Wonder Years

Ever since I laid my eyes on the television series 'Wonder Years', I have been hit with a bout of nostalgia of my own wonder years. Those were the years when I was in college(2000-2004). The people who made those years wonderful were K and R. For me the only times I vividly remember of my days in college were the times I spent with these two guys.

For starters we guys were very different from each other. We were from different family backgrounds, different localities, different schools with different ambitions. K wanted to get into IIT very badly and he is one person I know who deserved to get in there. R wanted to be a doctor. As for me I was just the same as I am now not knowing what I want. But some how we landed up in Electronics and Communication department in SRM engineering college. At times I wonder what would have happened if K would have got IIT and R into a Medical college, how my college life would have been. I am sure no matter what followed it could have never been what it had been.

We guys had some sort of bond, some kind of common frequency of communication which only we would understand, for the rest of the world it was encrypted or unintelligible. I couldnt put my finger on one day, one incident which brought us together because we never realized nor we acknowledged the thing we shared until later. It just happened over a period of time and it was as oblivious to us as it was to everyone else. We used to do everything together (except studies) right from grading the chicks (R was pretty good at spotting things in Chicks which me and K would have overlooked otherwise), playing cricket, watching movies, participating in culturals or having late nite talks.

Our usual hangout place was K's home, we used to play cricket on weekends in the street and we used to fight tooth and nail against each other. We used to call each other names, yell at each other, utter obscenities, we were as fierce as we could be and thats the way we liked it. And it was all forgotten with out any effort once the game got over. K's mom used to serve us some hot energy drink and some dosai too(Yummy). We used to play Uno, computer games, listen to a common play list on K's comp ( we all had our gals ofcourse it was one way traffic but what the hell we dint care about it then), play carroms and then we used to go to a place and have yummy choclate milk. And our idea of an ideal way to spend time was to see Dil Chahtha Hain and we would make sure that it would be only 3 of us. During college tours we used to share the same room and we used to laugh our hearts over things which to others might never seem funny.

There have been various faces I had put on to various people in life but with these guys it was just me. It was so simple to be with them, no pretention was necessary, no fear of saying anything which would hurt them. It was just plain and simple as I always thought freindship should be. The best thing about it was we never had to explain ourselves unless we wanted to. We always gave each other the space and time. People around used to be curious about how come we guys were like the way we were and they used to be surprised when we said that we never called each other up for small talk . Even when we used to meet after a long time we felt as if we had just met yesterday.

Remember in Dil Chahtha Hain when Akshay Khanna says that 3 of them were like that boat which would seek a particular destination and their destinations might be different. I never understood the full implications of that dialogue until much after college. As it turned out our destinations were different. I wouldnt say we grew apart but certainly the communication between us did reduce starkly. When ever we used to meet we would again talk as if we parted so recently. But on these meetings what I also realized was that we were changing. We no longer were what we have been in the past, the differences were subtle but I guess all 3 of us sensed them and accepted them as if it was the most natural thing to happen. Our ways of looking at life, relationships, people, career, success were all different. May be they have always been different may be not but the realization that they were different dint dawn on me until later after college. I woudnt say it made me sad but it certainly made me feel that something was lost. Things were different now and they perhaps never will be like what they were.

Though me and K work in the same company we hardly see each other not because we dont want to its probably because we never took an effort to (which has always been like that) or probably our priorities have changed. As for R he is in a different city from us but we hardly call him up because we have never called each other just like that. When in college if any of our Bday was due the other two used to plan atleast a week before as to how to celebrate it. Now the other day I even forgot the fact that it was R's Bday. Not that he would mind me not wishing him( I would be foolish to think that he would) but that day I thought long into the night as to how did I forget R's Bday ?

Now atleast we meet twice or thrice a year but in the years to come I can hardly hope even for that cos we might be in different countries for all we know. But I am sure of one thing even if we meet once in ten years we would still have a good time as we have always had. I am going to meet these guys today for dinner and I am sure I will have a great time. But nothing can equal the time we had in college, those were the best days of my life.