The middle overs...

Unlike the boring middle overs of an ODI cricket match, the middle years of a man’s life are buzzling with activity. It is a significant milestone in a man’s life especially if you are an Indian. The day you turn 30, it is the start of a different way of looking at things in your life. When you are into your thirties, you are not exactly old but you are certainly not young.

You would have tied the knot by this time in your life or about to, either out of your wish or giving up to the unrelenting pressure from your home. Secretly, you know this is your last chance with both your hairline receding fast and waistline expanding fast.

There is a sea of change in all aspects of your life. At home, your parents are retired and you are the financial center of the family now. You are being consulted for every minor decision at home. You think twice before you make any expense. You get to know the real price of milk, vegetables and get yourself acquainted with reality. You don’t waste food any more. You plan a week ahead to go to movies after making damn sure the money spent is worth it. You don’t take the bike or car unless it is absolutely necessary. You prefer to walk than taking an auto. You finally start learning about investments and taxes (though you have been planning since you got a job) now that they are eating up a not-so-small pie of your salary.

If you are a father, you are on a whole different plane. If you have a newborn, you are probably busy buying them diapers. You get at least 10 questions from your toddler on everything they see or hear. You are the cynosure at malls for making your children cry by not getting them what they want.  You visit the school as a parent now. You plan for your kid’s LKG, UKG, so on and so forth and find that you need to keep getting your promotions at a good rate to keep up with the school fees. Your toddler is only in kindergarten but you start thinking if you can afford his/her medicine or engineering degree.

You do a month long research and analysis online before you buy anything, from a baby’s diaper to a dinnerware, remote car to a real car, toy phone to an iphone. You dig through all websites to get the best deal for your once in a year or once in two years vacation. You don’t want to waste time at office, now that you have to shop for vegetables, teach and feed your kids once you reach home. You plan for every expense at the start of the month and secretly worry at every unplanned biggie that shows up once in a while.  

Meanwhile, your wife complains you are not the romantic self you were. Though you know there is some truth in it, you keep refuting it. She complains that you don’t get her flowers, get her a gift or even a card on her birthdays. She wants you to go to the gym but you keep postponing it due to lack of time (or due to the hit it would have on your budget).

If you are facing one or more of these symptoms, don’t worry, it is perfectly normal and certainly not curable  :) 

A day in college...

Its been 9 years since I had bid farewell to classroom education with a B.E degree from College of Engineering, Guindy. Shriya likes to feel younger though by saying its only 4 years since she completed her MBA :) Out of all good things that happened in college, Shriya's friendship must be somewhere at the top. Our friendship reminds me of a nice quote in a card that another one of my best friends had given.  'Friends are people you just like without even trying'. Our friendship started off just like that by the end of the 1st year in college. 

All these years, we have managed to stay in touch regularly even when we were in different states or countries. Now that I am settled in Chennai, we get a chance to meet whenever she comes home to Chennai. On that day, we decided to meet up as she was in town for the weekend. I suggested meeting at our college instead of the usual place (her home). I chose to leave my bike at home and go by public transport. I had some apprehensions about whether they would let us in without any ID card. I did not want to further complicate that by taking my bike there. 

As in college days, I woke up late and rushed off from home to catch a train to Guindy, and a bus from there to my college. The only difference during college days was that it was always hitch hiking that got me to college. While I was on the bus, Shriya gave me a call and said the security guy did pose some questions but let her in when she said she is an alumni. I got off the bus and tagged myself along with some of the college students and got in without much fuss. She had told me that she was waiting near the clock tower, the iconic building of our college. 

We met up there and went to the canteen to quench our thirsts. After moving through the queue at the canteen, we treated ourselves to some fruit juices. We noticed the things that have changed (example, new look RCC, giant clock in working condition) from what they used to be and how some things have pretty much managed to stay the same way (a Reva car roaming around the campus and the Xerox centers). There were new round tables near each department with an umbrella shade have popped up through out the campus. There were some studious minds discussing and working on their laptops. 

On our next stretch of walk, we walked by our department buildings and saw some extensions being done to Computer Science department. We then roamed around through the hostel areas and saw much to our surprise the new hostels that have been constructed. Those were called International hostels, not sure whether that International portion referred to the students or the building quality. The new hostels looked great and inviting with a well built structure and well maintained appearance. Hostels are no longer named with numbers, each one of them has been given a flower name (mostly written in Tamil). We did reach one end of the college and slowly returned to the college exit through a different route. 

While we were on this nostalgic tour, something weird happened. One of our mutual friends, who is in Singapore, called me on my mobile. I noticed that the call was coming from his local number and he told me that he just flew into the city last night and asked me if we can meet. How is that for a coincidence? We just couldn't believe our luck. I told him about our get together and asked him to join us for our lunch plan. Shriya and I went to Adyar Sangeetha and waited for our friend to join us. Once he joined us, we had a sumptuous North Indian Thali and returned to our homes.  

Needless to say, that was nostalgic and unforgettable. We had talks about the college days and remembered quite a few incidents from those golden days . Revisiting your college for a day with your best buddies, just priceless. Try it out some time.