Friends....

I have met many people in my life and just like anyone else.. I have made a few friends in my life.. This is a tribute to the few people who have made an impact to my life..

I may leave most readers jaded.. But bear with me.. This is something I needed to do for a long time.. Mind you.. It’s not for the people I mention, nor for you, dear reader.. But for me.

I really don’t remember the earlier phases of my life.. The only recollections of that phase were of moving every few years.. Not that great a chance of my making long term friends then.. Not to mention the inherent immaturity in our personas at that age... so, let’s begin from the more "impressionable" phases of our lives..


Sutirtha Datta,
we met at schematic tutorials, in the 10th grade.. unlike me.. he was good looking, was a witty guy and had a friend circle of his own... so where do I fit in??
it was like a spontaneous reaction.. nothing needs to be done.. it just happens. I do need to mention that the first introduction was done by Bhaswar.. we kind of went our ways after ICSE, but it just so happened that we ended up in the same chem. tuition.. and there was the advent of the wackiest trio in history.. we were notorious in other tuition's (ones I never joined) for being the brains behind some of the most dastardly pranks ever..
his academic brilliance will require more than the time I can spare.. so I shall leave it to saying that he's the next Darvin in the making.
right now.. he's in JNU working on neuroscience.. and soon he'll be in the "hallowed land" too.
on a more personal note, he was the best study partner I could dream of.. not to mention his highly imaginative and extensive repertoire of curses.. enough to keep you rolling about in absolute mirth..

Shaktimoy Bannerjee,
the first thing I will say about him.. six feet three inches.. while he was in the eighth grade.
a solid British accent behind the beautifully baritone voice.. and a highly analytical brain to go with the concoction. we shared the last bench throughout the tenth grade, and my oh my.. what a ride it was.. we were the two guys who were picked on the most in school, and strangely, that was one thing that was never the cause of our friendship.. I don’t remember talking to him outside school, but in school.. we could converse over everything and anything..
after ICSE time marched on.. we went our own ways, but some things are bound by fate.. and we are back in touch..

Horit Bhattacharya,
my greatest nemesis before the tenth grade finished, but one of my only friends in the eleventh and twelfth grades. we knew that we had similar interests in music, but we never went beyond that till we finished our exams..
and then it began... the realm of the metal heads.
he has this unlimited capacity for researching about things he likes and not to mention, he has the best tastes in music (by this I mean any sort of metal..) that I have known. I can safely say that he was the only reason I managed to survive the last two years of school.
we lost touch once we left school.. but we'd end up meeting in the semester breaks till he moved out of Calcutta. we've kind of lost touch.. but I know that we will meet again, and the headbanger's ball can begin again.

Teenenjali Sengupta,
my first attempt at a girlfriend.
we met at schematics.. were in the same class for half of the ninth, and most of tenth.. she coaxed the truth about my "feelings for her" midway through the tenth.
it was smooth sailing for me.. the only point was that I never even held her hand till I shook it two years later when I said goodbye for the last time. I was a kid, it was an infatuation, and because of that, we have been friends even after the "breakup." as far as I can see now, she has changed quite a bit from the person I knew.. and she says that I have changed drastically..
oh well, to each his own..

Pallab Basu,
Polly
the one person I used to get into fights with in college, and one of the few people to have stuck by me when the going got tough. we hated each other's guts.. him, for my straightforward attitude, and love for metal music.. me for his badly timed cracks at me..
there have been numerous occasions when we have been murderously angry with each other, but, we're both the type who forgive and forget quickly. I don’t think we ever went beyond a few mistimed punches.
I need to mention, he's the most emotionally driven person I have met in my whole life, my favorite smoking partner.. and a die hard sports fan.
oh, another thing.. he's a pretty decent cook. we survived on his culinary skills for one year.. and I am ever thankful for that.. it was way better than the half cooked grog we had to eat for three years in the hostels.


Anirban Tarafdar,
Jove.. Socrates Revisited
the debate king.. speaker par excellence.. sharp student.. good man.. and an extremely whacky dress sense.
that is the fastest way of describing him. the only guy in our gang known to be steady with his girl.. but mind you dear reader.. he was, and still is a womanizer.. of sorts..
why do I call him Socrates Revisited? because he knows something about everything.. and loves asking questions which don’t have easy answers.
one of the three most level headed guys I used to hang out with.. and not to mention.. he is a headbanger of sorts..

Aditya Suresh,
the psychoanalyst..
he knows exactly what goes on in your head. and he knows how to get you out of that mental rut which has been bugging you for eternity.. he's been given an infinite number if nicknames by the people around him, but to me. he's simply Adi. Jove's roommate for three years.. and with an equally weird dress sense.. coupled with a hypnotic love for coffee, he's the one person I could trust with any secret. wild with his kinetic (I hear he finally upgraded to a bike).. enough to leave my behind aching for hours after twenty minutes on it.. but an excellent driver none the less. a handy cook, and an aspiring tabla player
another thing worth mentioning.. he's blessed with the coolest parents ever. uncle and aunty are the type who understand the mental capacities of the people of our age.. not to mention they are extremely pragmatic and understanding about the way we live. though they will kick you if you try being unruly... great people.. period.
his only problem is with women.. most o them consider him to be their big brother.. or good friend.. sucks.. I know.. but, I do think that is changing too.. I wish him the best in that department.. I have immense faith in him.

Arundhati Chaudhury,
sister dear.
we met in the eleventh grade.. and I can never call her a friend.. she's always been a sister to me.. the sister I never had.. bubbly, sometimes pragmatic.. sometimes kiddish.. the embodiment of the word "sweet".. with a heart of gold.. and the hands of Stallone.. God save the poor soul who gets slapped by her.
all I hope for her, is a peaceful life. nothing more nothing less.

Soma Podder
Soma Di.. Muse..
the first time I met her.. I thought she would never like me.. later she told me that she thought the same.. and there we were.. two travelers at a junction.. a few days of contact and the bond we shared has become something indescribable and unbreakable. she is my muse.

and finally...

Sayandeep Basak,
my roommate.. my opposite.. my conscience..
words cannot describe the chemistry we share. it's like the real life representation of Yin and Yang. no one expected us to coexist when we were to be roommates in the second year of college.. by the time we finished.. we didn’t know what we'd do without the other around.. this guy was my punching bag.. my best advisor.. my only motivator in the most dire circumstances..
I can honestly say that there is no other guy who I can live with apart from him..
I could write more about him.. but I choose not to.. this is one relation I cherish more that the others.. and this, dear reader, is something I will not share with anyone..
some things are best left untold.

But hey.. I haven't told you about someone yet.. someone far more important than the ones I mentioned (and this is something sayan told me once)..
someday I might.. but that depends on fate..
I don’t like believing in fate.. where I don’t have the power to make my choices.. but this person makes me want to believe in it.. or at least to make me mould my own fate..
Only time will tell..