Hey this is me...

Cool 7 McHeaven!!

Its thirty minutes past five in the evening. I and Manuj are waiting for our friends to reach the common meeting place which is ‘not so favorite’ of everyone but somehow there is some magical force which drives us all to this place called McDonalds. The phone rings and the name flashes on screen "Neha T". I talk to her on phone and ask her when is she reaching and as she gives the reply I could see her right in front of me. Technology has transmogrified the world we live in. Next Vikas joins us and Neha J and Arunima come in another ten minutes. We all are waiting for the last member who is always late. She will take a leave or half day from office right on the previous day to our meet and hence she can’t come out of the office even before ten minutes of her scheduled office hours. Typical babu type work style, who know how to work but not how to manage. But hey, she is one of my most treasured friends and I wouldn’t hear a word against him. It’s a different thing that I am the only one who teases her and criticizes her for her babu type work style!! There she comes at 6'o clock and we all form a microcosm within us, as if nobody is around. We don’t care for the world anymore. We don’t know if there exists anything called problem. We are happy to be together and ready to rock the world!

But is this happiness going to last forever? Perhaps, nobody can answer this question but if I switch myself to the philosophical mode, I find the answer as “yes”. There’s nothing in the world which remains constant and the only constant is change. Life is difficult at every stage only if we think so. Once we start realizing how much the almighty loves us all, the entire purview of life changes and all the difficulties that we face, whatever the size – small, big or bigger, start to vanish. We need to have a firm belief that whatever happens, happens for the good.

Switching myself back to the normal self, I could see all the people mentioned above as school going children. Neha J is bringing “Aate ke laddoo” for everyone; Manuj is trying to impress the gorgeous young ladies by his fast balling, giving a hi five to his saga dost on every possible PJ cracked & singing ghazal amongst the appreciating crowd when gone for an outing; Vikas trying to prove that he a bond in every field, be it studies or sports but unfortunately the football goes straight between the legs every time; Neha T, a thick spectacled staid looks girl then, is sure of topping the class again but is also occupied with some sub rosa thoughts which she had never shared with anyone; Deepti is always trying to fly but is put down by her so called good friend (me); Hitesh (not mentioned above though but a good friend of mine) is distributing alpenliebe as if he is a real raja babu, bullying the fattest guy of the batch and always ready to take people like Vikas, Sunil Singh etc for a ride; Arunima, is always busy with the group of four girls who probably married one corner of our classroom and are stuck there forever, though it’s a different issue that she doesn’t even recall the name of a single cornered girl; and I am always trying to be a bonhomie & woo my friends especially D and trying to be as cool as possible and always creating problem for a so called couple and keeping a temperament that is more volatile than the sensex.

So that was the stripling phase of the group which is now christened as 7McHeaven, whose each and every member is now mature enough to understand the recondite lessons of life. All, except me as I m pursuing MBA, are working with good brands – IBM, KPMG, EVS, iEnergizer etc. We all have a hectic schedule and it’s difficult to take time out for friends. But the best part of our camaraderie is that we all try and try and try to have our esteemed congregation. We enjoy the love and the comity amongst the group members and ergo we stand for each other, always!

Now, would this last forever? The question is repeated. But who cares about the future? We want to live in the present. Had it ever happened that we all went for a movie and came back home late? But it happens now. Had it ever happened that we shared ‘kantaben’ type jokes? But we do it now. As munnabhai MBBS said once “life main bohat kuchh first time hota hai”, I also believe that life has a package of surprises for you. Things which you could have never thought of, happens right in front of you.

Ergo, I wish for the eternity of the love, comity, laughter, purity, exuberance, miraculous-ness and insanity of our group. Cheers to 7McHeaven!!!