can't believe so much time has traversed by. it all seems like yesterday. through this post i wish to rewind life and relieve some of the best times of my life that i had with this great kitli gang. it all starts with my new job that forced me to shift base to apnu amdavad. being the only child, some targets were pretty clear in front of me. my father was retiring in sep 2007 and i had to find a job before that. i did find the job, the same place where i had interned, an advertising agency. i was hoping to learn as much as i could from my seniors, establish myself as the 'go to' man and then pack bags for the magical city of mumbai, to test new waters. yea i know! it's a plot that many aspiring media people would associate with. but what happened with me on the job was far from what i had hoped for. the job that i was offered was in place of the senior, who had recently left her work. the company had couple of reliable and experienced free lancers at helm so they were in mood to experiment with me.

with no seniors to guide and a meager practical knowledge, i was butchered into the profession. the sole purpose of my life  now was meeting deadlines. things were not easy, but this is what i had always wanted to do. the seniors account handlers here were quite friendly. it’s a double edged sword literally. it can hamper your growth and can also save your ass when in trouble.  it had been almost 6 months my work routine would start at 10 and end at 2 o maybe 3 in the morning. i was so out of touch, knew many of my college batch mates were in the city, but my routine barely allowed me to get in touch with my family, forget friends. fearing more jobs, on weekends, for me which was ‘only sundays’ i used to rush off to baroda.

i would look forward to some public holidays that fell in the middle of the week so that i could spare some time just for me. it was around one such public holiday my good friend lakshmi, called me and told about a trip to adalaj ni vav (can’t remember the exact place guys, seems like age is really catching up wid me) with her new gang of friends.  my first reaction was ‘chod na yaar kaun jayega’, but still i just committed to it. as it was lakshmi who had called me, she has been a very good friend. in fact, lakshmi has been quite influential. she has been the person who changed my perception about women. be it meeting her on the very first day of my mass comm interview, or meeting her second time or every interaction thereafter. i gradually realized women like men can also be risk taker, adventurous and fun loving. back to the kitli gang, soon came the d’day. caught up with lakshmi and her friends. there was this familiar face apart from lakshmi n that was shri, n i felt good. there was not much time to interact as we were already on the road but lakshmi quickly introduced me to purva, mahima, kumar manish. my first reaction about these new soon to be good friends, purva – the khoobsurat lambuji, i felt it would take ages for me to even start up a communication with her. mahima, with her smile i felt was more approachable. i was glad to meet kumar, could be for the fact that like majority of males, it has always been easy for me to approach guys than gals. i have known shrinidh a.k.a. shri from my mass comm. days. shri for me was the tech-guru. i might not have spent much time with him in the college days but surely have some fond memories to laugh about, perhaps for the rest of our lives. 

the trip went well, by the evening we had all shattered the ice and were looking forward to more such trips. and that did happen. suddenly i found myself in a company of people who were similar to me, away from their families and starting up their professional careers. it felt good to be in such a good company. with time mitul bhai, shoeb, yamini joined in and the fun just augmented.

in my work schedule, apart from my deadlines, burning rubber with the kitli gang on the road, or simply catching up with them over a cuppa tea, was another important agenda that i could now look forward to. i was actually living two lives. 13-14 hours at the work place, slogging and the one with this gang, unwinding. though it was only for few hours o so, but the latter one was surely overtaking the importance list in my life. with them, 24 hours were not enough. wished i could know some secret way of pouring more hours into the day.

writing about the kitli gang is like a magical treasure chest. the more i dig deeper into the vaults of memory, this treasure only grows. my smiles get broader and new episodes flash in front of my eyes.

life is really funny. sometimes we keep worrying about things that are not even here. but i guess it’s always good to relive old times and be happy about our life.

well i guess, i will have to halt my finger strokes here.  this is my very first attempt at writing on a blog and i wish to continue writing on this platform. i hope to be back soon…