A City....

Away from buzzing life of the city, I took some time to introspect. Why am I cribbing going to Kolkata?? Places never really mattered to me, I have travelled and stayed almost in all the cosmos and metros like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi but every time I leave Pune, there is a sense of dissatisfaction. Truly said, a city is a city because of its people. A city is a home because of someone special who resides in that city and our life run parallel to theirs. Not necessarily, I feel for something only if I stay… I have a special attachment with Mumbai and I have a special attachment with Hyderabad too. Pune is a place where I completed my education, it’s a place which is responsible for my transition from a boy to a man, it’s a place where I struggled for a life, it’s a place where I have gained identity.

Everything has been said, repeated and exhausted, there is nothing much to say about the cities…every breathe that we take weave a new tale and become an experience of sorts. Conscious or unconscious, everytime, we talk about cities, we end of talking about people. They are the ones who make your life memorable in a city. For Pune, I owe it to two of my good friends, without whom Pune would not have been Pune for me. Every single day that I have spent here is a tribute to our takes of friendship, whether it’s waking up early morning after a booz in the night to catch up an early morning show at e-square to save money or roaming around in the lanes of pune enjoying a nightout in cold December night. Whether it’s lazily lying around on the sofas on CCD and discussing people or painting the town red and purple with shopping!!! I might have mighty hated Chennai but then I have someone in my life today because of Chennai, I might have a harrowing experience in Mumbai, but then, it’s Mumbai who helped me identify true friends in my life.

Every city comes with someone special in your life. Every city brings a new hope in the form of someone who helps realize the importance of your life. Being a vagabond, I have had the best experience that a life can offer in the form of people. It’s people who makes and it’s the people who breaks…

Kolkata…I am coming!! In an unknown journey, the only thing I expect is to find that someone who can be a reason for me to be in KOLKATA….

Virtual COMPANIONSHIP!!!

With the advent of Messengers, Facebook, Twitter, Orkut….”Friendship” has taken a new face alltogether!! While some are still confused, whether it’s friendship, I would call it as “Virtual Companionship” to be on the safer side!! So, while Hawan is still confused whether Aahuti is his friend, Aahuti seems damn sure that nothing seems promising than naming “Companionship” as “Friendship”…Why??

1. What’s the use of going to the other town to meet Hawan or need of Hawan visiting her when everything can be shared through messengers??

2. Chatting through messengers really don’t set any expectations..It’s a burden free friendship…

3. As they say, the more you stay close, the more you get to know each other and the more you start hating each other after some point of time..so, better be STRANGERS yet be good Companions..err..FRIENDS!!! FAMILIARTY breeds CONTEMPT…

While Hawan still refuses to believe that Virtual Companions can ever be called as BEST FRIENDS even though they are virtually together everyday but then Aahuti believes that TRUST can be built..though it might not be real..but virtual trust per se…

But then, you see, life itself is so disconnected!! It’s not possible evertime to be in the city of your friends and spend some good time…so, the best way to remain connected is to get hooked on to Messengers, FB, Orkut, Twitter etc….That’s probably the reason God created Human Beings and Human Beings created Social Networking Sites and Social Networking Sites created “Virtual Companionship”… Gone are the days, when there was an excitement of visiting to the other city, sit with your friends and have a booze or visit a discotheque to shake a leg!! Gone are the days, when friends would get a company transfer to the other city just because some of his very good friends are there in that city….And, if some foolish like Hawan attempted to do that, they were bitten and that too again and again!!!

Hawan tried a lot of times to pursue Aahuti to visit his city or even hinted at him visiting Aahuti’s city..she somehow resisted it!! Aahuti and Hawan know each other for more than 1 year…same company…office communicator…and on holidays, GTALK came to their rescue…and if nothing worked, Aahuti slowly started calling Hawan on his mobile and that too happened after 6-7 months of knowing each other!!!

Is this “Virtual Companionship” leading somewhere or going to vanish after sometime?? Aahuti is sure of an onsite soon and Hawan is looking for a change in job…..How often you all have taken the pain of breaking the barriers of Chats, FB, Orkut and packed your bags to the other city to meet the person you want to be with?? What will be the motivating factor for you to just say “NO” once to all the social networking you have been doing all this while and actually visit the person..Will ever Hawan and Aahuti meet?? This seems a BIG question indeed…a question bothering Hawan for sure but not Aahuti….

Have your presence for real on my blog to know about Virtual Companions, Hawan and Aahuti coz there is a HAWAN and AAHUTI in each one of us!!!

Disclaimer: There is no surety of having a PART 2 of this story…but as they say..NEVER SAY “NEVER” and needless to mention, this story is entirely fictitious and any characters bearing any resemblance to any person in real, living or dead, is purely unintentional and coincidental!!!

This is Ashutosh, your FRIEND for LIFE!!

Sometimes, we wonder what makes us special?? Is it our intelligence that speaks volumes or good looks that makes people go weak down their knees? We would have appreciated ourselves million times standing infront of the mirror and sometimes, would have loathed for not being near to perfection. So, today, I got a chance to ask myself, what makes ME special?? And, there was this one answer which resonated, it’s the PEOPLE around me, my FRIENDS who makes me special and have made me the way I am.

I have never really made an effort to be with the people, some I knew and some being complete strangers to me. It’s always the circumstances and perhaps, the faith of other people because of which I have made a difference in their lives, which in turn made a difference to my life. For some, I am their FAMILY, for some, I am just a source of INSPIRATION, for some, I am a CONFIDANT and for some I am someone with whom they can share all their worries. With millions of people around me everyday, there are some who BELIEVE in me. I have never really thought of whether the person would remember me once he/she is away from me, whether the person will value me in the future or ever appreciate the memories once he/she is at the other side of the fence. The only thought that comes to my mind is whether I would be happy remembering the person whom I once helped in my life, whether I would value myself when I look at my past, whether I would be able to bring a smile on my face appreciating the memories. And, the answer is YES.

Every single moment of my effort have been praised, recognized and remembered. What can I ask more? On a lonely journey called “LIFE”, these are the people who travel with you, might not be forever, but at times when you just need someone besides you. From the journey of UNKNOWN- STRANGERS-ACQUAINTANCE- FRIENDS- SOULMATES, my “TALE of FRIENDSHIP”is indeed a cherishing one!!!

Today, I would like to thank all my friends who have given me an opportunity to make a difference in their lives. Without them, my life would just have been a handful of events, it’s they who have given me a life full of memories worth remembering.

Every night, when I go to my bed, thinking if I am worth enough to get a peaceful sleep, I see smiling faces of my friends and that makes my eyes closed so that I wake up to see a wonderful morning the next day!!

This is Ashutosh, your FRIEND for life signing off….THANKS my FRIENDS!!