The hall, meanwhile, was as grand as it could get, and the perfect setting for the union of two people in love. We were there to witness it, and we did.

Post wedding, we were on the receiving end of some fine lunch and some photo-shooting. After bidding our goodbyes to the happy couple and the family, we were back in the hotel, but the day was far from over. What ensued was a trip to Thalassery where the travellers consisted of only Zubin, myself and the ladies. The highlights of this trip included a visit to his family's place, a brief meeting with Jazim, ice cream, a lot of traffic, a flat tyre, replacing said flat tyre, an accident with a bus that shaved the paint off the right side of the Swift, Zubin chasing said bus to give the driver a piece of his mind and the ride back to the hotel. Saying that 2012 opened up with an explosion would be an understatement.

But thankfully the tiring day ended on a peaceful note as we did something that was common in all our get-togethers: dinner with friends. Especially with our personal stand up comedian Suthin and the banshee Sreeja, the evening could not cease to entertain. There was plenty to talk about and plenty to laugh about...and it was at this moment that I realised that there was absolutely no need for moaning previously about the prospect of attending a wedding on New Year's. It didn't matter whether we were in Kannur or in Amsterdam, at home or at a David Guetta concert, in the middle of a hailstorm or outside on a sunny cloudless day...we would be laughing our asses off and having a good time no matter what. And for that, I'm forever thankful to Morgan Freem-...I mean God.

After all the goodbyes, Team Kochi headed back and this time Vijeesh showed off his driving skills as we reached home in record time. Although the overnight driving did make us fall asleep throughout. Bit by bit, the members of the gang departed with Monisha and myself being the last to leave, taking our time to taste the city that was my home.

It's true when I say that such get-togethers are numbered now...with each of us being absorbed in our own lives in various places across the world. Thus, the immigrant Calvin, the scientist Merin and the sweetest doctor on the planet Susan were dearly missed. But we aren't 99 yet, so as long as our clocks keep ticking, I say the fun is far from over.

But if somebody dares to get married in January 1st again, I swear to God...

-Vysh

The ultimate Chennai survival guide

It's been almost 2 weeks since the inception of my career in Cognizant here in Chennai, and I feel it's only fair to warn all the first-timers in the city and let them know the following tips to survive in a place that the devil himself was forced to flee from.

1: Load up on sun cream and whatever similar products you might have seen on TV that’s gonna help you fight against the mighty powers of the sun skin-wise…because my dear friend, this is where it shines the brightest. And not in a nice manner.

2: Avoid wearing black. Yes, I know it makes you look cool, but here in Chennai it’s only gonna act as a catalyst for the cooking process. So unless you wanna end up as a roasted version of yourself, black is not an option.

3: Carry a hand-sanitizer if possible. Hygiene isn’t exactly perfect here and with the unbearable heat, you’re bound to sweat more and leave yourself a big mess. Gotta keep those hands clean at least, right?

4: Learn a little Tamil. You’d especially need to know how to ask “how much” or say “it’s too much”, when it comes to the following two tips.

5: Avoid the auto-rickshaws as much as possible. There is no auto driver here who’s not out for blood…I mean, money. They will have you on their cross-hairs especially if you’re from outside Tamil Nadu and charge you such rates that it’s gonna give you a stroke.

6: If under some circumstances, the above mentioned point cannot be followed, then the only choice you have left is to verbally fight against them. Trust me, you will have to. They will charge you straight double the actual price. And what you’ve got to do is accept a rate that is straight half of what they are charging. Be stubborn and hold your ground. Do not give in. Then they will be forced to lower the rate but they might not settle for what you want, so you’d have to increase your preferred rate a little more. Finally an adjustment will be reached that’s gonna leave you both unhappy, but that’s life. You’ve gotta suck it up and be happy that you’re paying just Rs. 250 and not Rs.400 for a Rs.100 trip.

7: Walk like you own the street, even if you don’t know where the hell you are. Tourists and other outsiders are easy prey for the auto drivers and they will make you use their service if you look like you’re lost.

8: Carry an umbrella for the heat. It probably might not be…erm…manly for us men, so let’s not make this tip a compulsory one.

9: Go to Besant nagar…the oasis in the desert. I haven’t been to many places in Chennai, but that is one area where the sun doesn’t hit you much and the cool sea breeze is almost as comforting as being in an air-conditioned room, not to mention the presence of really good restaurants and cafes.

10: This need not be specifically said, but always make sure you got easy access to water. Dehydration is one of your biggest enemies here and you will be longing for a glass of chilled water very often.

11: Lastly, don’t let this place bring you down. Chennai might closely resemble hell, but there are fun spots scattered around the city that’s bound to give you a good time. Make use of them and you’ll be fine.

So I guess there are both ups and downs to everything…it’s how you balance them that makes all the difference in the world.

Vysh out

There is no Shift + Delete

A friend on facebook put up a status recently stating that we hold on to memories because that's all what we are left with when people change. A wise statement that got me thinking...and agreeing. There was no debate involved here...what she said was an in-your-face fact that was sadly true.

Everybody's bound to have at least that one person with whom you won't hesitate spilling your guts out. And obviously, as that period of knowing each other increases, so does the strength of that bond. You will not be able to envisage a life without that one person anymore. But at that point, what you should remember is that the higher you go, the harder you fall...but being human has its negative side-effects. We tend not to think of a situation that might destroy our happiness while we are in it. And when you eventually fall, you are gonna suffer for it.

The real sad part is something else. People(at least the ones beyond their teen years) are not that stupid. They do accept that life isn't a bed of roses. Many of them do try to get up after getting beaten. In spite of being brought down, they move forward and continue being human. They continue trusting the ones who still remain in their lives. The real sad part is, despite this the process is repeated again. Yet another one leaves and never comes back. You can toughen up your defenses as much as you like, but no one you're close with is here to stay. They come, they change your life in some significant manner that leaves you either a better person or a complete screw-up, and then they go. Regardless of promises and crossings of hearts.

This made me wonder...is it all worth it? Is it worth letting a person get inside of you, allowing them to get to know you for what you are, thus cementing themselves a seemingly permanent position in your life? An emphatic answer of mine would be "hell no". You are alone, and you always will be. You can live your life by seeking the company of those around you but never getting emotionally attached. The danger signs should light up the moment a bond is created. It's all about being a little smarter in making your choices. Prevention is undoubtedly better than cure after all. Once fallen in the pit, it's impossible to claw your way out. If you succumb to the world of love and all that crap...well, it's gonna be one hell of a ride, alright. Surviving it is a different question.

But again, this is all just one single viewpoint. I can write a completely different blog efficiently portraying a picture of how depending, caring and loving are all right and good. They are...but the difference lies in not crossing the limit to the point where we are reduced to just holding on to our memories. Up to you if you want to be in that situation. Just remember...there is no permanent deletion for those memories. And they will destroy you.

This is vysh...signing out and back into his state of utter boredom.

The Bangalore Escapade

I have some quirks that might prompt you to cock that double barrel shotgun and fire away at me; examples include my hate for anything that is made out of chocolate(except bars) and my dislike for little kids. I had sensed the risk and taken care of few of them; instances include not throwing away the chicken skin from KFC and finally watching Pulp Fiction. If we're talking about places people have been to, and if we take only resident Indians into consideration and probably every outsider who visits this country, then there is one city that should be in the top 3 of that of list : Bangalore. A list that I failed to satisfy. yep, I had never been to that place despite being a college student just 10 hours away for 4 consecutive years. But you can keep your trigger fingers away, for I finally managed to squeeze a trip to the city into a weekend of my life, which otherwise would have been utterly wasted by me anyway.

Word was that there was an unofficial and unplanned get-together of friends at Bangalore and I was sorely tempted to join. And join, I did. The multi-axle air-conditioned bus was nice enough not to make me remember the details of the 10-hour long journey as I arrived at the capital of Karnataka at 7 in the morning, which by the way was the time for the weather to be freezing cold leaving me shivering all over(learn, Kochi, learn!). Shortly rescued by suthin, we headed to his brother's place which was to be my place of residence for the day. Not long after, the size of the gang increased with the addition of calvin, monisha, merin and jazim...kudos to one of them for the increase in 'size'. Despite that, the 6 of us successfully stuffed ourself into an Alto as jazim chauffeured us around some of the prime spots of Bangalore. First stop was for lunch, and we destroyed our starvation at Cafe Masala on a buffet...an expensive buffet.

Right after that, we headed out to Guzzler's Pub for a game of billiards and a brief meeting with our old buddies zubair and ridhi. Stuffed with food and something else, we decided to retire for the day. Initially annoyed that Bangalore wasn't living upto my expectations, a game of God of War 3 on a Playstation 3 displayed brilliantly by a high definition 32" TV while i was swamped on a huge bean bag made me forget about everything else in life. Sigh...I love that bean bag. That's what souls use in heaven, I'm sure.

Soon, the two smallest people of the group bid their goodbyes as the rest of us joined by the residents of the flat headed to Taco Bell for dinner where I had the best damn slush drink on the planet with some quessadilla, a word that monisha failed to pronounce correctly leading to a class of jokes on her that deviated from the usual 'fat' category. The night ended with the obvious, of course. The tall one had the pleasure of sleeping over the bean bag.

Sunday started late thanks to somebody suffering from an hangover...proof that capacity is not directly proportional to height. The two of us headed out to meet zubair at his place from where he took us to Cafe Thulp where calvin and I enjoyed the biggest beef burger I've ever laid my fingers on. Aptly titled 'Moo's your daddy', it was deliciously and lusciously scrumptious. Bless zubair for his awesome lunch choice. Next, we headed to one of the hotspots in Bangalore : Forum mall. Did nothing except pick up a Batman poster for myself and that paved the way for an evening walk to the place that I had been waiting to go for a long time...Purple Haze. The ambience couldn't be better as it lifted us higher with the help of some classic rock music played in the background. Joined by monisha and suthin, it provided an evening to remember. The highlight was undoubtedly my embarrassing moment when I was forced to sip a drink on fire through a bloody straw because I let it heat up too much. Yes I know...amateur.

There was no choice but to crash at zubair's place for the night...and crash we did. Heavily. The tall one again had the privilege of sleeping all over the bean bag HERE. The hangover on Monday was visibly deeper, but we managed to get our asses to the primary place of residence and my Bangalore trip finally culminated in some heavy duty God-slaying, kudos to the PS3 and the bean bag and the 32" TV. Oh boy, it felt good.

suthin and I returned that night to arrive at a comparatively dull and boring Kochi the next morning, only for us to get together the next sunday with Kochiites susan and irene at Panampally Nagar. I guess this gives testament to the fact that when it comes to friends...maybe the place doesn't matter, only the people do. And of course bean bags and playstations and high definition televisions and gigantic burgers and....well...you get the drift.

This is vysh...signing out.

The Wedding Crashers

2010 has been another explosive year in terms of the 207 get-togethers...and we decided to end it and begin the next year with a bang. and a big bang it was :)

the first trip taken by this gang in rails....it took around 6 to 7 hours for suthin,rohin,ali,susan,merin,irene and myself to reach kannur from ernakulam. it wasnt an eventful ride...half the time was spent trying to get some seats and the other half just hanging on the steps of the train, enjoying the wind. but we wasted no time as we gathered around under the roof that rohin's flat provided.

with only hours left till the curtain fell down on a magnificent and dreadful year that was 2010, we brought all the food and the drinks down on the table and began our celebration. probably the most magnificent aspect of the year was that we were still together, exploiting fun in every way possible. a celebration was mandatory :) the star of the night was arguably the smallest thing in the house : merin (for reasons that can't be divulged here). she and the rest of us paved the way for the new year and hopefully for a lot more confluences.

but the celebrations didnt end there. joined shortly by zubin, jency and the last minute surprise that was sreeja, we proceeded to provide the real big bang to 2011 by heading to jazim's brother's wedding party. and oh boy, a party it was :D

once again, the each of us were dressed to kill and we made sure there were no leftovers in the food department or in the entertainment department. and by entertainment, i mean a lot of singing, and a lot of dancing. We had given the meaning of January 1st a whole new makeover :)

January 2nd marked our railway return to ernakulam and the end of this very special get-together...and a promise that this aint gonna be the last.

this is vysh....signing out.

This jobless phase

Trust me, i was sitting in front of this page for 15 minutes trying to figure out something to write about. don't know why it took so long, but then it clicked me...best thing to write about when u got a moment of inspiration to blog, is whatever you're going through at moment. got just one word for ya in my case....jobless.

it's been 7 months since college officially ended for me. but forget that number for now. a phase of life got over the moment i wrote the last exam in April. and anybody in that position definitely deserves a break. so it's understandable that i spent the month of May doing absolutely nothing. well...not exactly 'nothing'...we did move in to our new place in May, and we used all that time to adjust to the new environment. again...understandable.

Come June, you know that the break cannot be over yet...you had spent 4 years huffing and puffing after all. and what better way to blast your holidays other than a trip to Goa...but sit home and watch the football world cup! the timing just couldn't be better. so i spent the month cheering away for england...but before i could even so much as wave the bloody flag, they got eliminated. ah well...football is football. we all ended up enjoying the one month long tournament anyway....predicting the outcomes, swearing against the brazilians, debating about refereeing decisions, taking part in the million facebook battles....it was all very much fun.

Come July, the world cup is over and we are all exhausted, but still looking for something else new in life to look forward to. and in my case, my folks had come down from uae. ah cmon Mr. Conscience....family comes first right? so there you go, i got something else to do now. no guilt anywhere in my mind yet. spend some quality time with mom, dad and sis. share out the different stories happening in india and in uae. eat mom's food and get well-fed. or rather, get the chevrolet beat in my hands asap and blast off with my mates each time i return to 2k3 with the excuse of attending CAT classes. wohoooo!

August has arrived, and then the mental countdown to my birthday automatically begins. family is still around, so i still got something to do. and then the day comes when i'm finally crowned as an engineer. wohoo again. more reason to keep going in this flow of jobless-ness.

Come September, family returns back to uae. and THEN, the guilt slowly starts creeping in. i suddenly realise...wait a sec, it's been 4 months since college officially ended! and then the fact that i've cleared all my papers brings me no more satisfaction, but only more guilt that i've done absolutely nothing with my life even at this point. i search for more distractions, but i can't find any. there's a limit to how many movie tickets i can purchase. and the damn rabbits have gone to hell. and then, i do the ultimate thing that any man does to make himself feel more like a man and also to get distracted...join the gym :)

September clearly defined the meaning the jobless-ness for me, but i was thankfully deprived from thinking too much about it thanks to my slowly developing biceps and the amount of time i spent on the bed, sleeping away to glory.

October barely starts and bam! i'm bleeding out on the floor thanks to a pop music video, a tv remote control and the obstinacy of 2 idiots fighting over it. few hours later i'm getting a TT shot, local anesthesia and getting plastic surgery done above my right eyebrow. ah cmon, Mr. Conscience...can't you see that i'm injured here??? i need 20 days rest!

So there goes around 20 days without any further guilt or even gym :( but by the time i'm almost fully recovered, the familiar feeling of "what the hell are you doing with your life?" creeps back in. People ask me, " How's your CAT preps going?". and i reply, "huh...what CAT? oh...the thing i spent more than 16000 bucks for? oh yea, that's going fine". or at least that's what the people hear. but inside, my heart had just plummeted down. deep deep down.

Come November, the situation hasn't changed. except now it's indeed been 7 months since college ended. yes, now the statistic is very scary. the only hope i have is the result of a certain interview for a big company that i attended. until that comes out successful(or goes to hell, so that i can do something about CAT or fly off to UAE and rot), i'm still gonna be sitting.....what's that word again....oh yeah.....jobless.

which explains why i have all the time in the world to sit and think about something to blog about, and even more time to write it all down. no tension of meeting deadlines, no hassle of waking up early in the morning, no responsibility of completing projects, no schedules to be made for the next week, no late night cramming...just no fuss and absolutely no brainwork.

"ahhh.....what a life!", some of you might chant. think again.

yours

vysh

Birthday Bash:Part 2 + 2k3 hideout

Yep, we're back in business.

And I'm skipping the preview and heading straight to the point.

Last year, there was a birthday blast that concerned a houseboat and my own house. exactly 365 days later, we repeated the feat...sans the houseboat. nevertheless, we were strengthened by the presence of susan, who was unable to make it last year, and also the newest member of the family....ali. moreover, this time we were also gifted by the holy vessels of transportation....namely zubin's swift and my beat. yes, times have indeed changed.

after zubin had to survive the terrible ordeal of handling all the women by himself at our fav burger/pizza outlet Pik-A-Byte, the entire group of 12 assembled by night and headed out to my turf. the source of fun that night was nothing but the gang itself, which needless to say, sufficed. zubin and ali added a little something by singing away with rohin providing the stringwork.

however, the next day brought us the opportunity to hit marari beach in alleppy. echoes of our previous alleppy trip resonated as we rampaged through the sea and made sure that we didnt leave till we were sapped out of all energy. but with loudmouths like suthin and sreeja onboard, it seemed like we had limitless energy anyway... :)

But the real party was waiting for after nightfall...the big treat at Wyte Fort by the birthday people....namely irene, zubin, jency, jazim, susan and myself. dressed to kill, we couldnt have looked better that night. nor could we be louder in that huge buffet hall. our mouths and our behaviour just weren't matching our formal outfits...not that any of us cared in the first place :D

Joined shortly by dilu and jersen, we had a brilliant round of dinner before heading back home for one last night of fun that included some hilarious games of blindfold(no one were at the risk of drowning this time) and more late night chatting. Early morning brought the departure of the gang members...though only for some time. because we re-united 2 months later....this time, under the very roof of 2k3 itself. and this time, we brought in yet another new member...karthik 'tiger' madhavan.

Being in kochi, we made use of our usual spots....Pik-A-Byte, Wangs and Sand Dunes. and in the case of the christians among us....the church. If you want to know the rest....i'm sorry. you just had to be there :) but i can paint a small picture with the following fleeting images :

1- sreeja in her red nightgown that made her look like a mom

2- zubin singing his own versions of popular songs

3- rohin doing his work on the guitar for the above mentioned songs

4- merin being 'blown away by the wind' at the beach

5- jazim's treachery causing ali to be caught by rohin at blindfold

6- suthin slipping and falling down hard during the above mentioned game

7- susan smacking our tennis ball away and out of the boundary with the cricket bat, losing the ball in the process

8- calvin grabbing the camera off the top of the swift and running away with the lens pointed at him, the timer running and us chasing him trying to get into the frame

9- irene trying to work my beat out on the front yard

10- the number of dirty jokes we made and the scores we kept

11- susan top scoring for the above mentioned point

12- jency and that laugh of hers

13- need i mention sreeja's laugh?

14- ali showing the newbies exactly how to perform the art of taking sheesha

15- merin and her dress that looked like a tablecloth

16- irene and her injured toe that forced suthin and i to go all the way to kollencherry to pick her up

17- jency banging away on karthik as he refused to give up zubin

18- merin laughing her ass out and then whispering the joke in sreeja's ear causing obvious destruction(seriously, what the hell is all that about???)

19- rohin showing his expertise in a field other than music....lame jokes

20- and many many many more....

Where we are concerned, the industry of fun just can't be taken down.

Yours truly

Vysh

207 to 2k7 to 2k3

yes, ladies and gentlemen....we've moved.

i know this post has come a little late, but given the various happenings and the lack of a suitable internet connection, i should be forgiven. and since it's been more almost 3 months since we abandoned 207, i am forced to make this brief.

the end of college for myself, zubin and jazim has marked the end of 207...and it wasn't a pretty end. we had found the ideal location to fill the role of our new home, but 207 gave us an ugly 2 days as the house was flooded thanks to the incessant rain. the packing and the cleaning couldn't have been more hectic. but eventually we were forced to turn our backs to that powerhouse of fun and hardship that we had endured together...truly, a chapter in our lives.

enter 2k7(yes, proof of fleeting perfection) with our new roomie mr. ali....the exact opposite of the previous house. posh, lavish, comfy and super clean. the apartment complex, star homes, may not be the best in town....but the flat was bloody awesome. with AC, fridge, tv, beds, leather sofa sets and a dining table....what more would u want? and we were just getting adjusted and having our fun when the following happened:

due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to move out of 2k7. thus came the moments of hardship yet again. lady luck gave the tiniest of smiles as we found a substitute in the form of 2k3, just 4 floors below. maybe it lacked the comfort of the present home, but we had no other choice. we spent the last nights at 2k7 with the best company possible : the 'weirdos'. it provided the perfect ending to that short stay in paradise.

enter 2k3. thanks to the world cup, we just had no time to even think about adjusting. but soon, it provided the satisfactory comfort plus extra space...we were left with nothing to complain about. and this is where the next chapter began.

we sincerely wish....and we KNOW, that 2k3 proves to be yet another powerhouse of fun. and i raise my glass to that.

vysh

Waaaaazzzzzaaaaaaaa's bday collaboration

207 has returned for the first get-together of the year....and the cause for the occasion couldn't be better....rohin "waaaazzzaaa" rajagopal's birthday. the dude turned 22 on march 27th, and since we hadn't given him a bash last year, a grand one had to be called for this time. and suthin and merin offered to chip in on account of their bdays as well, which occurred in february.

the members of "the weirdos" arrived at the destination at different times, but by evening the entire gang minus me had assembled in our choice of accommodation(i was absent on account of college business, and thus i cannot comment on the events that happened before i arrived, but it couldn't be much since i wasn't there, right?).

by the time i'd made my grand entry into cocoa tree, rohin and his special someone had been off to a special place(a surprise plan for rohin well engineered by the banshee, but spoiled foolishly and unexpectedly by a certain show-off).

the 10 of us finally reunited under one roof in our place of stay. the "serious" gift + the funny gift and the cake were already in place, and it was just the matter of waiting for the right time for the stuff to come out. the right time came and rohin was duly presented with the funny gift....which was a pair of slippers, to be worn inside the house. and by house, we mean 207. the days of waking up from bed to find one pair of OUR slippers missing are finally over.

the "serious" gift was also something that discreetly benefited the 207 members.....a pair of puma sandals. and thus, jazim can finally get his converse shoes back.

the cake was brought forward without further ado. then we resumed our usual business of fooling around...which i don't have to mention here explicitly.

fast forward to the morning after a comfortable night of sleep, and then it was time for the BIG TREAT! the venue was the steak hot-spot named "the attic". that afternoon brought us some good photography, a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, not-so-good food and a surprise incident. maybe the quality of the food didn't meet the requirements of the bill, but hey....we had a wonderful time. :)

the bday bash culminated in a return to the hotel and some finishing touches to our get-together, as we packed our bags to head back home.

never can i foresee how many more meetings are in store for us...not even now, when college life has drawn to a close for some of us. but that's the best thing about us...the sheer unpredictability of how something just somehow pops up and we end up together again. and i attribute all this to the following:

my fellow man utd fan: suthin

my born-enemy: jency

my rockstar roomie: jazim

my tiny little pixie: merin

my personal source of laughing gas: sreeja

my sleeping partner: zubin(woops...too much info?)

my flight partner: susan

my guitar-wielding mate: rohin and

my fan when i'm high: irene.

vysh.....signing out.

The End is Nigh

like my grandfather once told me, there is a reason why we swam across the sea from our home to this place. to get ourselves educated and placed on the right track in life. school was one phase, college the next. and the latter one is drawing to a close....at least from the perspective of the engineers in the group.

tomorrow might be the last class of my university life. and the atmosphere is a little moody, with premeditated farewells and autograph books being thrown into the air at random. myself, i was never a fan of those, but it was always a pleasure for me to fill somebody else's book.

and oh boy, only once you open your heart out and let the pen fly across the paper, do you realize just how far you've come in the matter of 4 years. we've achieved milestones, constructed new friendships, enjoyed new experiences, crossed many boundaries, suffered countless burdens....and most important of all, we've survived. so no matter where we are, even if we aint truly happy, these 4 years gotta count for something.

so i actually cannot recognize my feelings at present...whether it's the happy end of the spectrum or the sad end. but one thing can't be denied as i begin to exit this section of life : it was one hell of a ride down the road. and now we've reached a junction and our next move is to make the right(no pun intended) turn and move on. and keep moving till we find whatever it is that we ultimately desire.

this is vysh....signing out.

First of the new decade

yes indeed.....the blog is back after the commencement of the new year and decade.

so...where do i begin? it's been long since the 207s and the rest of the gang had their usual get-togethers as they go on a rampage in the city of kochi or on a quest of conquering a leech-infested jungle. although one meet-up that is noteworthy is the one that took place in UAE.....the first time members of "the weirdos"(as sreeja puts it with that accent of hers) got together in the country since the birth of 207.

usually everyone's idea is that the place doesn't matter for friends to get together, just as long as they're having a good time. but this time there was obviously a difference and i couldn't help but think that every person that i'd met that day(zubin,calvin,susan,irene,sreeja) were people that i knew since the good old school days but never enough to be termed as good friends. in the case of the ladies, i just knew that they existed, period. then after school, came a period of 3-4 years in india and voila! here i am taking the newly introduced metro with people who were almost strangers to me the last time we were in UAE together. things change, don't they?

anyyyywaayys.....that day,accompanied by newbie minauthi, we rode the metro and took pleasure in strolling through some of the hot spots of dubai that included the dubai mall as well as a photoshoot that was quite difficult since we tried to capture the burj khalifa with ourselves in it. with calvin as our chauffeur, there was no problem in transportation for the shj-dxb round trip. a jolly day, all-in-all.

the next day however, we stood our ground solely in one hot-spot......Dubai International Bowling Centre. definitely in my top 5 favourite locations of the nation. with tessy and ben added to the pack, the fun was never-ending as we bowled our way through with a lot of foozball and air hockey in between. the day was made to be an unforgettable one as our plan to introduce these 3 games to sreeja resulted in utter mayhem!

Come new year, exit UAE. last week, we made the ultimate plan for the ultimate trip.....pondicherry! but thanks to SOMEONE being hell busy with the management of the technical fest in our college, we decided to postpone the pondi dream to yet another day. but that didn't stop the rest of us from doing something this weekend. so....we headed to suthin's newly built home(post cocoa tree). we being myself, suthin, zubin, rohin, sreeja, monisha and calvin. merin made her cameo appearances each time on saturday and sunday from dawn till dusk. it was a tiring trip for the bikers and bus-riders alike, but we were rewarded with a warm reception and an unusual but comfortingly cool weather as we relaxed to the max. a lot of games of poker and 28, nice homely food, considerable amount of fat jokes on monisha, the girls' attack on a sleepy zubin and merin's tantrums were the highlights of the stay.

a new year has dawned, but our ways still remain the same as these trips prove testament to our desire to stick together no matter what. let's keep 'em coming!

-vysh

The Dare

Note: What i've written here is not fictitious; it's an actual incident that had happened to rohin. what happens in the end will not be revealed, you can ask rohin yourself.

The exact date is unknown, but the location is a private hostel where rohin stays near his university. Time is past midnight.

Another unknown fact is the precise layout of this particular hostel. But it is known that during that time, the building was undergoing some sort of renovation, and that the students were pushed to one half of the hostel as the other half was kept unoccupied owing to the re-construction work.

At the particular hour when the incident had occurred, one half of the hostel was flooded with lights that always remain turned on despite the time...typical in a boy's hostel. The other half was filled with darkness. Pitch black it might not be, but it was dark enough to make it look sinister. The light from the occupied rooms never really reached this section....it seemed as if there was something holding it back...something that was very stubborn to let go of the darkness. The presence of this lightless section in their hostel is what ultimately led to the dare...which resulted in the incident that happened to rohin.

During the usual gathering of friends, the idea of a dare was brought. The voluntary victim will have to walk into the other half of the hostel and enter a particularly intriguing room at the very end of the corridor. The voluntary victim was rohin, and there was a reason to the nature of this challenge. Unknown how many years ago, a student used to stay in this very building. His name, place or any other detail is irrelevant. But the only fact that's significant is that he had committed suicide. The reason might be pressure of exams or some personal reason...we may never know. He had ended his life....and he had done it in the very room rohin had dared to enter.

Rohin left the occupied rooms behind and started venturing out into the darkness. The moment the halfway point was crossed, he felt a stir in the air...something was very different here. But no feeling of dread settled in him, and he walked on.

Eventually, he noticed that the corridor seemed to be much longer than he had ever imagined. He kept his eyes straight ahead though, never faltering, although a small urge to turn back tried to take over him. The darkness seemed to press around as the light from the other half of the building seemed evanescent. He turned back to look at the rooms he had just left. They seemed so far away that he was shocked by the distance he had walked. So friendly and inviting, it looked like a small window into heaven. He shuddered at the metaphor, and walked on till he finally reached the door. A feeling of dread tried to overwhelm him...nevertheless he turned the door knob of the unlocked door.

His eyes already adjusted to the darkness, he could make out the inside of the room, helped by some light coming through the window from outside. It couldn't look more ordinary, with the ancient looking cot and the shelf. The thick air started to suffocate him, he wanted to get out as soon as possible. Rohin half-expected a shadow to move across the empty room but having done the dare, he found no more reason to stay. He turned back, this time a feeling of triumph almost started settling in.

Just as he stepped out of the room, something tugged at his sleeve.

-Vysakh

yes, long time no see indeed...

mind you, perhaps our blogging has been inactive for the past many weeks, but 207 had been having its usual round of "reunions" and the 4 core members had been occupied with our everyday routines...which were more busy than boring...and thus the reason why this page was left to rot for a while.

to relate out in detail the 2 get-togethers we had since the bday bash would be close to impossible...owing to the fact that ive got an exam this wednesday and also coz i'm being harassed by body pain at the moment :( but noteworthy points have to be....well...noted. the first trip was the one to telicherry(the 2nd one for the 207 members), but this was different coz this time, we had our beloved sreeja, susan, irene, rohin and jency with us. camping at rohin's flat for the night and the deliciously mouth-watering lunch AND dinner prepared by zubin's family were the highlights of the trip. plus, the refrigerator made its debut at 207 the day we reached home ;) ;) that being jazim's contribution.

the 2nd one occured more recently....and this was even sweeter coz we were accompanied by the one who was missing the telicherry trip.....our very own midget merin ;) believe me, that hotel at fortkochi aint ever getting louder than that night! a tiny tour of fortkochi the next day and a hangout at bay pride mall were the events that ended that get-together.

and of course, these 2 happenings sandwiched another event. the following were the chief features of that journey:

destination: CHENNAI!

mission: surprise the heck out of the annachis calvin and jamie!

travellers: restricted to 207 members only!

positives: highly entertaining weekend, invading the classy spots of chennai and making the best use of the restaurants!

negatives: HEAT HEAT HEAT HEAT HEAT!!!!

mission status: successful, but many places in chennai still left to be explored. a sequel to be made!

well there you go......this is whats "hot and happening" at 207 recently.....now its that time of the year again where zubin, jazim and i sink our heads into our text books again and suthin....well....its gonna be torture for him as well, for what fun can he have when the 3 of us are busy fixing dates with the demons that represent the exams ;)

this is vysh signing out...

The Birthday Cruise

3 weeks have passed since our foraging into the forest...and yet we meet....AGAIN.

but this time, the occasion was different...this was no mere get-together, but rather the celebration of several 207 members' birthdays and their pending treats...namely, jency, jazim, irene, myself and zubin. and so we decided to mark the day we became legal for anything and everything with a grand houseboat trip. plus, this time we had the company of the goan-turned-tamil calvin....our (young) guest-star.

so that was day 1....the first highlight was predictably the cutting of the cake; a birthday tradition that we decided to follow. i had to hear several curses, for it was my hate for chocolate cake that prompted suthin to get us a fig&honey cake instead....but it looked chocolat-y in my eyes and my tongue nevertheless. however, we enjoyed it. and this paved the way eventually to the next birthday tradition....opening of the presents.

it was suthin's (evil) genius idea of giving a PAIR of presents to each of us...one is a practical gift, and the other a mocking funny one. i'm not gonna name the gifts that were handed out, but i can tell you that the practical gifts represented zubin's loyalty to the communists, handed jency a tool to look prettier and irene something "fluffy and cute" and myself a reason to say "why so serious?".

and on to the funny gifts...ahem. jency received something to remind her exactly how "tall" she is, jazim was mocked with his craziness for t-shirts with one that i'm sure he's never gonna wear, irene got a portrait of someone that was "close to her heart"(kudos to merin for her brilliant idea) and zubin was gifted with something that proved a physical trait not usually found in men. and i....sigh....was reminded of a small incident way back towards the end of school in which i did somethin inappropriate and girly.

having done that, we proceeded to fun activities....ass-charades,rounds of poker, a weird ass brain twisting game called ping-pong introduced by the NIT-ian jency and...........blindfold. yes, we played blindfold on a houseboat. and yes, we played it at night. and YES, someone DID fall off into the water.

the victim was none other than the daredevil monisha. as the blindfolded jazim pursued his targets near the edge of the boat, after a confusing series of shoving among ourselves, it was monisha who toppled off backwards into the dark abyss. it was grace from above that the boat wasnt moving and that she fell near land, where the depth wasn't too great. although completely submerged, she rose triumphantly with help and simply marvelled at her close shave with death("it was awesome!! simply awesome!!"). the rest of us were, understandably, much more closer towards a state of self induced coma than she was.

unanimously, we decided : no more games except a nice round of poker accompanied by some drinks. and thats how that unusual night ended. and oh did i not mention.......the big poker winner of the night was me ;)

by morning of day 2, the houseboat was vacated and we travelled to my family house to stay over....minus dilu and jersen and plus the one and only sreeja. she sure did bring my house down with that banshee laughter of hers that ran for hours and hours. fooling around was no.1 priority for us there, and we did that to the max.

the departing began by end of day 2 as zubin and jency left. morning of day 3 marked merin's departure and the rest 8 of us left for ekm town to explore more opportunites of fun....mainly gi joe and a heavy meal which poor fasting jazim couldn't savour except for his own watering mouth. during some barista, more departed and they were left to miss what rohin, suthin, monisha and i experienced at night : loungevity!

monisha's exit marked the end of this remarkable weekend. we celebrated turning 21 in style and are now left pondering just how many more "reunions" may be in store for us....only god knows, but boy they're something worth waiting for! ;)

vysh....signing out

The weekend's round-up

just thought i'll chip in a little but about recent happenings at 207. it's been a little quiet with the brothers gone home, but new activities are keeping myself, suthin and rohin very busy....namely the birthday present hunt.

the highly anticipated kumaragom reunion(i mean, union) has been spiced up by these presents for the 5 bday boys/girls, ie jazim, jency, irene, zubin and myself....but the hunting hasnt been a fun ride. all the same, the 3 of us have been well entertained at the mall on friday by sreeja, and by susan on saturday. kudos to them for that ;)

so far we have acquired quite some decent presents....ahem, of course the identity of mine remains top secret unless one of the others spills his/her big mouth. whatever the case, the upcoming weekend is one to wait for...at the moment however, suthin and i got exams to tackle. so i guess it's time i get over that hilarious memory of the teddy bears falling on sreeja, as well as get rid of this small emptiness left in my heart as a result of susan's departure to UAE......sigh, both these precious things are gonna be missed!

this is vysakh....signing out.

207's Jungle Riot

and riot we did.

day 1: after months of planning, we were finally ready to kickstart the much awaited trip to nelliyampathy forest. college hours down, the only thing left was to receive the guests at our humble abode 207. to make a long story short, the presence of nosy locals forced us to move our base of operations to hotel highway garden(a familiar place for most of us). maybe not the start we were hoping for, but it was fun nevertheless....shuttling between the 3 different rooms that we took for the night, repeatedly banging on the door of a particular room whose 2 residents just refused to grant entry,sreeja the ultimate producer of quality laughing gas(mainly for herself),group dinner and exclusively for 4 of us....tickets to mexico. amid the chaos, the camera did the talking as well. only the lord knows when exactly we hit the bed.

day 2: the tempo arrives. guys take their baths and get ready. women on the other hand...well, they did a lot more than just that, obviously.

the ride to nelliyampathy was long, but never boring...thats a word you dont come across in our dictionary. the music and the presence of loudmouth suthin just added to the lively atmosphere. but lets cut to the core of this story.

the tempo's final destination was the beginning of the journey for us. we teamed up with the tour organisers and made pairs within ourselves.and we did something else that seems so f***ing laughable to me at this point....apply anti-leech cream on ourselves.

and thus, the trekking began. jazim and doctor irene leading the bunch, followed by myself and monisha, then rohin and doctor susan(the docs were given high priority,but ultimately they turned out to be useless),suthin and the dwarf merin with zubin and jency completing the line-up. sreeja.....erm.....guess no "buddy" could satisfy her, so she varied her positions constantly.

during the start, we might have followed a path, but after a while the guides led us straight into the freaking jungle, where we werent following any bloody path but just cutting and slicing through branches and bushes! well...this is trekking...and it was fun ;) we climbed hills, got washed down by rain, spotted a deer, walked and walked and walked....for apparently a total of 10 km. it was an achievement by the end of it.....we had entered the jungle and come out of it unscathed...................................or so we hoped.

during the early preparations for this trip, we thought that the greatest fear that we might encounter in the forest could be a tiger or some similar beast. but we had tossed aside what we'd considered to be a minor threat, but turned out to be the greatest : leeches.

oh yes ladies and gentlemen, leeches. those bloody GoodKnight anti leech creams were to leeches as a safety pin to a hungry lion. the bloodsuckers bit and tore at every one of us. they penetrated through our shoes AND our socks. they climbed up our legs and sucked on happily. i was unfortunate enough have 2 of them settle between my toes!! they grew from the size of a grain of rice to a small rock. apparently, leeches release some substance that prevents the host from feeling its presence! moreover, they also release an anti-coagulant that prevents clotting of blood....which explained why our bleeding persisted throughout the day! and i thought mosquitos were the worst creations by god.....

but how can u define a worthy experience without a few obstacles?? and experience it was nonetheless, to come out of the jungle not-so-unscathed but with each of us writhing, trying to get rid of the little monsters(except for the fisherwoman, she deserves a medal for having warded off every leech attack....or perhaps they found no satisfactory amount of blood in her to suck away). feeling exhilarated, that phase of the trip ended with a ride to our accommodation.

after another walk(mercifully not INTO any forest) and a sight of the "booth bungalow", the night partying began. maybe the bonfire wasnt so big, but it was grand enough to gather around and make a toast to ourselves, and definitely big enough to heat a chicken ;) getting wasted was our next priority!! but the night wasnt over, not without THE night safari!!! allrite....i dont have any right to boast here, having slept off an hour into the safari, but it was a "wooohooooo" experience all the same.

after our return, i recall falling flat on the bed....and nothing more ;) ;)

day 3: woke up to discussions about the previous day...the hot topic was about one particularly wasted lady. my hats off to her for being such a great source of entertainment! the fun that was shared during that time just cant be typed down or told, but gotta be experienced with your own physical presence right there ;)

the guides had thankfully decided that we've had enough leech bites to last a lifetime, so they led us through relatively less leech-infected areas and onto the top of a HIGH mountain. and oh boy, it was beautiful. it was the perfect way to end our last trekking session...on the top of the world with the varying breeze against us accompanied by the breathtaking view.....the camera was out to do the talking again at this point ;) we had our own share of talking and endless laughter there....the feeling was bliss!

and thus, we returned, packed and got ready for the trip back home. it was a tiring weekend but thats the only negative aspect i can honestly point out. nelliyampathy offered itself to us and we exploited it to enjoy the hell out! but the icing on the cake was once again...the little things : suthin's loud ass humour, jazim's tendency to bring the group 2gether for his crazy snaps, irene's dumb jokes, jency's stern stare, susan's care and sweetness, rohin's "wazzzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", merin's constant reminder that "big things come in small packages", monisha's thurst for getting high and those freaking blue fingernails, zubin's never ending showing off and rolling up of sleeves and last but never least....the life of the party: sreeja and her gales of laughter that just never shuts up.

welcome to our life.

yours

vysh

207 tenants attacked by 'lisa'

Cochin : Approximately around noon on thursday, 4th june 2009, the original tenants of 207, messrs suthin, vysakh and jazim were attacked by a strange creature that was hiding in the bookshelf residing in the bedroom. Suthin was the first victim to notice it's presence while studying, and informed vysakh who had to be brought back from slumberland and eventually did the same to jazim as well, who woke up the moment the news was known to him. this is reportedly the first time jazim had woken up from his sleep in a matter of mere seconds.

the creature looked like a cross between a snake and a lizard(hence the name 'lisa', devised by suthin). it had a long smooth body resembling a snake with feet that looked like it belonged to a lizard. this creature, that was black and brown in colour, was extremely fast and agile...one of the reasons that contributed to the utter fear the 3 tenants were experiencing.

hidden behind the books, the tenants resorted to removing the books one by one holding tools to defend themselves should the creature attack, namely suthin's sweeper, jazim's broom and vysakh's deodrant. sources suggest that vysakh perhaps intended to spray the deodrant into the eyes of the animal and distort its vision, but his true intentions in his weird choice for a weapon remain unclear.

after a long and gruelling process, the tenants managed to isolate lisa to one corner where it hid behind a single book. as the 3 tried to lure it away from that book, the creature ran to the other end of the shelf where, forgotten by the tenants, laid ANOTHER book and hid behind this. eventually the shelf was emptied and the floor cleared to give the animal space to move, while the clearly larger and more dangerous tenants shook in fear and contemplated their next move. smashing and splattering it all over was suthin's idea, but jazim and vysakh weren't in favour of cleaning carcass off the floor. thus they waited till lisa got out of the shelf. its sudden movement across the floor prompted suthin to recoil, vysakh to jump backwards on the bed and spray the deodrant blindly into the air and more hilariously, caused jazim to fly back so much that he clung onto the window grills like a monkey.

lisa neared the hole on the floor(which was suspected as the entry point), but paused at that point for several minutes as the tenants held their breath for its next move. it seemed as if to turn back and bid goodbye; but fortunately for them, it crawled through the hole. the hole is at present blocked with tape.

since this incident, lisa has become an instant hit. the tenants are however aware that this is just the first of many threats that they could face in the coming months as the rain pours down and dark creatures that are messengers of fear and despair, some even of death, seek shelter at 207. maybe they also have heard of the fun the humans were enjoying here, and wanted to be part of it.

this is vysakh reporting for 207 news.

Telicherry Traverse

Its that time of the year again, folks...when the exams are over(at least the regular exams) and we are left longing to just get home and fall flat on the bed to get some well-deserved rest. the past month was very gruelling, especially for myself and jazim who had to painfully stay overnight many times for the sake of 45 marks on our papers. zubin on the other hand, did work hard here and there, but took the exams very coolly alltogether. but thats zubin for you.

but that blissful moment of ultimate sleep never came...but not for a bad reason though. zubin and jazim, our 207 telicherry tenants(or in the mallu style,thalassery) had invited myself, suthin and 3 of our college mates,namely shaheer, ali and libin, to come home, explore their "tharavaads" and have their deliciously cooked food. it seemed like a good opportunity and thus, we took it.

personally,it was my first time in 9 years i took a long distance trip on a train. and it was the first time ever i travelled in a packed general compartment(yeah yeah, i admit i was a virgin to all this,but not anymore!!). horrible experience at first, but at the end, it seemed like it was worth it. 6 hours, most of which i spent lying on the floor with my head on top of suthin, with his head on top of zubin, whose head was around shaheer's arm, who was leaning side by side with ali, whose feet were being used for support by jazim...(libin got in from another stop, and luckily for him, he got a proper seat!). give it some time, u can construct this picture in ur head. it wasnt very comfortable. but it was an experience to remember.

6 hours over and i took my first step in thalessery. not a very happpening place, not as advanced as cochi. nothing at all spectacularly amazing actually...at least until jazim, who was leading the pack, took a sudden left turn from the road and a HUGE house blocked our entire vision. that was jazim's mom's "tharavaad"(im sorry calvin, couldnt find an english word for it). and believe you me, it was huge. i mean...ive seen such houses, even bigger...but to have a friend who actually lives here and to be taken there...well, that was something exhilarating. there we were treated to a wonderful breakfast and a mind-blasting lunch by jazim's relatives. to quote russel peters, it was "tooooooooo good!" i could actually write another post entirely dedicated to just how tasty thalassery food is. for now, you guys can use just one word to describe it  : majestic.

after that it was tour time. we were taken around to meet up with more of jazim's relatives, followed by a trip to his own house. (all transportations owed to the santro belonging to his cousin) and then the spotlight was shifted to zubin, as we met up with his relatives, worthy of mention is his grandmom, apparently the only educated, english speaking woman in kerala of her age, an amazing 80. and of course, a visit to his dad's tharavaad was inevitable. and BELIEVE YOU ME, this was bigger.

u guys must have seen family trees, i suppose? u know how they are usually pretty long, right? well guess what, no exagerration intended, zubin's entire family tree was in that house. every room(lost count of the number of rooms) had a family alloted to it, and each of them had their own history. it took us approximately 20 minutes when we left the place, having traversed just half of it!! it was something to think about for me, especially, not being a big family person myself...but its worth checking our for anyone. truly fantastic.

a trip to tipu sultan's fort awaited, plus....errr....i forgot the name of this place, but it was basically rocks overlooking the sea....yet it was serene and beautiful. especially coz we arrived there some time before sunset. the day climaxed with a marvellous dinner at zubin's cousin's place as we took a bus(thank god!) back home....with a refrigerator in tow.(yes ppl, we have a fridge now at 207). jaz stayed back in thalassery for few more days.

after we reached back at 5 30 in the morning, i finally got that well deserved sleep i had talked about. perhaps it came a day later, but it came at the price of having witnessed the history and unity of a family and having to eat the best food in all of kerala. i guess i can live with that.   :)

vysh

the birthday carol...

note- like usual the v man yet again seems to have posted prior to me. so that gives me a petite factor to contribute with, and i myself am not aware from where to start. damn you vysakh, leave some detail for me!(THE finger!)

prologue- yes! the last post was more of an eviction order for all the regular invitees to 207 but it all started with rohin. the evening after the our last exam, ringg ringg and guess who's heading to wreck it all, the man in workshop clothing, rohin(:P). from then on, its been him and thanks to the fact that "cedric the entertainer's" exams were over too. combining these two, what do you get-hullabaloo.. but having the tiny puny conscious lingering within us, we guys managed (ohh did i forget to put 'managed' in " "..!) to put in some vectored effort towards study, yes!! the first week of exams tagged sleepless and we all hated it just as much. regulars of the day were, shuttling between home and hostel-running through the hostel corridor-hunting down resources-no water to drink-stinky loos-combined study comprising of 8 guys-midnight-2am-4am-"little" nap-GULP-7am-revision with toothbrush-uniform with tea-staircase with tension,tat'tat'tat and kaaboom, EXAM HALL, blackout! allah dammyit..!

the timeline...

day 1- the dusk to the showdown which we will all reminisce no matter how long from now. "sreekutty's bday bash" started with bidding goodbyes to irene at the airport and then the god damned(!!) rain which kinda knobbed the agendum in mind. blah to that! now back home where sreeja was made the princess(DUH!) and walked the red carpet to the 21 candle light scrumptious birthday cake. so what do you think will happen when you have cake and martian people like us...hades! after the cake makeover session, the ramp was all set for nothing but fantabulous slumber. "first come first serve" was the rule for bed space which left me and zubin stray off to the other room (no no, dont let your mind wander!). 

day 2- morning 8am...KNOCK! that was my head and my feet in my premises as well(;)).. wonder why i got that one from jen-C? all the boys ang girls taking turns to rush foam into their mouths and some of them weirdly finding it amusing to talk during the process. argh! all dressed by now, the photo session starts with the boys all going props, foregorund and background to the lens and doing whatever possible to be everywhere in the picture. now to the ladies, blah... so poof did we all go for the CUSAT tour(yawn!) and then a little of baskin robbins and VEG lunch. please dont remind me about that. now what is a party at 207 without stepping in sandunes yeah'.. this time it was our treat to sreeja so the private room impressed us and knocked the bday girl as well. i always wonder when will we not be welcomed there. destination home was the objective after all the hookah dazed and confused. home sweet home with yet again  torn clothes and butt loads of time to waste... hungry kya'..!?tho dominos kaa..!and that was just what we did. zoom to the pizza place and zoom to haven and zapp to the pizzas when they were unpacked. even the cheese didnt get enough time to settle in, it was forced to melt. hooligans, i say!

day 3- the entertainer and ms DOC leaves in the morning with the trademarked kiss from the DOC. that was the only thing i (prefer to) remember. the rest of us lazing around in pyjamas or whatever he or she was wearing then decides to hit the road for the leftover in the agenda. movie was the end of it. wait..did i say movie, i bet that most will only remember nothing but the name of that movie. no, it was not sleepless in seattle.

day 3n+1(we are engineering students)- gape, drool, stare, scratch, lick, play with toes, kick stones, bite nails, eat leaves, turn pages, commmode, coop, hump(thought i shouldnt make zubin feel left out)...

well that was basically the most myopic way in which i could describe the set of days that will remain. hemorrhage of despair or whatever saddening in you is what we at the "domain of awesommness", are good at. ;)

and i owe it all to sreeja's knifelike contagious gag, rohin's hercules "kallipppe" scowl, susan's "i am your mommy" posture, dilu's "lets's ride" attitude, tiddly merin's officious elan, jenC's "dont piss me off"(GULP), suthin's evergreen laughs that can kill, vysakh's sympathetic accomplice grin and zubin's tendancy to always be the "unexpected" one.   

regards,

jazim

PS: to all those dumasses who made it for the bash ie., sreeja, rohin, jenC, dilu, merin and susan.. i dare you to step in at our place before 30th of this month. hmph! this one goes to irene and tessy as well. hmph to you too..!

:P

did i just say dry day?

my previous post here included statements that emphasized the seriousness of our upcoming....im sorry....ONGOING exams. and jazim's post further implied the same message i had wanted to send out : STAY OUT OF 207 DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL! and i was sure that the message had settled in all of us, especially believed that the tenants ourselves would enforce it.

boy, how wrong could i be?

april 8th was zubin's, jazim's and my 3rd exam. april 20th was the next.

april 9th was sreeja's birthday. u do the math, and u will know that we could take a couple of days off safely from our studying. and that's exactly what had happened...on april 8th,we brought the guests home(actually, the rest of the gang is losing its "guest" status...we might as well pass them all a duplicate of our keys). despite a mess up due to lack of communication between us that evening(it's bound to happen between close friends, gotta accept that, right?), we threw a great midnight treat for sreeja...had gotten her a surprise birthday cake and she just couldn't wait to blow the flames off the 21 candles and share its waxy(kudos 2 the candles 4 tht!) yet delicious taste with all of us while the camera kept clicking. that was one moment for all of us to cherish.

the next 2 days included baskin robbins, north indian veg food, sheesha(our bday gift for sreeja btw), dominoes(sreeja's treat for us), fast & furious and marrybrown with the farewell at the railway station. all-in-all, yet another memorable day to be marked in our calenders. 

personally, the highlighting features of this little get-together were the small moments...our conversations throughout the night, merin's blasphemy, the unexpected drunkenness from the 4th 'tenant' who doesn't pay rent, the chemistry between two particular individuals, 6 people getting squashed on the bed trying to sleep etc etc aaaaaaaaaaaand above all.........sreeja's laugh. i can still hear it ringing in my head :)

so that's a valid enough reason as to why the tenants were suffering from a hangover during the aftermath. but we are indeed getting back to our feet, definitely not gonna give up on these exams. and that's why once again, we say...STAY OUT OF 207 DURING THE REST OF APRIL!!

yet i know you guys will come barging through the door any day to create more memories at 207. and guess what? we love it.

yours sincerely

vysh