Now, the trio :-(

Introduction

A couple of years back, four guys came together to live in a place called as Rolla. Everything was pre-decided in India as to who our roommates were going to be, and so it was no surprise that we stuck on together when we came here. We were perfect vegetarians, conservative and outgoing, having the right blend of modernity and orthodoxy. We knew from day one that we were perfectly made for each other (before jumping to conclusions, I meant "roommates" and nothing more!!).

The four of us
I remember the early days, when we used to sit back and start off a discussion that would seem as if it was going to end in the next few minutes. The discussion would meander endlessly, and as one of us swaggered lazily to look at the wall clock, he would let out a shriek "Oh!! Do you guys realize that we have been talking for the last three hours on a variety of topics?" We would then with great difficulty get up from our positions and worry about Buvva (food!!) for the night. Obviously, we would feel like kicking ourselves for having gone into the tiny details of the topic. But, what fun that was!! Truly unimaginable! In the last two years, we would have got into every conceivable discussion, with various arguments, rare cases of emotional outbursts (yours truly is good at this!), fun-filled teasers, giving out opinions on every possible person whether you know him well or not, share your fantasies and crushes, the past and the dreams that you hope unfold in the future, reality, hardships, happiness, low points in life, uncertainities, comment about various school events, professors, jobs, money, power, position and finally, rather primarily, girls! It was great to stick together in these two years, worrying about the "at that point" important things in life. Life never ceases to throw challenges at you, and it is fun to examine and combat these various facets of life.

The Jokes

The jokes form the fun aspect of our lifestyle. At times, all of us would get very busy in our lives, saving little time for others. The cramped schedule of our life with the many courses and research would mean we see very less of each other. But even in those times, we would spend some quality time together. One of us would crack a PJ (no guesses as to who it is!!) from the room, and suddenly you would notice all the four of us in the room pulling each other's legs and taking the joke to an entirely new dimension of discussion. Yadu superior (he got this title recently) would stand giving out a wry smile, Rama would have used hundred gant... and kak..., while Venkatesh would be So, so..ing everything trying to prove a point with great difficulty, and obviously I would be the filler for totally incompatible jokes. Like before, we would realise we have spent enough time on this trivial thing and head back to normalcy. It was great to be the four since there was not a trace of no nos in terms of money or anything. At one point, we cared not a thing about what we were spending, and it was a classic case of a well knit unit.

Today

Rama has gone on an internship program to a tiny town in Pennsylvania. The rest of us are graduating in May, while Rama is returning to school in November. None of us would be there to share those great moments in Rolla. All of us will be ploughing our way to the corporate world, and the chance of two of us, let alone four of us, finding a job in the same city is as remote as Scotland winning the cricket world cup. Though we know about the advancement in technology, messengers and telephones can just not be ideal substitutes for person to person interaction. It was certainly painful to see the cherubic Rama leave us, and each of us were immersed in an unexplainable mist of grief. It is not an easy feeling to let go of some people in life, and it gets all the more difficult when you have spent a considerable amount of time with someone. At the time of leaving, all of us were cracking jokes and trying to act as if we were soaked in a sea of happiness, whilst all the time knowing the invisible tears choking our emotions. Certainly, one of the most emotional points in our lives without a glint of exaggeration. The dynamic four got reduced to trio and we were just following our destiny. Destiny has written a concrete script in our lives, and there is no way in the world to bypass destiny.

The Room

After Rama left, Yadu had to show off his cleanliness after a gap of two years. His room, he says, is spic and span, thanks to the space created due to Rama's internship. But, for a change, myself and Venkatesh have to agree - their room is actually clean. Now, we plan to dump some of the items from our room to Yadu's lounge. After a long day of cleaning (look at our fridge!!), I just had the time to compose this rather emotional piece.


But our discussions and talks about the past and the future are not disturbed, and we are still in pursuit of our dreams. If you wonder why we do not discuss about the present, it is just that the present is never as bad as the past, and never as rosy as the future!!!