They say...

...that absence makes the hearts grow fonder.

If you asked me a year ago, I'd have convinced you otherwise - that absence makes the hearts grow fonder towards other people! I'm extremely (and at times, abnormally) attached to my closest friends - and any absence from them would probably make me miserable because I'd miss them way too much.

But lately, I've started to sort-of, kind-of believe that absence - and distance - from your closest friends perhaps do make the hearts grow fonder. It's strange because this change in feelings has creeped up to me so fast, it's making my head spin.

Top of the Rock

Last weekend, I took SE to Top of The Rock to for her birthday. Though I have been on the observatory deck of the Empire State Building before, Top of the Rock was something else. 

I mean, if you are on top of the Empire State, it's hard to... well, see the Empire State as a part of the concrete jungle that is New York City! Top of the Rock is unique in that it gives you the fullscape view of upper and lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Upstate NY, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Palisades, Northern Jersey, and a lot more.

After Top of the Rock, the evening was made better by stuffing ourselves with decadent desserts at Max Brenner and then lazing around at the Newport Waterfront, gazing at the same NYC skyline which we saw top-down a few hours earlier. Somehow, that day, I realized that it (literally) took a whole another level to appreciate a city that's been a part of my life for the last decade.

Some memories-in-snaps from the day -

Empire State Building and Midtown/Downtown Manhattan

Uptown Manhattan and Central Park

A Wednesday

What usually would have been a typical day was actually a pretty good one!

What's the kind of stuff that makes boring weekdays special?

• A great day at work and fun with colleagues
• Gorgeous weather and a walk around the corner to grab lunch
• A very very productive afternoon
• Getting an email from SE who's excited to meet me this evening
• A quiet evening out and chatting with SE over dinner
• Making it home in time to watch an episode of FRIENDS to de-stress!

One of the things that I look forward to is change, and a change in pace over the week is always welcome :-)

Long Time!

I haven't posted in a while, and I guess the motivation to write comes from the fact that I have to jot down some of the things that I've done the past few months. Nothing great or extremely exciting, but these years down the road, I'd like to look at this blog and remember these times!

I went on a road trip early October to see autumn colors with some of my friends. It's great to go on impromptu trips and make new friends - especially those that will last for the many years to come. Ever since this trip, I've shared many great times with SE and NP ... and now, a day without a chat or a phone call without them does not exist! :-)

November reminds me of the long Thanksgiving weekend, which was very relaxing and unwinding. I guess you realize how hectic life has become when being home and doing nothing feels like a vacation in itself! Thanksgiving day was filled with fun times with friends, and cooking some awesome Italian food (Spinach-Chick Pea Soup, Lasagna, and Garlic Bread... and then a home-made chocolate fondue to top it off). I was happy to be in the company of friends as my folks were out of town.

The first two weeks of December have already flown by so quickly. My birthday falls during early December, and this year was a big 'milestone' birthday. I took the day off from work and relaxed at home with family. My birthday fell on a Friday, so I made a nice birthday weekend out of it and celebrated for three days instead of one! I got some awesome gifts too - an iHome, a Max Brenner cookbook filled with the best chocolate recipes, a Hug Mug (yes, I'm now the proud owner of a Hug Mug), and DVDs of my favorite seasons of Friends and How I Met Your Mother, a quarter (don't ask), and a hug (again, don't ask). It was a great birthday weekend, and I spent it with those who mattered, which is what matters the most.

That about wraps up the last three months. I'm looking forward to the rest of December as Christmas holidays are coming. So the plan is to live it up and that sums up the agenda for the month! :-)

Old Friend, New Friend

Meeting a childhood acquaintance after 16 years,
Is like...
A hazy gateway to the past.

Years gone by.
Memories lost and found.

Not a hazy gateway,
But in disguise...
A road paved of a new friendship that is forever to last.

Memories, Untouchable...

When I close my eyes today and think back to my college days, I feel an ache, a longing for the times gone by. The campus. The classes & professors. The study sessions. The plaza. That one black bench on the plaza which was my favorite spot. Law Library. Yummy cappuccinos at the local mom & pop stores. Student Government meetings. Indian Association meetings. Dance practices. Holi Shows, Diwali Shows. Garbas. Aloo Tikkis and Mota Ravi's (names of sandwiches) from the 'Taj Mahal' truck. Dunkin' Donuts trips. Hoboken. The 5-hour conference calls that started at midnight :-) ... I can go on forever, I think.

The day used to start and never end without a navrapanti session (read: passing time) with 6 of my friends. We called ourselves 'The Gang'. The campus was our home and we walked on the streeets as if we owned them. We fought, we argued - but at the end of the day - we made up.

It's been two years - but I still remember the littlest of things and the smallest of incidences. A always used to have his laptop with him - and I always snatched it away wanting to either listen to music (while writing research papers) or to check email, or to read news, etc. D undoubtedly needed help with his English term papers. I miss sitting with a red pen in one hand, a cup of coffee in another and going through his paper line by line to sift for spelling errors (he made plenty of those :-) ). C always charmed my day with a teddy bear smile, B with her silliness (which drove me to my wit's end sometimes) and I remember that M kept us alive and kicking through study sessions by bringing food. And - no matter what happened, V and I always made trips to the campus store to buy 'mini cupcakes', coffees and Aloo Tikkis.

Here I am, two years later, typing out this embarrasingly emotional post and reminiscing these times gone by. What would I give up right now to be with 6 of my friends on The Plaza? I don't know. What I do know is that change happens - and it happens for the good - but why am I not in terms with this change in my life? After all, it's only been two years. Why this ache, this pang for the times gone by? Why this feeling that I've lost something very important to me?

Come to think of it, maybe I've gained something out of this loss. Maybe I've gained a collection of memories that can never be tarnished, that can never be touched. Those four years of my life were just perfect.

Heart-breakingly, achingly, perfect.

Miscelleny

Today has been a fantabulous day.

My release at work went great this morning.
Then I made a phone call which changed someone's life and made another someone really happy.
I was told by a friend that they're really lucky to have me in their life.
And now? It's party time. NYC, here I come! :-)

Text Messaging

So, as you can see, I'm posting pretty much every night. Don't get your hopes up too high though - this urge to post oh-so-frequently does die down.

Anyway, I've gotten into text messaging (or 'SMS-ing') lately. Not with too many people, just one or two good friends. I have a 'thing' (aren't I so specific?) about text messages though. If someone sends me a text, I promptly reply back. But, if I don't get a reply back to my reply - that's off limits. My mind discreetly screams out, 'It takes patience and my precious time to type out a text!' Not replying back to a reply is bad texting etiquette.

So, one of my friends messaged me today with a really good news. I texted him back, but no reply! It's okay though. In retrospect, this one is probably the most important one he's sent me till date. Being truly happy for a friend prevails. I guess bad texting etiquette is a pardonable offense after all.

Wedding Jokes

One of my very dear buddies is going to get married this month - and hence, wedding jokes have become quite the norm in my gang of friends.

All of us gathered this weekend to give him an early birthday + a 'farewell to your single life' party - and to bid him goodbye as he makes his way to India this coming week. To make the celebrations a bit festive, we got him a cake that says 'Game Over' - because he's an ardent Tendulkarite who eats, sleeps, and breaths cricket!

The evening was filled with fun - and nostalgic walks through Memory Lane. We realized how quick time surpassed us. Yesterday, we were betting on who would get married first among all of us. Today, we're waiting to welcome his wife-to-be into the group. Congrats, Amar!

P.S - Here's a snap of the cake!