Negaa... Negaa... Mindublassting!!!

(My class means a lot to me. Yes, It was the real place of happening of many things. I've read novels sitting in the last bench, I've texted to people sitting inside the class, I've copied from fat books for the class test, I've taken a couple of classes. I've been there with them for four years. It meant a lot to me.


Now as a token of love, I'd like to write a series of stories about people who really influenced me. The people are not in order of these stories, but I'll always have you treasured in my heart. Welcome to my class, Adriostros(ஆம் ஐ கரெக்ட்?))


We were sharing pictures through IR. He wanted pictures of Gods.
"Krishna who advices Parthan on the battle field?"
"ya.. send"
"The child Krishna who is stealing butter?"
"yes..."
"Vinayaka is Pillayaarpatti ..."
"No.."
"Why???"
"I'm a veeravaishnavaite"
This conversation happened in the first year of college.

I was at home and my father was talking, "These guys are really great. Among all the other problems in the surrounding and world, they still have their line drawn on their forehead. Vertical or horizontal". All praise the people from these top of the society group, for they have a lot of struggle behind even an engineering seat!

When you first enter a college as a student, you'll have no prejudice in mind. Some people plan their lives from school and end up in the same college and continue to be as they were in school for those years. For many, the story is different. They come into college, and get new guys as friends and live the rest of the life with regular calls or meeting.

There are all kinds of people in the world. Some are very silly, for eg. my room-mete broke my bath tub, my 2H pencil is missing, I just got 84% in the semesters. They don't get friends easily. I had no prejudice while I started my college life. To me, all were good and some people, who faught their way to this college were very good.

He, the person with whom i was sharing photographs, was my first year hostel floormate. Once there was this b'day party of one of the other guys in my hostel floor, who was frieghtened of the events that could unfold, and went hiding in one of his friend's room - below the cot. A group of five searched the first year hostel completely twice to find him. They, dragged him to our floor, and celebrated b'day. You don't need a explanation on how b'days are celebrated in hostel. That day, it was very special and our hostel watchman(popularly known as 'thatha') came to spoil the party. Next day, warden visited the hostel. Routine.
"I could hear the sound in my house and I couldn't sleep all night. Who were all there? Tell me.."
His house is some two hundred metres away. But, all the guys on the floor were told to tell the same answer, "I slept early".

Unfortunately, 10 suspects were suspended. The talk of the hostel was that, the guy who got those pictures from me, gave a 3 page write-up on the issue. Everyone, including me had this doubt, "Did he name me?". Thus he got the badge - "Icon of Betrayal" I did not talk to him after this incident.

This happened around January of the first year. Then, days passed. We wrote environmental chemistry examination, semester holidays passed and college re-opened for the second year.

Third semester, is a good time with lot of intro functions and it is the time when we start to know our seniors. Every class in my college needs to have an IV rep, a treasurer, a secretary and placement representatives.

"So, you are the placement representative", I asked.
"Will it be 7 to 8 months since you spoke to me?", he replied. That conversation ended. Yes, I had not spoken a single word to him since that b'day party. Two days later, i asked, "I was angry because you gave it in writing to the warden!"
"How can you think that way? I just told. I didn't do anything abnormal. I know what students feel like", he spoke fastly. I knew, he was just being naive. That was because he grew up in one such atmosphere. I wanted to take off that tag from him.

He was not a very bad person. He started one of those much celebrated centence of our second year, "Do you eat rice or what they serve you in the hostel mess?" (சோத்த திங்கிறியா? இல்ல மெஸ்-ல போடுறத திங்கிறியா?). This was written on his hostel room wall just above the switch board.
Being first person in the attendance roll-call is very bad, at time. You have a big wall in front of you during exams. He was the first on attendance for our class and once this happened. The staff had some work for him and called out, "Achyuthan..."
"Present ma'am", came the reply. everyone in the classroom had a hearty laughter.

In the third year once i went to his room during the unit tests. Unit tests are the time when everyone atleast reads, and I get some browsing time as they are busy with mobile phones and books. Achyuthan used to be free because, he knows what to write or he can manage a pass mark. I was opening my blog and typing on how unit tests are conducted in my college. 

He suggested some corrections and as days went by he started blogging, which is really really good. Meanwhile, he did not continue with his placement representative posts and another election was going to be held. I remember, one of my seniors who was a PRtelling me, "You will not get a better PR than him". I don't know how good or bad that was.

In the final year of college, we had the same floor in hostel again. For the third successive time, he got a room near toilet. Russel Peters became our common icon. He used to talk many accents of english language - Steve Martin, Samuel Jackson etc. negaa... negaa... Time flew by and we had the final semester. Electrical Machine Design. The paper that stood between Me and Er. Me B.E. Till the very last moment, I was sure I'd fail. But, passmark was just two days of talks away. Achyuthan did help me - not to learn but to leave worries.

He was plaed in Ashok leyland.Two people went for the final round and he got placed. The best in the class. Toppers were not placed. One told me, "you know why he got in? Its the line on his forehead". I don't believe in that. But, if that is true, that line - the reddish orange vertical line, has given him enough hardships in the past which cancels with this easy placement. From the day he got placed, till TCS-the mass recruiter came, he used to send us texts on how to face interview. Some read it, some didn't, a few deleted on seeing his name. yes, he was bad to many, even then.

He could support his family single-handedly. His dad has peptic-cancer, since we were in the second year. He had no quality of a college goer when he joined this college. One boy's slam held these golden words which Achyuthan wrote, "Thanks a lot for transforming me into a normal human-being. I hope I get a person like you in my workplace. There are lot of achyuthans in the world. Transform more Achyuthans out there in the world. They are waiting for you". The slam was not mine.
                         ~முதல் பாகம் முற்றிற்று~

அவர்கள்

“என்னை ஏன் உனக்கு புடிக்கல?” ங்குற கேள்வி அம்மா, அண்ணன், தோழன், தோழி, காதலி – ஒவ்வொருத்தர் கிட்ட கேக்குறப்பயும் வேற வேற அர்த்தங்கள் தான் தரும். ஒரு கேள்வி, ஒரு சொற்றொடர் – எல்லாம் ஒவ்வொருதரிடமும் வேறு வேறு தாக்கங்கள் தான் ஏற்படுத்தும். ‘நான் ஒரு பெண்ணை விரும்புறேன்’ ங்குற அதே வாக்கியம் நண்பன் கிட்டயும், அப்பா கிட்டயும் ஒரே தாக்கத்த ஏற்படுத்தணும்- னு இல்ல...

நண்பன் சிரிப்பான் - சத்தமாக.

அப்பா முறைப்பார் – கூர்மையாக...

“ஃப்ரெண்டு” என்ற ஒரு குடைக்குள் அடக்கி விடுகிறோம் ‘உறவினர்’ என்ற குடைக்குள் வராத அனைவரையும். அத்தை, மாமா, அம்மா, அப்பா, தம்பி, தங்கை, அக்கா, அண்ணன், பாட்டி, தாத்தா, சித்தப்பா, சித்தி, பெரியம்மா, பெரியப்பா என்றெல்லாம் பிரித்து காட்டிய மொழி ஏனோ தோழன் என்று ஒரே சொல்லை மட்டும் கொடுத்திருப்பது கவலையே.

நண்பர்களுள் பலவிதம் உண்டு. “என்னை ஏன் உனக்கு பிடிக்கல?” – நட்பும் உண்டு; “என்னை ஏன் உனக்கு இப்போ மட்டும் புடிக்கல?” என்று கேட்கும் நட்பும் உண்டு... ஆனால் ஓரிரு நண்பர்கள் விடை கூறும் போது தான் ‘இதை நாம மாத்திக்கணும்’ – ங்குற எண்ணமே வருது. அப்படியாயின் அந்த ஒரு சிலர்க்கு நாம் ஏன் தனி சொந்தம் வைக்க கூடாது???

‘நெருங்கிய நண்பர்கள்’, என்று கூறலாம். மறுபடியும் ஒரு கேள்வியிலோ, பதிலிலோ அவர்கள் இன்னொரு பிரிவிற்கு சாதாரணமாக சென்று விடுவார்கள். “இது தான்டா புடிக்கல”, - இது ஒரு ரகம். “இத மாத்திக்க, ஐ வில் பி கமஃபர்டபிள்” – இது ஒரு ரகம். “எனக்காக இத மாத்திக்கோடா, ப்ளீஸ்” – இது இன்னுமொரு ரகம்.

முதலில் நாம் கண்ட கேள்வியின் இடம், பொருள், ஏவல் வேற்றுமை இந்த நண்பர்களுக்கும் உண்டு. பிறகு ஏன் இந்த மொழி ‘நண்பன்’ என்று மட்டும் சொல்லி வைத்தது??? ஒரு வேளை, ஒருவன் தான் இருக்க முடியுமோ என்று யோசித்தால், ‘நண்பர்கள்’ என்றதற்கு பன்மையும் வைத்தனர்.

இந்த ஒரு குடை அடுக்களில் ‘ப்ரையாரிட்டி’ – முன்னுரிமை என்பது இடஒதுக்கீடு இன்றி வந்து சேர்கிறது. சிலரை நெஞ்சில் வைக்கிறோம்... சிலரை நெஞ்சில் கரைக்கிறோம்... ஒரு சிலரால் அந்த நெஞ்சையே செய்கிறோம்... “இங்க வா!” என்று சொல்வோரும், “இங்கே வர முடியுமா?” என்று கேட்போரும் நண்பர்களே... ஆனால் முன்னுரிமை வருவது ஏனோ “இங்க வா!” என்பவனிடம் தான். “என்ன செய்யலாம்?” என்ற கேள்விக்கு, “உனக்கெது கம்ஃபர்டபிளா இருக்கோ, அப்படியே பண்ணு”, ந்குரவனை விட, “இப்புடி பண்ணு டா!”, என்று முடிப்பவன் சிறப்பு... ஒரு சிலர் உள்ளனர். அரை மணி நேர பேச்சிற்கு பிறகு, “இது என் ஐடியா, உஅன்க்கேப்படி விருப்பமோ அப்படியே செய்” என்று சொல்வோர். “ஓடியே போய்டு”, ங்குறது தான் இவர்களுக்கான என்னோட பதில்.

ஒரே பாலினராக இருக்கயில் நட்புக்கு பங்கமில்லை. இதற்கு பொறாமை, அஸம்ப்ஷன்ஸ், ஒரே சிந்தனை போன்றவை காரணமாக இருக்கலாம். ஒரே பால் நண்பர்களிடம் நிறைய பேசலாம், பேச காரணமும் இருக்கும், அந்தரங்கம் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளலாம், ‘லவ் யூ’ என்று பயப்படாமல் சொல்லலாம் (இன்று ‘கே’ லாம் வந்தாயிற்று. அதை தவிர்த்து), மடியில் சாய்ந்து துயில் கொள்ளலாம்... முத்தமிடலாம்... ஒன்றாக சினிமாவுக்கு போகலாம்... இப்படி ஏதும் செய்யலாம். சமூகம் ஏதும் சொல்வதில்லை; பலமுறை ‘பாச்சலர்’களை ‘வீடு இல்லை’ என்று விரட்டுவதைத் தவிர.

ஆண்-பெண் நட்பில் ஆண்கள் மத்தியிலும், பெண்கள் மத்தியிலும் வெவ்வேறு விதமான சூழல் நிலவும். ஆண்களுக்கு புரியாது; புரிந்தோர் பெண்ணோடு நண்பராய் இருப்பவர். பெண்களுக்கு மகிழ்ச்சி. இன்னொரு பலிகடா கிடைத்து விட்டதே என்றோ என்னவோ! ஆண்கள் மத்தியில் ஆண்-பெண் நட்பு என்பது இயலாதது.

“கல்யாணம் பண்ணிக்கலாமா?” – அவன்.

“என்ன புதுசா???” – அவள்.

“புடிச்சிருக்கு ல?” – அவன்.

“புடிச்சிருக்குறவங்கள எல்லாம் கல்யாணம் பண்ணிக்க முடியுமா???” – அவள். கேலியுடன்.

“போடி”, என்று முடிக்கும் ஆண்கள் சினிமாவில் மட்டும் தான். அவன் அதை மனதில் ஆம் என பதில் எதிர்பார்த்துக் கொண்டு கேட்பதில்லை. அவளை குச்சி மேல் நிறுத்தி பார்க்கிறான். அவளோ ‘கதக்’ ஆடுகிறாள். இருவருக்கும் வெற்றி. தோற்றவர் வென்றார்- ஊடலில். இது அதனினும் சிறப்பு அன்றோ???

பெண்களுக்கு ‘செல்ஃப் கான்ஷியச்னஸ்’ எனப்படும் தன்னிலை உணர்தல் மிக அதிகம். அவர்களுக்கு எது லிமிட் என்று தெரியும். ஆண்களை அந்த எல்லைக்கு அப்பால் விட மாட்டார்கள். பல நல்ல குணங்களைக் கற்று தருவார்கள். பொறுப்பு, கவனம், முடிவு எடுத்தல், நகம கடிக்காமை (வள்ளுவர் விட்ட அதிகார்ந்களுள் ஒண்ணு) போன்றவற்றில் துணை நிற்பார்கள். எல்லா ஆணுக்கும் பின்னால் என்றல்லாமல், ஒரு சிலர் கூடவே நின்று அவர்கள் வெற்றியை எந்த அசூயையும் இன்றி ரசிப்பவர்கள் பெண்கள்.

‘அவன்’ க்கு அக்கறை அதிகம். அவள் ‘முடியல’ என்ற வார்த்தை கேட்டால் இவனுக்கு பொறுக்காது. அவளுக்கு ஏதாவது ஒன்று என்றால் முன் வந்து நிற்பான். ஹனுமான் போல... நினைத்தால் போதும் – முன் வந்து நிற்பான். அந்த பாதுகாப்பு, அந்த செக்யூரிட்டி – அதை எந்த பிரதிபலனும் எதிர்பாராது செய்வர்.

இப்படி எல்லாம் செய்ய அவன் கணவனாக இருக்க வேண்டும் என்று அவசியமில்லை என்பது பெண்கள் மனநிலை. இங்கே காதல் இல்லை. காதல் பரிதாபத்தால் வருவது அல்ல. இவன் அவளுக்கு சொல்லும் ‘லவ் யூ’ வில்பாசமும், உன்னுடன் இருக்கிறேன் என்கிற உணர்வும் இருக்கிறது. அவளுடைய பதில் புன்னகையில் ,’உன்னை நம்புறேன் (கவுத்துடாத)!’ என்கிற பொருளும் இருக்கிறது.

அமைதியான மாலை வேளையில், சென்னைஇன ‘எலெக்ட்ரிக் ட்ரெயின் பிடித்தால், மாலையை ரசித்தபடி, வாயிலில் நின்று பயணம் செய்யலாம். அப்பொழுது ஏதேனும் ஒரு ஸ்டேஷனில், ஒருவன் ஒரு பெண்ண தோள் மீது கைப் போட்டு அமர்ந்திருப்பான். அப்போது, அவன் அவளுக்கு எஸ்.எம்.எஸ். செய்வான்,

“தோளில் கை போட்டு அமர்ந்திருக்கிரானே,

‘நாங்கள் தோழர்கள் அல்ல,

காதலர்கள்’ என்று பறைசாற்றுகிரானோ???” என்று.

அந்த இடைவெளி தான் நட்புக்கும், நீங்கள் காதல் என்று நினைக்கும் அதற்கும்.

My f(unny)irst interview

It was a great day because they said the interview was on the next day. Mu-Sigma was such a terrible experience because… wait… Don’t be in a hurry… That’s what I am going to say in this post.

Mu-Sigma was the first company that always opens up for all GCT-ian. Well, it has been so for the past three years. Big names have gone there and the hype for the place was really high. Commvault came and they only wanted people who knew how a computer could dance. Hardly, any guy from other department gets placed and they only give a chance for the toppers to try their luck.

Coming into business, the first round had 20 questions. 10 apti, 5 read and write english questions and 5 data interpretation questions. Clearing this test would have been easy, even without attending those summer placement classes that my classmates took.

I cleared the first round. That night the results were out and many were selected from the first round. Then, sun was up again the next morning. Sickness was in the air. We went in a bus, a town bus that had lot of other people. Satheesh sent a lot of forward jokes, which were all of ‘prasuramaagavillai’ genre. Everyone was told that, ”The presentation will start at 8 in the morning. You must be there atleast ten minutes before that.”

The bus went as slow as it could and threw us away in front of PSG tech. We asked where this happening was going on. Some people directed us in a way and we were walking through corridors of width smaller than my hip size. Mind you- Its PSG and Mind you- my hip size is 4_

A dimly lit hall with a projector on one end opened to us through a small door. There were some 10-15 people from the company and around 50 students sitting in that hall. We came in and took our seats in a row and started talking about when they would leave us.

“Good morning fellas…”, said the mike bearer. No response.

“So, how many from CIT?” 30 among 50 in front of us lifted their hands.

“GCT?”, it was him again. The rest of us lifted our hands up.

“PSG?” None. “We’ll wait for another 10 minutes and then start”

This happens everywhere we go. They say to wait for ten minutes as if they have sent them to buy tea and biscuits for us. Then the presentation started and slowly the lecture hall started to fill up. They showed us a scatter diagram, which I knew was a scatter diagram eight months after it in a TQM lecture. They told us about their work and what their requirement was.

Then was the questions session…

“What do we need to enter your company?”, asked a student.

“Well, you need to be 6 feet tall and must have a French beard”, said the mike bearer mockingly. But, you’ll soon understand the reality of this statement. The talk show came to an end. It would have been good if the pre-placement talk had some elimination too. That day would have been better.

Then we went on for the group discussion. And the topic to us was, ‘Should ragging in colleges be made legal?’… Before I entered for the group discussion six batches had already come out and Barath was telling ‘machi’ for the 117^th time, the most vaseegaristically. He had not opened his mouth in the GD inside. He was not allowed to infact. Every batch had 4 GCT students and others were filled from PSG and CIT. The common comment was, “The PSG guys are dominating! You must talk a lot louder and sharper”. If you have seen Guru- the Manirathnam movie this dialogue, “Jagadheesaa, naama innum nallaa kathanum” would surely have come to your mind by now. GCT-ians are very soft GD speakers. They don’t speak very harsh, loud or out of the box.

I entered the room with 8 PSG guys and four GCTians. And I had my roommate Kamal sitting to the left side of me. We had planned a lot like, Kamal will start speaking immediately after I stop to talk etc. The topic was given and all the eight students from PSG started scribbling in their notepad. There were lot of opinions and arguments. After 10-12 minutes of talking, only 8 had spoken. The conductor of the GD asked the others, do you have anything to say. They just said nothing. I was one among that eight and I had used some comedies like connecting morning’s happenings at the pre-placement talk with ragging. There is nothing worse to your comedy being taken seriously. I promise I was not at my best and it was my luck that there was a GCT alumnus in the panel. Moral of the paragraph: If there is an alumnus of your college in the selectors’ panel, you only need to be the best from your college. They have this gratitude towards the college and they’ll pick atleast one.

The upset was that the ratio of first round clearers to the second round clearers was too high. It was 119:23. Adding fuel was my department’s ratio of 19:3. Now a question to you reader. If you are from a company and there are 30 people from an other, which is 7-9 km from the place of interviewing what would you do? Ok, leave that… Then we wore a neck-tie.

It was 3’o clock in the noon. I was lucky, because I knew how to knot a tie. Soon it was four ‘o clock. Then it was long before it was five… Girls were attending interview and leaving. Our turn was like the arrival of some long running trains. {The train number 99999 is running 5 hours 45 minutes late. The slight inconvenience is deeply regretted}

“Baskar from GCT”, was the call... He went in. the man who called him added loudly, “everyone must have one passport size photo of yours” ,and went in.

“Next will completely be our college guys”, said a vice from our group. Everyone smiled for the first time in two hours. Baskar came out. Obviously, we asked him what they asked him inside.

Question 1: (As Baskar enters) Whats your height?

Baskar: Something above six.

Question 2: A puzzle

Baskar: Wrong answer J

Interviewer: you may go…

Then slowly, the number of boys from GCT kept increasing like the cricket scoreboard when Dravid is batting. Very very slowly…

After each boy came out, he told about what puzzle he was asked. There were so many common questions. The common comments were

*the interviewer was very simple

*he asked my hobbies and interests

*he asked me to solve some puzzles

No on had any clue on what basis the selction was. There were 190 students and one panel of interviewers.

Then it was eight ‘o clock, slowly nine and nine forty-five.

“Raghunath, Sabarivasan, Rahul Raj, …….”, he called and went in. By then, I was mentally tired and was already thinking of living alone in B’lore.

I went in to the interviewer…

Interviewer- I Me- A

I :aham… Ok, you are Raghunath… Tell me…..something about yourself…

A :I’m Raghunath. Did my schooling…… joined GCT…….. …like management..…. So, if you can tel me, on what area you want to know about me, I’d elaborate more on that.

I :Ok! Leave it…..

A : {why? Shall I tell about my neighbour? That might be of some interest to you… maarujaadhi marriage}

I : So, you are a member of the college mime team and Thamizh mandram?

A :{that is what is written in the CV, you idiot}

{smiling…} y… yes sir…

I : So, why do you want to get into mu-sigma?

A : {sight seeing, enjoying the climate of B’lore} I want to be a good leader and manager sir!

I : Even companies like HCL and Infosys gives you chance to be a leader? Why particularly Mu-Sigma?

A : {This is the first company that came to take us} In IT companies leadership is like leading a flock of sheep. We don’t have work for the right brain there. I don’t want such a work.

I : Ok then. Can you solve some puzzzles???

A : Ya… Sure sir…

I : Ok… you have a pond….

A : The flowers in it double every day… I heard this outside sir!

I : Who found the answer?

A : They all know it. Even I knew the answer already.

I : Ok! Leave that. You have nine balls…

A : { J that’s great } two sir…

I : No, nine balls…

A : The answer is two sir…

By this time a lady came and knocked the door. She was below than average tall and not beautiful.

L : Sir… Dinner???

I : Ya… I’m coming…

A : { idiot who didn’t know the difference between supper and dinner was the one interviewing me}

He gave me my file and told me to leave. Once I came out, I knew I’d not be given that job. But, my placement representative was a very strict man and was one among this 3 in 19:3. So, I had to sit tight for another five hours. At 2 ‘o clock in the night we went to the placement officer of PSG.

“Sir, its already two ‘o clock. When are you going to let the results out???”

“You are here for only this day! This is my daily routine. What will I do?”, asked the PO.

I don’t know what came across my mind suddenly, in Vadivelu’s slang I said, “ungala paakkavum paavamaa dhen irukku!”. Everyone around me started to laugh and we left the place.

In between all this we had a photo session and many exchange of stories. I had Hari Prathap with me. He was the only person in the group who had similar mindset of mine. What we both wanted was liberty for the past five hours...

The inteview briught Hari and me very close. We had some real good time then on (who knows? Some of my stories have his influence in them). We- the three of us from our department and Hari came back at 3.30 in the morning to the hostel. Mu-Sigma picked up four students from our college.

Anand (ECE) - IIM

Venkatraman (ECE) - Huawei

Baskar (CSE) - Authenahealth..

Vigneshwari (CSE) – MuSigma

Dedicated to my juniors who are now going to attend their placements...

I have a story to tell

The final day of college… Due to the state elections, the security was tight in the campus. The final year project viva-voce, was on the last day. So, everyone in the class had to come. A group photo with all of us was still a dream. The class had sixty students and one group photo with all members in these four years was not possible…

I knew it was not possible even today. According to girls, the prime usage of photograph is to smile to a lens. That purpose would not be served on this day. Almost all had worries and tears. The thought in everyone’s mind was separation and loneliness.

But, there was one boy who had no worries and tears. He was happy to go out of this campus. I don’t know if it was his maturity or idiotism. But he was a man of totally different character. This boy had had enough in this campus. The prime learning of his being in college was solitude.

Many have shed a lot of things with these four years. Some people have lost their anger in these four years. Short temper, cheating, telling lies, laziness- there are quite a lot of virtues that entered and left people in these four years. The best time in a lifetime- 17 to 21, and he utilized it very well. He never missed anyone and always had a smile in front of others. To the boys, Govind was a boy who had no worries.

He always had a smile in front of others. While not in front of others, he often keeps thinking of something. To him, nothing in the world mattered. His college, friends, studies… But, there was this girl- ‘Anu’, whom he liked a lot. He talks to her a lot of time. He wanted to live with her. But, something was stopping him from taking this to the next level. Family and society. He had no idea of marriage with her, but he wanted her always very close to him, as a friend.

Once when Anu was asked if she liked Govind, her reply was, “Yes. But, not as much as I need to marry him”.

Their friendship, they say so, was really good and admirable. The happiness they shared was endless and their worries were very less. Their fights and quarrels didn’t even last for ten minutes. They had good understanding within them, and they cried for each other’s success and failure.

Govind was very sensitive and would cry the moment, he was hurt by her. But, she was a very strong girl, mentally. She’d hurt him a lot and wipe off his tears. This, she said, was to make him a stronger man, emotionally.

His days usually started with a ‘good morning’ followed by a smiley. The smiley was a very important aspect of his day. When it was a ‘good morning’ alone, his days were usually bad. He kept thinking about something that happened in the past.

The smiley made his day better than anything else. Govind had a lot of bad habits. As any college student, he was lazy, would not shave regularly, taking bath regularly was very hard for him and didn’t wash his clothes regularly. When she told him to do these, he obeyed. She never yelled at him for anything or compelled or complained. He obeyed to what she told, better than he obeyed to his mom.

I’ve seen him a couple of times outside the campus. Well… not alone. Everyone mocks at him with her name. He didn’t like it. His best defense was silence and vanishing from the spot. He changed into a normal human being from a child, and into a matured person because of her. He owes a lot to her.

The day before the final day, they were set to meet. He was there, 4.30 p.m. sharp!

“Sorry, had some work”, she told in between her rapid breaths.

“It’s ok Anu. Sit…”

“Ya!”, she sat and after a little relaxation asked, “Why did you call me?”

“Tomorrow we depart. What is your plan?”

“Separation. We knew this tomorrow was coming!” she replied and turned to the waiter and ordered, “Two coffees…”. Then she turned to him and said casually, “hope you still don’t drink tea!”

After watching all this drama, “Anu, how can you take it so easily?” asked Govind.

“Do you think I’m taking it easily? What is the point in a second person knowing our worries?”

“Am I a second person in your life? We know each other than we know ourselves”

“Govind… understand one thing! Even if it is your mom or dad, Husband or wife, any other person is not you yourself! He is some other person… Let no one know your worries!”

“What is the point in doing so? Why should me- Govind, be another person in life?”

“Govind… You must be out of your school boy shoes. Remember… You are out of your teens now… In a couple of years, you’ll be a man!”

“Anu… Don’t you feel worried? This separation…” He sobbed. Tears started to roll down…

“What do you want me to do? Do you want to see Anu crying?”

“I don’t want to see that in my life! You know what I live for. Never cry. I’m always here for you” said Govind, wiping his wet cheeks.

“I don’t want you to hide your feelings Gobi… I just want you to be a person, as you want me to be… It is tough, but possible”

That struck him really hard! “A person like he wanted her to be”… He never wanted her to cry, wanted her to express her thoughts freely and be happy always.

………………………………………………………………………………………….......

He was packing for the last time in her thoughts. The mobile beeped…

“My boy… Are you happy?”

He was packing very slowly. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He replied, “I’m not sad. Don’t know if I’m happy!”

He carried only these two bags and a brain full of memories. More than half of the brain was her- Anu- the girl who changed his life, atleast a little.