Summer of '09

Oh when I look back now

That summer seemed to last forever

And if I had the choice

Yeah - I'd always wanna be there

Those were the best days of my life

Its around 4 in the morning. I've been feeling nostalgic about school, since I listened to Summer of 69 some two hours back. The song got stuck in my head and there goes my post after a long time( Usual show off ). Looks like I have written about you in almost every post and there has never been a single post concerning you. Well, here it is :)

You realise, this is about you don't you?

Should I stick to chronology here? 

Three of us, right from kindergarten, been a wonderful journey. Frankly I remember very few incidents, bleak memories till class four. 

Jimmy quit and Joey got married

Shoulda known we'd never get far

Class four was when he left and I never thought he'd come back. So did he. And it was just the two of us. Class seven and we were moved to two different classes. There were no special promises made? No BFF or something like that. 

Class eight and he came back to Chennai. Sadly a different place, different school. 

The two of us who remained had few occasions to interact. 

All the while you were in a different class. Time takes its own time to untwist chords that have been entwined ever since. We got introduced, still rarely interacted.

There came class eleven and that brought the four of us together. I have so much to share but there are so few words to describe what I feel for you three. 

And now the times are changin'

Look at everything that's come and gone

There came the summer of '09  when time was up. We literally had to move away from each other. No shared lunches anymore. Cricket kept us together until academics ate up everyone's day. 

This whole post may not make any sense. This knows no order. 

We still meet up atleast twice a week *touchwood* I want that to remain the same and if not increase.

I wish the four of us always have each other.

There has never been a promise made but always kept. 

I wonder to the day as when the bond was born :)

You're more of a family than friends :)

I Wish we'd remain the same till all our hairs turn grey,

I Wish we'd remain the same till we lose all our teeth,

I Wish we'd remain the same till we gift each other a walking stick,

I Wish we'd remain the same till we blow a hundred candles off our cake,

I Wish we'd remain the same always and forever, whichever comes last.

Oh when I look back now

That summer seemed to last forever

And if I had the choice

Yeah - I'd always wanna be there

Those were the best days of my life

With tonnes of love and what not,

Summer of 69 by Snipedify

Obama,satyabama and appa-amma..

Truth is the hardest thing to believe.


We often misunderstand things to be one, while they come out as the exact opposite of what one imagined. So is the case with the arrival of the American first man/first black American man, Barrack Obama, to India. Most of the common men,by which I exclude Mr.Singh and his corrupt associates, believe that the arrival of the President of the states would make a change in the economic situation of our country. Well,that is not going to happen. 


He says, " Apart from the dreadful incident two years back, the Taj stands as an example for the nation's strength and it feels great to address the gathering from the very same place."


By which he actually means, "I'm glad that I was not elected President two years back and I really regret that Bush did not arrive when Terrorism went haywire two years back at the very same place".

Even after dodging all the questions and enough blaming of Pakistan,Iran and numerous other countries who don't understand what he says because they don't know English(as if the people who speak English give a damn) the media says he is discussing counter terrorism with the PM. He might as well be discussing, the terrorism at the Mumbai cine-plex ticket counters on Diwali day, which won't be revealed on account of being highly classified government info. You can't get this info even via wiki-leaks and that's why I provide you with Vicky-leaks ;)


He says America and India have come more close than ever, which invariably reminds me of Vadivel who tried to shift Delhi to South India. While Indian engineers,doctors and businessmen are waiting outside the embassy for their visas he's busy swiping his 'Visa' and dancing to Bollywood numbers in two piece( A shirt and a pant of course)


He's supposed to have signed a $10 billion deal. Well,there goes the money for Barrack/Manmohan campaign for the next elections. And this indeed would seem as a parody of the government reports. But believe me, Wiki might lie, Vicky won't.


Here, that I have included Satyabama for it sadly rhymes with Obama or so I think it does, I'm forced to make the following statements. The only Satyabama that I know of is the group of institutions run under that name. Which is a paradox. Let me tell you why. Its been portrayed as the strictest institution and its the scale which other colleges use to compare their levels of strictness with. Bite me. Its fun to be there as said by few friends who apparently belong to that chain of institutions.


The food, is immensely awesome and classrooms spacious and provide the perfect environment to sleep unlike the ones 'm forced to sit for 8 hours everyday. 


I know you wish that you could've ignored the Satyabama part completely. There goes my rating into the drains.


And my appa-amma who are not even remotely interested in whether I write about Obama/Satyabama or the annoying next door mama, are indeed interested in the Internet bills that the mailman never forgets to deliver unlike so many other important letters. And that ( and not my train of thought which hit a dead end) is making me stop with this.


Truth indeed is the hardest thing to believe.

Goodbye

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 13; the thirteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

 Finally the day arrived,something which she was looking forward to for over five months.Excitement,fear,sadness.. she loved that rush of adrenalin.After all its only once in your lifetime that you get married.It was a sunday,as she wanted it to be.She wanted all her kith and kin to be present.Most of them had arrived early the previous evening.She was the first girl in the family after a generation and was loved by even the distant of relatives.She woke up early,real early.She did not sleep much actually.With her own excitement and those of friends and family who spent the night speculating about how wonderful her marriage life was going to be.Also she had her own dreams about her marriage,which had kept her sleepless for most nights in the last few months.


  The last few hours of her 'Daughter phase' flew like time never had.The knot was tied and the 'Daughter-in-law' phase begun.Thus started her journey as a wife and here she was at her mother's place for bearing her first child.The beginning of a new phase 'Mother'.




                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~
 Its been a while since she visited her childhood home.She had spent almost her entire childhood there.She still remembered the first few years they spent here.She was not the daughter of a millionaire,yet her father treated her like a princess.They were an ideal family,similar to the ones you see in advertisements and movies.Mom,Dad and a brother.Perfect two years difference with her brother,an elder one.The two year difference made sure she had a friend around her all the time.The place had two bedrooms.A small but a happy place.


 First day of her arrival.She was sitting on her brother's bed,waiting for her mom to bring her lunch.Was looking around,recounting those days as a kid.This was the room where she used to get ready for school.Lovely memories.She remembered the old study table which was as old as her.She started exploring the things on the table.Her brother hadn't changed much.Pens of so many colours,used,unused,decades old found a place on the table.Most of which were hers,she knew.She came across a mess of papers.It had greeting cards,letters(to her surprise) and others which had stuff written she did not understand.Among those was one which seemed crushed,mostly because it was folded and unfolded frequently.It was handwritten like most of the others,with the same tiny alphabets.


                                                       ~~~~~~~~~


 The big day had finally arrived.He wanted it to be the happiest day of her life.She always dreamt big.He wanted her to.He always promised her things at an age he did not even start college.He really wished he could keep all his promises.He thought he did.She did not complain.That made him sure.He woke up early,even before the sun was up.He hadn't really slept.Not only the previous night,but since she crossed the threshold age for marriage.He cannot be blamed.She was all he loved.She was all he lived for.


                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~


I always wanted to say a few things to you,my little sister.You don't know how many times I call you this way every single day.You hate it when I call you that way don't you? Those first few days with your new mobile,I used to send 'Goodnight little sister' and get scolded by you in the morning.I don't remember the first day i saw you.I really wish I did.Got to know from Mom and Dad that the kept me waiting outside the hospital with Uncle because they did not want me to see Mom in pain.They did not know you could wipe away all the pain and sadness like you did for these many years and keep doing so.You defined the world to me.I write well,people used to say.But now I can't express what I want to.I always knew this day would come.I cry easily.I break down soon.May be I have cried more than you ever did.Wouldn't be a surprise.Considering that I cry everytime i see you crying,definitely I would've shed more tears than you.But all I wish is that I have wiped more of your tears than stood as a reason for.I still remember one of your birthdays,fourteen or fifteen,I was crying all night because I couldn't buy you anything.I still remember the first time I had to feed you dinner.You had mehendi on your hands.After that now and then I started feeding breakfast when you got ready to school.Those moments,I was the happiest on earth.I did not realise much till I reached class eleven.I lived every moment after that for you.To keep you happy.I cried more than you when your class ten results came.I fight hard with my tears everytime you cry to make you stop crying.Damn,I'm crying now!


The first time you hugged me was when Grandma passed away.Broke my heart.And then the day when you consoled me about college.That's one of the days I noticed how big my little sister had become.Those singing lessons you gave me.Really funny when I think about all that.We grew up together.We were infants together,teens together.Now we are two grown ups yet I feel like a kid all over again.


Wish we get to grow up once again.I'm really sorry for all the times I hurt you.I think i got you enough handbags and jeans you asked for.Will be eternally happy if you continue to ask me for more.


You have been the reason for my happiness for these many years,wish the other family,your new one feels the same after a while with you.


I have never said 'I love you' to you.But I have said that to myself more than a million times everyday.


You are the daughter I never had and you'll continue to remain the same..


I won't be giving this to you today.I don't want to see you cry for one more reason.


                                                      ~~~~~~~~~~


She had the crushed piece of paper in her hand.It took a while for her to take all this in.Mom came inside with her plate.She asked why she was crying.She realised she was.Wiped her face.Did not speak anything.Hugged her tightly and cried even more.


                                                     
He stood on the terrace with the letter in his hand.Crushed it and put it in his pocket.


                                                   
Mom asked why.She did not answer.All she could do was cry.


                                                   
He heard her calling him.Wiped his tears,tried hard to smile.the knot would be tied in a few hours.The day had not yet broken,but he was.


                                It was time to say,"goodbye"

PS: I don't think I would be emotionally strong to write such a letter when my Little sister gets married,but if I write one it would certainly be this.She is fifteen now and she is all I got. Love you :)

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.