From Bay Leaves to Curry Leaves....my journey

It was sometime in mid-2002 dat I thought of moving to Delhi University going by my result in 12th Standard but I was shocked to note that even the Topper is no where near the Cut-offs required to get into SRCC. Dat was perhaps an indication from the almighty dat "beta tujhe toh mein nichey bhejunga" n here I am in Hyderabad for the last 5 years. What no girl felt....Hyderabad certainly saw something in me and dat is why I never quite managed to move from here despite a million efforts and another million escape plans already in place. You see obsessive love is not good. One person in dat relationship (yours truly dat is) has to suffer a lot den.

This relationship started in 2005 when I landed up at my Uncle's place in Hyderabad exactly 2 days after my Graduation examination. That was a crazy time.....learning sign languages, understanding nod of the head, missing bus stops, getting on the wrong bus, falling from the bus and lots of other misadventures. Thats how love stories start.

Being ambitious, I just had one thing in mind and dat was to get a Management Degree either from the top MBA institutes or from an institute which is the top one in its field. The former didn't materialise and I came out of the examination center feeling raped inspite of my good preparation. Actually, I was let down by my trusted comrade(read as Data Interpretation)...saale ne sahi time pe dokha diya. Anyways, my performance was like dat of our cricket time....jisdin Bat achcha chala...usdin bowling se maar kha gaye. I was not working(as a professional) as my Mom had told me dat she doesn't want me to be on the phone at the dead of the night talking to strangers. So Call Centers was a no-no for me and I was getting calls from only call -centres. Infact had joined an NGO as well but it didn't work out. Teaching was my past time then. At the same time I had applied for Fashion Management program at NIFT as dis institute is known to be the best one in the fashion industry(though I sincerely feel this institute is need of quick revival as decay has set in...will deal with dis aspect in my next post).I left Hyderabad and went to Kolkata.I appeared for NIFT dere and got thru to NIFT, Hyderabad.

I still remember dat I wanted to stay back at home and join NIFT 2-3 days later as I had realised I would miss d World Cup Final. In hindsight, It would have been better if I had missed dat as Matarazzi antics won and football lost dat day.

The First day at NIFT(accompanied by Father and Uncle)....oohh...we were entering thru d Gate and a Girl passes by in 'miniest" mini....My Uncle looked at my Father..My Father looked at me and I turned my head towards the sky(though I wanted to look somewhere else....but your body becomes stiff at such situations). Dad went back(don't know what must have been goin thru his head)....but I don't want to mean dat "main khula saand ban gaya"....I started dividing my time between the Class, the ground and the enclosure where we had the TT Table. For 2 years, my breakfast was either a plate of puri or a pack of Tiger Biscuit. I didn't want to waste time taking out the curry leaves from whatever they served. It used to look like Dosa bhi ek bahana hain...unhe toh curry leaves hi khilana hain. That heavenly smell of Bay leaves is still afresh in my mind and perhaps that is why I am still able to survive here.Lunch used to be a formality.It was the dinner which I used to have to my heart's content at a Bengali joint.My veggie friends used to pull me to a veggie eatery where they served Buffets for Rs.60. I used to dismiss them saying dat I will have "Fish thali" for Rs.45. My friends,if any of you are reading dis, I go to dat eatery for veg buffet everyday and now it costs me Rs.75. Well moving away from food habits and to the next stage of my tryst with Hyderabad.....it was when I was placed with Pantaloons....they told me to join at Bangalore.....I disposed off everything dat I had only to hear at the end of my induction in Bangalore dat I have got the posting in Hyderabad....so I came back to my obsessive lover again...

Half of my relatives mistake me for a fashion designer( at par with our next door tailor). Rest of the relatives and friends who use internet....I just ask them to Google it. I was fed up of explaining to people...even a criminal doesn't have such a hard time in explaing his work. But the Security Guard just simply introduced me to his friend as a "Decorator".....a term so crude for all these years of education. Perhaps, he is right....we tend to complicate life by introducing fancy elements which are so superficial in nature. But to that friend of mine, I am no longer a decorator for now I have got a much broader meaning to my work. To my Father...I just say....I am not into any kind of unlawful activities....Trust me. He is happy with dat and I am happy for he is happy.

Since then it has been almost 2 years with many ups and downs, many twists and turns, many friends made and a few unsavoury experiences. Last month I had my First Dosa in almost 3 years....but waiters wonder why this guy wants tea to be served along with any kind of SI snack. How can I tell them my true feelings??? But thanx to them that I have my Breakfast everyday at least.

I have seen so many people in relationships....I sometimes wonder what would have been life like if I had a Girl in my life who was obsessed with me....nah nah...."love is a virtue...obsessive love is a vice"....but still I would prefer an obsessive lover to a tyrant lover(read as Chennai). So, Hyderabad is ok for me for the time being.Waiting for the God to say dis time "ab toh main tujhe upar bhejunga"....let me clarify dat God is referring to North here.