Together we laughed again

During my final year of engineering, I worked as the organizer for some of the ECE core events to be held at our annual tech fest Literati'09. Since it's always an uphill task for the organizer to declare results based on the performance of the participants in such events, I also hurt some beautiful minds who did really very good but a difference of 19-20 mattered and I had to place them second. One of the members of that team was my junior and a good friend of mine. This shook him and it hurt me as well to seem him lost the prestigious first position. After a few months I graduated, came to job, and lost a bit of touch with him.

And one day, an update on Facebook from him informed me that he was visiting Bengaluru where I have been residing for last 3 years for work. I messaged him my desire to have a small reunion after so long and fixed the time. On the D-day I called him to my residence and treated him with a warm hug and care. Well, how could a reunion of 2 college mates be gonna without booze! We made a plan and hopped on my bike to the city's famous street for pubs, the Brigade Road.

And man, we really rocked the conversation that day. Slightly drunk with a pitcher of beer, I offered him my sentimental apology for the day I became the unintentional reason to cause him a big upset during the tech fest. We had a slight sad moment, but very brief, and then he maturely stated that all was past and long gone. Fighting over the last mug to be filled from the pitcher, we shared a laugh and beer as well. After coming back to my residence, I cooked him my special recipe in the form of sumptuous Maggi meal and shared some beautiful time walking down the corridors of memory lane in the past and about our current lives, about our love lives, as well as future plans and much more.

And in those moments of sharing and laughter and happiness, we strengthened the special bond of friendship which had slightly gone loose earlier. From the risen difference in college to a happy togetherness at my home, I felt relieved of any guilt, which had never left my psyche since that fateful day. The evening mattered as it was the destiny's way to get both of us back on track briefly again, to realize the values of life and to nurture the dreams of each other. As it is well said - Most times, it's the company that matters more than the advice, and that is the power of being #together!

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Starting a new life

As indicated in my previous blog post, after recovering from unexpected setbacks I finished my engineering and landed a reputed government job, BUT away from home. Leaving my family behind and travelling 2500 km away from them, only with a possibility that I would be able to visit my hometown just twice a year was a big decision but the need of the hour.

My family and my home has always been my comfort zone where I felt secure and safe. Hence, coming to Bangalore and settling down alone wasn't so easy but an essential step of my life. But in a way, it was also a blessing in disguise for me as I discovered within a few years. Even though college life was also away from home, but the home wasn't very far away and I didn't have any financial freedom. Here at job, first of all I discovered what financial security is and how can I rejuvenate my life by balancing my expenditures in two parts - necessary for living , and necessary for LIFE.

There's a great difference between the two. One includes the basic components essential for living - food, clothing, and HOME. The second component of my expenditure list comprised of the things which make me happy and provide a satisfaction of Being Alive. Almost everyone dreams of doing this, doing that after getting a job, but only a few even consider this seriously after the initial year of financial ownership.

For me, it meant to live the life so that I don't feel a ting of zero satisfaction in life after 50 years or in my old age, or on my deathbed. So, first of all, I started giving shape to my poetry skills which started just as a means to my thoughts while in college. But here at my new home in Bangalore, I had the isolation, I had the environment and I had the thoughts which when scripted down on paper imploded with beautiful poems. Although once this aspect started working well for me, i.e., I got published in several books, magazines both online and offline, I still felt a little unfulfilled.

So, I purchased a bicycle, oh yeah, a bicycle, costing me approx. 45,000 bucks (don't get intimidated with the figure but, yeah, cycling has been my lifelong passion - to feel that breeze when you cycle along cross-country roads sweating and forgetting everything, just the journey and not the destination). 

That's when, I found my mantra - enjoy the ride, the journey; the destination will itself be achieved. 

And here I am - still aspiring to be a Randonneur, an emerging poet and author, and many other aspects have helped me in starting a totally new life unbeknownst to me earlier.

As I living as bachelor till last year, I was free to do all such things. And now, as I got married last month, I have shifted to family quarters - awaiting for the start of a totally new life all over again. And this time it's gonna start from Home :)

P.S. -- Don't forget to visit https://housing.com/.

Look up... to Life

This is a story when I was studying in the prefinal year of my engineering, away from home residing at college hostel. I have always been a bright student and got the scholarships for my study in school as well as in early 2 years of my B.Tech. But as it goes, nothing remains forever. I too was struck by fate's hammer which took a beating to my confidence. As it happened, I gradually started losing interest in academics after realizing the vagueness of our country's engineering syllabus towards making ourselves innovative engineers and among the best of the lot . My dream project in college, for college, was mocked at our annual tech fest that it couldn't be done by us and we had had outside help. Plus, due to nepotism nexus I lost my candidature for being the Campus Ambassador for a leading MNC pioneer in its field.

All of this happened within a few weeks of each other and in process, had taken a heavy toll on my mind. When my parents came to know of my situation, they called me home. HOME, a place where within a few days I forgot the outside life for better. Home, which gave me a sense of security as I had never felt. Home, in the care of my parents brought my back to my senses. My room in the college hostel had been my house for last 2.5 years but I was never as alive there as I was here with those walls who became my friends over the years, as playful as I was in our mini garden eating pomegranates from the tree I watered every evening.

Just a few days at home with my loved ones, I regained my willingness to move forward, to let go of the lost opportunities in the past, to get excited by what the future has to offer. I was ready to LOOK UP again and a whole lot more optimistic about my life. I realized how the negatives can impact oneself but it's always possible to overcome its effects and embark on a new beginning. Today, it has been almost a decade since then and I still apply the foremost lesson I learnt that your home is your best friend and your guardians and loved ones are your best solace in this whole world. 

Presently, I live in a city 2,500 km away from my hometown due to work responsibilities but I don't forget to take a good trip to my home on every festival and occasion, to be happy, to feel content seeing their happiness upon seeing me, to eat the best food of the world as I spend a couple of weeks there, to love and be loved. 

That's what life is... HOME

That's what home is.. LIFE!

P.S. -- This post is in association with Housing in association with IndiBlogger.