Like I read somewhere once - 'Only one thing is true and all else are lies - that time flies'. I still remember updating this blog when I was doing my job-search in grad school. It was a very interesting phase - a very testing phase too, but I enjoyed it and took it as a challenge. Grad school was one of my favorite phases of life so far. I think that's when I started to dream. I used to day-dream about anything under the sun - be it what I would do as a 1-day CM of Tamil Nadu (like Mudhalvan), directing a Tamil movie (for some weird reason, I always thought of a romantic sci-fi movie!), playing basketball and making it to the NBA(that was a stretch, I agree). But basically, what that made me was an optimist, and some one who looked forward to the future.
Fast-Forward 3 years, I hardly have time to do existing work, leave alone dream. Work is hectic but I enjoy it. I took a day-off once, thinking I would relax at home, and boy, did I go crazy that day! Perhaps the best thing right now, apart from some good friends that I have, is New York. Even though my time in graduate school was fun, I still felt that something was missing. If you are used to living in a high-energy Indian city with lots of people and stuff happening all the time, you might feel lost in parts of this country. But not here. New York, and parts of New Jersey too, have that same spirit that I used to love about Chennai. Crowded places, people walking at night, 24 hour Starbucks (sorry, no Nair tea kadai's that I have seen so far!), lots of things to do. Basically a lot of activity. Oh, it also helps that it is on the coast. Someone asked me why that was important to me. Sometimes, somethings are like that. I mean, being rational all the time is not something I can handle ;)
There are some things are still the same - Bush is still President! On a personal level, it seems interesting. I don't see myself debating on big issues (like Kashmir, WTO agreements - gasp!) with friends all that much these days; I prefer to just have some general vetti-koothu with them. Ofcourse, the debates still continue but it's over-shadowed by general tamizh fun ( i don't know how else to phrase that!). I see traces of how I was (in terms of being frank and opinionated) in my sister these days. I just think as you get busy, you prioritize things accordingly, and don't feel the urge to do things that you used to. I don't google for Sourav Ganguly and Kamal Haasan as I used to! (Thank God for finally getting the self-control to let go). I saw my friend the other day; he seems to google for Roger Federer frequently. I chuckled.
Pradeep and Aravind have been 2 good friends I have made in this time. It's been wonderful, the times we have spent so far - Friday night bowling, the brilliant Baba-Hut Biryani's, trips to Boston and Chicago, general Vetti Vambu, oor-suthal in my car almost every weekend...Muthu, for all his tips on girls, what they like and all that stuff, beating him all the time in Rumy and watching him slump with his Mac on the sofa dejected after losing yet another game! My current roomies are also awesome - I haven't had too many North Indian friends before; now all three are. Sheesh, I speak in Hindi these days! Work is great, in part because of the people I work with..can't say enough...some really smart and friendly people.
Somehow, my addiction with American sports has been a constant, these 3 years, though this year, I have been limiting myself to Football. Seriously, Saturday, Sunday ,Monday and sometimes Thursday nights. I don't get to watch a whole lot, but when I do, I just don't do much else. I can't relate to cricket these days..I grew up rooting for Ganguly, and seeing him struggle to be in the team these days, I think I am getting to be apathetic. It doesn't help that Lara and Akram don't play now either.
I think I have spent too much time away from home. Independent as I have become, I appreciate the essence of a family these days. My sister, although we are tight, tells me we haven't spent enough time together. It's true, I guess, but we still talk so much and laugh for crazy things, so I guess that's a constant. Good lord, she's an asst. manger now..I have enough material to rag her for a while! When we were both home, one of our Athai's used to keep her distance when me and my sis were together ;) Good times! Fish-boy, gossiping abt my friends, her friends, Naai-paiyyan (she could get really 'cheri' sometimes :p)
I was reading some of my posts from before - funny! Reading that Gillette article in the 'Onion' felt like yesterday (ok, perhaps not :p ..just stay with me as i try to get my creative writing juices flowing, will ya??) I still want to write that post about Anbe-Sivam sometime..want to create a new list of my favorite tamil movies, cricketers etc. Will do sometime.
Perhaps this post has ended up to be too much of a personal exercise. It's just that you don't get too many chances to look at something you wrote 3 years back, and try to see what has gone on. It would be like if you were to watch your marriage video 5 yrs hence, kids-in-tow.
I tried to pull an 'Autograph' Cheran,
So I can show this to my Peran ;)
I wish Big Papi never hit that home-run!
I am back, baby! (seri, ok, right, adangarom!)