Friend...

I do not believe in Winamp shuffling. As in, I believe that it happens. But I don’t believe in using it.

I keep a prepared list of songs in the morning. I open my Winamp, rearrange the playlist in that order, and listen away.
(The rearrangement was during my Infy days. Now, with the latest Winamp, it is just Q, Q, Q all the songs)

But there would be phases when I listen to the same set of songs in the same order. And the current phase has me starting the day with this song – Oru Nanbanirundhaal.

Movie: Enakku 20 Unakku 18
MD: God
Singers: S.P.B.Charan, Venkat Prabhu, Chinmayi

Now why do I keep coming back to this song?

Last Friday, Chakku left Bangalore to do his management degree. And that has left quite a void.

We already have one person safely tucked away in the US. (Oh a special thanks to that person for his call today. Was great to talk to you. And yes, you do have an accent!) With Chakku also missing, suddenly the numbers seem too small.

I miss the PDC (post-dinner coffee) sessions at Friend’s. (Well, the actual name of the place is Sangeetha Condiments…but Kaushik & I call it Friend’s…and that has stuck)

I miss the Java City (Lavelle Road) sessions. There was a period when Chakku, Kaushik, Bandhar & me went to that place for almost 7 days consecutively. And did a lot of voice-over for the couples. (“Ok…let’s go now. Wait. I need to touch my nose. Ok fine…let’s enter now…)

There are a million other things that we monkeys are going to miss.

The song that I wrote about in the beginning of this post has the following lines:
indha kaadhal kooda vaazhkkaiyil azhagilae thoandrumae
thoazhan endra sondham ondru thoandrum namadhu uyiroadu

Roughly translated to:
Even this love…in life…arises out of beauty.
But the bond of friendship arises out of our lives.

Very true.
To me, a true friend needn’t be someone who is there with you at your moments of joy. You always have people for that. But, a true friend is one who would be there for you at your lowest moment. No matter what. And Chakku is precisely that…a true friend.

Here’s wishing him a great management career.

PS: On a slightly cryptic note…Reinstated!

This was a post I had written a long time back. And an Aditya left me a comment on that around a month or so back. This was the comment –

Hi, I've been reading u r blog for quite some time now. I've enjoyed reading every one of them. Now that you've brought up the topic of doing what one loves to do, I would like to chip in.
I know of two people whom I've always admired. one guy was working in Infosys, B'lore and from the start knew that it was not his calling. He never gave up and after almost 3 yrs resigned from Infy and joined the Indian Armed Forces. In the exit interview, he was asked by what percentage was his salary going to be increased in his new appointment in the Navy and he said, -35%!
Screw the money :-) there are a hundred ways of making it.

It was the kind of comment that is freakish on many levels.
It mirrored my thoughts almost to the last dot.
It spoke about similar events happening around me.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I am quitting my job. As I write this post, I have my resignation letter typed out in Notepad, and by the end of this post, it would probably be on its way to my boss.

Most people knew my lack of interest in what I was doing. I was never meant to be an MBA. But that is all water under the bridge. I would be getting back to what I like best.

The company I would be joining is a very very small start-up.
With big aspirations. For them, and for myself.

I would like to thank everyone – my family, friends – who’ve been completely supportive of my decision. Thanks people!

Here is a part of a chat conversation I had with Varath after I got my job:
Varathkanth: hmm
oh imp qn..
how close is the office frm ur home?
me: 40 mins
btw, you have no idea how happy it made me feel when you said "imp qn", and spoke abt distance.
Varathkanth: heh.. quite gud
me: seriously nanri hai!!!
i was worried you were going to talk abt salary.
Varathkanth: dei
me: final details not known...but def pay-cut. :)
Varathkanth: naan avlo kevalam illeda
me: i know.
Varathkanth: i'd hv blasted u if u had cribbed abt ur pay cut

The “naan avlo kevalam illeda” really made my day. Nanri hai da.