Sridhar, Rohan, and Vineet. This one's for you three guys.
Sridhar came into my life just before a major transition period; in fact, a transition that kind of changed a lot of things for me and about me. He was there when I got divorced. All the way. He gave me a lot of his personal insights and advice. Not that it mattered then; I was mad and madly in love for the second time in life and this time, I was prepared to not listen to anybody.
The divorce happened and we parted ways soon after: Sridhar and I. My wife and I. And my lover and I too. And right now, none of them is in touch with me. But this post is not about my love, my divorce, or my transitions... which are a dime a dozen.
Sridhar entered my life on a cool breezy Saturday afternoon at Sunshine Park, Balewadi, Pune. The year was 2010, if I am not mistaken. He was about 42 then. And he moved in. It was nice having him at home for those post-dinner walks and talks. He loved Old Monk and used to have a quarter daily before sleeping. In between those three pegs, we used to have conversations on varied subjects: Love, spirituality, family, cars, women, life in Mumbai, his past, and mine.
Come what may, he used to always travel to Chembur from Pune for every weekend. That used to give me my personal time and space.
He introduced me to the dance bars in Panvel and am forever indebted to him for that. Because of him I was able to see and study a side of life that would not have been possible otherwise. We also used to frequent Raj Hotel and made friends with an 'agent', who used to enthrall us with his crazy stories and anecdotes.
We ended up watching IPL matches and going on late night rides and drives. It was a great companionship and it lasted for a pretty long time till I shifted to another part of Pune, Hadapsar.
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I moved to Hadapsar, Pune when I started working for another organization nearby. After few months of staying alone, Rohan walked into my apartment and life through a common friend/ex-colleague. He moved in.
Well, this was a bromance in the making. We loved and respected each other a lot and shared a lot of back stories, incidents, events, and dinner too! He was truly good at understanding and accepting me as I am. It was always good having him around for spontaneous late night movie shows, pick-ups, doorstep deliveries, etc. :-)
I turned into a mentor for him for many things while he mentored me on business development and other such ideas. Soon four months passed away like a dream... like a cool breeze and I got a calling to take a break from mundane life and work. He dropped me to my bus from Pune to Bangalore because I was moving to Thiruvannamalai. I had a lump in my throat while saying goodbye to him and am sure, he was emotional too. But he never was the kind to show emotions. :-)
Though coming from a small town of Jalna, Rohan has none of its trappings and is a true cosmopolitan by spirit and nature. I shall never forget our various outings together: to malls, restaurants, movies, Panvel, and to meet Jeevan. Another thing, we both shall never forget is our last night in Pune! :-)
Rohan and I are still in touch pretty frequently and in fact, we went on a short trip to Thailand recently. Our bromance is still on and going strong, I guess. Thanks, Rohan for being a part of my life... And being for me now too.
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All good things must come to an end. My long break from work ended too. The immediate cause for it ending maybe a subject for another blog post some other time. But I needed a job quick and like now! I got a job quick enough and moved out of my bro's house in Bangalore.
Now, I needed a roomie badly because I was paying a rent that I clearly could not afford on my own. Vineet came one evening. He liked the house and he said he will come tomorrow morning again to see the place! I was like WTF! He was like every place looks different in the day and in the night; I was like whatever.
He did come the next morning. And that was the beginning of a new bromance. Similar to Rohan, he too was a good conversationist though he did take his time to open up initially. Then, we became thick friends; now, he considers me like his own elder brother but advises me like one too! :-)
We have had a lot of conversations over relationships, love, women, business ideas, more business ideas, and yet some more! He is a true Sindhi by birth and by nature but has a heart of gold. We miss each other nowadays because I have had to move out of that house in Ulsoor due to reasons beyond the boundary of this blog post. But yes, I know that I still have a place called home at Ulsoor, as per his own words! :-)
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Hats off to you three guys. I have spent considerable amount of time with you folks and it did make a lot of difference to my life.
Vineet and Rohan, thanks for being there always and all the ways! Maybe, we three should travel together to Thailand together... What say? If and when that happens, that will be a trip of a lifetime!
This much I know.
