Friendship post without a mention of SPANDAN is incomplete! SPANDAN is my BE group, a group of 9, A beautiful mix of different personality traits! SPANDAN means a Heartbeat; it was named by my creative dear friends. Everybody has got something from this group. Spandan gave eventful 4 years of engineering, memories to treasure, wonderful friends for life time. And what it gave me is a bonus; it gave me my life partner - Nikhil. Getting a life partner whom you know for years, who is one of your best friends; what more a girl would ask for!
SPANDAN was always special for each one of us but we realized the value of this group with the announcement of our marriage. One fine day, we disclosed the news to everyone! OMG, what a day that was! They were as surprised as we were initially. We felt so connected that day! The joy of getting married doubled with SPANDAN being so happy in our happiness! I and Nikhil executed our plan nicely of sharing this news. We mailed the group to give marriage news separately and Nikhil told the group to guess the girl. I did my job well to misguide my dear friends. It was a whole day drama, slowly the surprise unfolded. We ensured that nobody worked in their respective offices that day :) In the end, it was completely ecstatic moment for each one of us.
Remembering SPANDAN takes me through a beautiful memory lane. That travel by 211 bus to college, fighting over places to sit, Amit always blocking HIS seat and then 45 min of full-on fun drive! Having tiffin together and then finishing it in no time :) Pratik used to bring biscuits. A packet of biscuits was also such a pleasure! Having snacks in the canteen, of course sharing the snacks too; Shailu mostly blackmailing a new target daily for buying him a plate of snacks Hehhehe.. Endless rounds of dumb charades at Juhu Beach, at Nikhil’s home! Ohh yes, Nikhil’s home was our favorite place to hang out! Nikhil’s egg rice, khichdi, tea was his specialty :)
In fact, each one of us had his own specialty. Shailu is still known for his laziness, he once expected his dad to submit his resume to the companies for him to get the job, haw! Uski har ladki ko dekhke WAAT lag jaati hai! :D I don’t know what’s with his troubled look, but his face mostly looks as if he is suffering from constipation hehehheh.. I think I and Ashish had couple of things in common. We both were terribly slim in college, that’s why we used to be compared with the fliers (I don’t know it’s name, its plastic toy flying in air) at Juhu beach :) I used to compete with Ashish for a moustache and I guess I was declared a clear winner! :p I think Ashish has taken some treatment recently, he has now got a small beard too ;)
Sachin and his alliance (daily changing) used to find a new target daily, teasing him/her full on. That poor target mostly used to be Pratik. :) The moment somebody used to catch hold of him, Pratik used to put his hand around his shoulder and murmuring something, only thing we could hear was “Oooo Bhendi”. Every teasing session would go on until me & Kalpana are laughing :p Nikhil’s leg pulling session wouldn’t last long as he used to get irritated and then run away with his fatfati :p
Even Kalpana and I were not spared! Giving us whole lot of names.. kamla-bakula, dombivali-kalyan, master-slave (I didn’t like this one, grrrrr) and there would be many more which we are still unaware of! Mostly Sachin would be the mastermind behind all this. But most important thing was everyone was so close to each other that everyone took teasing sportingly, in fact everyone would enjoy it completely!
Exam and Viva was a tough time for everyone. One memory of vivas is still fresh in mind.. Mostly I and Amit used to go together for vivas because of our roll numbers. It was Electronics viva and I was having real bad time. The examiner was asking all questions for which I had no answers. Amit’s viva was also not going that great but it was not as bad as mine. Finally examiner asked me, do you want to pass or stay in the same class? I was shocked, who would say NO to this question? I guess there were couple of last chances given to me and I answered some questions. I was horribly scared until results were out. But I had prepared my mind for KT because of that question :) And guess what, I got 11/25 and Amit got 9(+1 grace mark to PASS)! I still remember his reaction, he was so mad at that professor! :)
Our informals used to be real fun! None of us was that good at dancing. But there is always an advantage for non-dancers when it’s a DJ night. No one would really make out how you are dancing because of the light effects. But our guys gang didn’t miss my and Kalpana’s dance steps even in light effects :p Kalpana’s “Ambe maate ki Jay” dance step gained lot of popularity :D Last year college event was special fun with our class winning the trophy. And there was contribution from SPANDAN as well. Remarkable performances by Kalpana (doing cute love scene with Amit Kale), Kala Kauwa acting by Ashish, Sachin playing villain and my first ever stage performance with one dialogue in the skit. That skit has a special memory for all of us. And a 3rd prize in instrumentals by Nikhil playing tabla :)
All relationships go through a phase, its share of ups and downs. Even SPANDAN had its share of ups and downs. There were some minor fights. But what really stood strong was our friendship, our love for each other! I remember, there was once a difference of opinion among me, Sachin and Kalpana. Kalpana and I didn’t like some of Sachin’s comments. I don’t really remember the incidence; probably it was not a major thing. But eventually what followed was Sachin came to both of us and said sorry. The SORRY was not that important but it showed that he valued the friendship more than what happened.
Things have come and gone, but we all are rock solid. Even today, each one of us is sure that we would get a helping hand from these friends whenever required. Nikhil was my secret keeper in college time and a strong support. He continues to do his job today also. :) Amit and Nikhil were my guides in crucial times in Chennai. Each member of SPANDAN, just being there makes me feel good. Unmesh doesn’t get tired writing long entertaining mails. I was really amazed at his recent comment; he was relaxed about his life after retirement because he will have loads of fun-packed email conversations to keep him busy. He didn’t think that his wife and kids will be there too to keep him busy. :) That’s how Spandan is, everyone’s heart truly beats for each other! And finally this is what I believe for SPANDAN..
“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
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