I'm going to be busy, bankrupt, tired and sleepless.

I know that I'm going to be busy, bankrupt, tired and sleepless. But I'm happy about it...

After a looooong time, our gang is going for a trip. Now don't think that we are a group of workaholic, boring, group of techies who don't have a life outside office. We do have our own social life and all are enjoying it to the max we can. But our problem is that when I say gang, it consists of 20 members (we were studying together) and we are not in the same place now. 6 of us are in Bangalore, 5 in Chennai, 1 in Mumbai, 4 in kerala, 1 in Hydbd and the rest, outside India. So it's very rare when all of us come together. That is the specialty of this trip. Most of us are coming together for this trip. As of now, we are expecting 14 members (The girls and the "NRI's" in our gang, are not coming). Just two more days to go and on Saturday morning, all of us will meet in Chennai and from there, we will head to Pondicheri.

I know it's a bad idea to visit Chennai in summer time. We know that we are going to get "fried" in the burning sun. But Hey!!! Even the burning sun will not be a problem, when old friends meetup and decide to have a fun time. Pondi was selected just because it is near to Chennai and Chennai was selected because it was easy for all of us to reach.

Now, my problem is that I am having my own plans along with this. Last week, I was out to Wonderla and this weekend, going to Pondi. After that, next week I am going to visit my native. After coming back, I have plans for some outings in B'lore itself. So, it's going to be a busy schedule for me... and the bad thing is, I have to keep visiting office also... So restless days to come... After all these trips and outing, my bank account is going to be like Sahara desert...

But, as I told earlier, I know I'm going to be busy, bankrupt, tired, and sleepless... even then, I'm so happy about this month...

So it's time to pack my backpack, get in to my sneakers, leave all the tensions and go back to the good old College days... Geez... When I say "Good old", It feels like the words of a middle aged man... Hellooo!!! Its only 3 years, but the tensions and work make it feel like it was 30 yrs back...
Guyz... here I come... Lets make it another trip to cherish...

The Surprise gift which I purchased for "Myself"...

Time: 7:30AM.
Date: One month before my 18th Birthday.

It was friday morning and I was having my breakfast. I was in a hurry coz I was getting late for college. At that time, my father was working in Middle east (Dubai). He used to call us every friday morning, as it was leave for them. So he called up and I picked the phone. As I was in a hurry, I said "Hi" and told that I will give it to My Mom. He asked me to wait and said that he had a surprise for me... He said he was planning to give a surprise gift for my 18th B'day. But the problem was that he was not in India and the only person which he can assign the job of purchasing the gift was me!!! Poor papa. (Other members in my family is my little sis and Mom) So, if I'm purchasing the gift, it ruins the surprise part, from the "Surprise gift".

After hearing the idea "Surprise gift", I was not able to control my curiosity. Suddenly I cameup with an idea. I told him "It's okay Papa, tell me what you want to gift me and I will get surprised now itself. Later, I will purchase it and add the gift part also. So the surprise gift idea will be a success". As he don't have any other options, he revealed his plan.

He was planning to gift me a car, on my 18th b'day. Now, don't think that we are so rich and we have a lots of cars lying in the garage, like the unused gifts which we get for B'day parties and other functions (Normally, flower vase, statues, etc) which will eventually end up in the store room. It's not because we don't care for the gifts, but if we invite 100 people, we will end up with 10 or 15 clocks, 20 to 25 flower vases, another 10 or 15 designer Table lamps/ lights etc. Even if we decided to fix a wall clock on every walls, including bathrooms, still we will have four or five clocks left (Our house is a normal three bedrooms house). So it will end up in the store room. Oops!!! I went off track...
Lets get back to the topic.
Were was I???
Okay. I was telling that We are not that rich, but we are so smart that we will join one or two occasions together, so that it becomes more Splendid. In Malayalam, there is a saying "Oru Vedi-kku randu pakshi" In English, it means "Hitting two birds with one bullet".
That's our policy.

In this case, It was our long time dream to own a car, and when my Papa earned enough money to buy a car (a Used one, Of course) he noticed that my 18th B'day is nearing. So he postponed it till that day so that he can give a great gift to his son and the family will get a car... Two birds with a single bullet. That's our style...

After hearing this, I expressed my surprise and ran out to reach my college. Now don't think that I was hurrying to attend the class. It is to reach Babu chettan's Teashop, were our gang will hangout. Everyday, I will start by 8AM and will reach college by 8:30. Today, we had a hot topic to discuss. I had to decide which one to buy. After a day long discussion about the various cars, advantages, style factors etc, I came home with a list of cars which will fall in our Budget.

My final list was:
1) Jeep (So that I can make it a convertible open jeep).
2) Maruthi Omni (So that I can drive around, with all my friends).

My Sis came up with Maruthi 800 and Omni. Mom came up with Ambassador. Papa has left it to me, as he was not that much aware of Indian cars.

Jeep was discarded due to the dislike of Mom and sis. Ambassador was voted out by me and my sis. So the only car which got enough vote was Maruthi Omni (Two out of three). So we finalized and purchased the omni...

That is how, I purchased a "Surprise gift", for "myself".

The Omni was an important part of my life, during my college days...
If I started telling the stories related to that Omni, this post will break the records as the lengthiest post ever posted in a blog... So I will put it later, as a separate post.

Here, I must tell you that My Papa was really great... Whenever I used to start dreaming about something, he used to gift it to me. When I was in 7th, I started dreaming about a Bicycle. He bought me the best and rare one available at that time. It was a BSA streetcat (The first Indian cycle to come out with a straight handle bar). It was not available locally. He bought it from the Military canteen in Cochin (My Grandpa was in military and had Military quota). The normal cycle available at that time was the Normal BSA SLR, Red colored one, which was the common one for teens). I used to ride it royally, as if it was a Harley Davidson and other cycles were just Mopeds. My friends used to treat me with Lime juice and other eatables, just to allow them to go for a round in that cycle.

When I finished Tenth and entered college, I wanted to ask for a Bike. But felt a little scared about making such a big demand. One day, I gained my courage and informed it to my Papa. He laughed and told that he already discussed it with Mom and she was not ready, telling that I was not ready for a BIKE. After hearing this, I attacked my mom and I got my first bike. (I was 17 and did not had a license.) Things were the same, regarding other things like the computer, Mobile etc. I got these even before I started thinking about owning one. Even though he was not with me, (Only one month in an year) I think he was able to read my mind really well.

Pops... You were great...