Life so far...

The new job has been the challenge of my life. In the past few days, I've had lots of new things to learn, new people to get used to and I'm horrible at remembering names. Around me are a half a dozen people who greet me cheerfully time they see me and I don't remember their names, so I resort to a friendly "heeey", which unfortunately makes them more cheerful when they greet me the next time.

The change though hasn't been without it's plusses, I've a new workstation where I can stretch my hands without seriously injuring someone, I've a boss who lives in the other side of the country, he is a great guy but only really lazy people like me will know the worth of a never-present boss.

My new office is less that half a kilometer away from my old school, the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School. Yes, the same place where Leander Paes learnt his tennis (in the BAT Tennis academy) and the same place where cricket greats like Glenn McGrath, Chaminda Vaas, Venkatesh Prasad honed their fast bowling skills (in the MRF Pace Foundation).

I've realised through practical reality that life comes a full circle. Till about 1985-86, my dad would drop me off at the school, give me my lunch box and send me on my way. Now twenty years hence he drops me off at office again, since we are to share a car for a short period atleast. He gives me my lunch box and sends me on my way.

20 years and my life is back to square one. Sometimes I have to check if I am wearing my old school uniform.

There are differences between 1985 and 2005 ofcourse, Dad used to ride and motorbike (A Rajdoot, if any of you remember it) in 1985 and would be rather harassed all the time since I always took my time in getting ready, my mom would have had a disaster in the kitchen etc (I remember we used to have a lot of kitchen disasters in those days, it used to resemble a war zone between 7 am and 8:30 am everyday). In those days Dad would have to drop me and dash off to his college within 10 minutes. Now though, he is retired and has just about all the time in the world, he is more patient, more measured and even has conversations that have full sentences, a rarity between the two of us.

One practice that has sadly discontinued between these two periods is that when he dropped me in school he would give me a few rupees to buy a rocket shaped ice cream and a Bovonto cool drink, nowadays though the old man has shown more resistence to parting with the dubloons.

As I write this post, it's raining cats and dogs, only a Chennaiite would truly relish such moments. My friends in Mumbai would shudder to think of rains but not us Chennaiites. We love the rains, even if it means that a 9 cm rainfall can flood almost all roads, flood basements and some cases even ground floors. We don't mind the long traffic jams caused by flooding in the shallow parts of the road or the powercuts that are sure to accompany the rains. Infact in a radio poll we love the rains so much that it was rated higher than even the release of Rajnikanth movie, now that's something! A part of me wants to take a walk in the rains, the other part wants to tag along as well. It's a crazy happy feeling that only monsoon rains and cricket victorys brings.

Now I know that moments of true happiness is very limited but this moment in time I can truly say, life is good.