'Real friendship does not mean that you always have to be together'

I'll have to start this one with a dedication to - Eddy, Kashyap, the Kirans (both of u r more or less the same size now!), KP, Manju, Nireesh, Sandhya, Sarath, Shiva, Sirisha and lastly the superstar Varun (:P)- cos this one is chiefly for these guys!

I just had an awesome trip to Hyderabad. Fun and frolic .... relentless outings... shopping... eating.... and inspiration for the next blog. I noticed how after each night out, each coffee day trip (no matter how mundane) each drinking binge, each dinner, someone or the other would say these are the best days of our lives. And we have been saying that for the last four years or so. It all boils down to this - being together makes any day a great day for all of us....always...period. The best days of our lives are never going to get over, they will just keep coming and coming, with forced breaks in between, thanks to jobs, out-of-towners and added responsibilities.

Oh and here, I have to mention the quote inspired by my baby brother who drank coffee with special live spider topping (dead by the end of the drink though) - 'with great irresponsibility comes great fun!', and that's exactly how it all started..

Those were the days before any of us were married or heartbroken or serious about pretty much anything. Plans would never have to be made - they'd happen as naturally as if it were second nature only to breathing. We had to meet, probably at someone's place - mine, sandy's, kiran's, shiva's, varun's... and then the rest of the day/night would be chalked out from then on. Agreed, the plans would not always be very concrete or very well thought out - but -

• inevitable inebriation would always follow
• unending pointless debates would always provide food for thought and fodder for conversation, you could never say that we were dull people
• best friends would have silly arguments, leading to further laughter and lots of giggling
• shows of drunkenness would be publicly condemned and secretly encouraged
• there'd be yummy food (aah, my fave part - and I can see at least 2 pairs of eyebrows being raised at this point)
• the introspection would of course begin with a never-seen-before ring of sincerity to it
• and there'd be loads of LOLing

The best part is even now, nothing has changed, and it doesn't seem like it ever will! I am not going to say that we are ALL going to be together forever, that's just way too corny, but I do know that it'll never be in the least bit difficult for us to pick up from right where we had left it off. If a Deba comes to Hyd after '2 months', or a Sarath totally disappears and emerges after a year, or a Sandeep gets married and turns up all of a sudden.... the rest of the true-blue Hyderabadi friends will always act like they'd never left in the first place. That is what I love about you guys. And one of the chief reasons I hate Mumbai is because you guys aren't there. :)

Well, the trip is over, and I am looking forward to another one soon... I dont wanna thing that the trip has ended, this is just a break. I'll be back in Hyderabad with my family, my friends, and all my favorite people and places. Thank you guys..all my friends, life is so much better with you in it, simply put!

P G Wodehouse - must read!

I haven’t let myself read too much lately – I blame that not on being a good-for-nothing-lazy-bum, but on my … errmm ahem…busy schedule! :) Train journeys though, they give you that much needed unplanned and unslotted time to catch up on things like reading & Psmith is one of those people that makes my railway travels way more tolerable than they should be!

Psmith is one of the most popular characters created by my favourite P G Wodehouse. He is probably more of an autobiographical character, but he along with others like Mike, and Jeeves, can make one laugh so hard at their ‘serious’ly funny reflections on life and people, that it’d put all those ROTFL, LOL and LMAO expressions to shame!

P G Wodehouse uses words that could be understood by even a 5th grader, and yet his words are strung together almost musically and the meaning is always so hilarious – it’s like you are reading a brilliantly composed musical comedy. I’ve to say at this point, without meaning to sound immodest, that I have been or at least used to be quite an extensive reader, and his books are the only ones I’ve read and found myself laughing out aloud at, needless to say that has led to a few embarrassing moments for me.

Poking fun at the upper classes that reflected his own background, he spun tales so ridiculous that they’d put even David Dhawan to shame, and yet it all came together so beautifully that you cant help but be completely engrossed in the world that his characters live in.

Anyone who has led a life without ever having read one of his books would be advised to drop everything else and rush like a tornado to the nearest book store and obtain a copy, or since u are reading this, and are already on the ever useful world wide net - you should check out this link for his e-books, its an experience you could thank me for later ;) http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/p-g-wodehouse.shtml

For the first-timers at P G stuff I’d suggest the Psmith series so that you can get used to his subtle yet very effective humor that is not the in-your face kinds.