Friends forever

The first thing that caught my attention on Sunday morning when I went to pick the paper was the beautifully decorated short wall, bang opposite to my house. When I asked my mom about this, she said "Venky,Subbu,Prakash and Avinash have come". I was surprised. Itz been years and years since they had visited our area. Apart from the discussion at home which crops up once a while or somebody enquiring about them to Babu aNNa I'd hardly heard anything about them till that Sunday.

Who are they?

They are our locality seniors. All four of the them are best friends, who were doing their graduation in a local college. One of those few colleges which was on strike for almost 3/4th of the year and their favourite pass time was sitting on the parapet n commenting each and every passer by. They were called "fit for nothings", tharudhalais, Kutty chevaru boys and by many other names. I still remember how Venky aNNa's mom was worried about the foursome's future, for they were wasting their precious time and golden years and my mom consoling her. The only one who was spared of their bullying was Babu aNNa who owned a petty shop very close to the wall.

What they used to do?

Untie the calf much to the annoyance of the milk man fondly called as "paal thaatha". The poor young one will lose its way and old man will spend a good 1 hr to find it. Shout at an uncle who takes 3 of his kids in TVS 50 along with his wife, "Your are supposed to take a family in the vehicle not an entire village". Roll out a rumour on a drizzling/cloudy day saying "Schools aren't functioning today". Distract attention by clapping & singing "Oram po,Oram po,RukkumaNi vandi varudhu" thereby making the person concerned nervous & fall down when he/she is learning how to ride cycle.

What happened?

It all started with Avinash aNNa's dad's transfer, then Subbu aNNa's elder brother bought a new house and shifted the family and one by one all four of them got separated. The wall was deserted!

How they (were) celebrated?

I stood in the balcony and was a silent spectator to the celebrations. Babu aNNa's petty shop has grown to a departmental store, a flat had come up nearby and I donno for what reason they didn't demolish that curb. All four aNNas had come with their wives n kids. They sat on the wall and tried continuing their earlier commenting sessions and ended up in splits. Sweets were distributed.

Paal thaatha was close to tears when they gifted him with a shawl and a cow-calf statue. Then there was snap session. Crest of fun was when each of their kids took up position in the wall and shouted "My Daddy Strongest". My mom asked me to go say a HI to them. But I was damn sure they wouldn't even recognize me. So I refused to join.

But they did come to my house. And what I had in store was biggest slice of the cake - a Teddy, the Pooh, Mickey, Minnie and a box full of Nutties. Well, they had expected me to be that 8 yr old who fought with them for the 5 Star they'd snatched from me, the same kid who along with her kiddo friends cheered them during the Kabbadi match and got a Poppins in exchange.

While it took 5 long minutes for Prakash aNNa for the fact that I've completed my Engineering and that am working to sink in, Venky and Avinash aNNa kept asking me repeatedly if they were right with the choice of gifts. When I showed my recent collection of soft toys, they were relieved. As per Subbu aNNa's suggestion, I accompanied them to their houses (which had once been) and at around 2 pm, it was bye-bye time. They set off to the local non-AC theatre to watch ThuLLaadha Manamum ThuLLum and carry on from there.

Who are they now?

Two of them are green card holders well settled in the U S of the A and the other two hold respectable positions in reputed concerns. Few of those who called them ne'er-do-wells were dumb-struck and other said the same old dialogue "I knew he would be succesful in life one day"

Now, wasn't that more interesting than a high-school reunion?