20080802

Friendship Day

Tommorow August 3 is Friendship Day and I have already received emails for the same. So celebrating it, I will share some interesting news/stories of some of my close friends here and in India.

First, as of next week, August 8th is the begining of the Beijing Olympics' 2008 - and one of my close friends from school Malav Shroff is going to represent India as a port stopover manager (news clipping) for the Indian sailing team. He is a former olympian at Athens 2004 in the 49'er class.

Secondly I met a very close friend whom I know from childhood, Amrish Shah, after 16 years, last week when he was traveling the States. Spent three nostalgic evenings with him remembering the good old childhood days. He being interested in Acting/Dramatics, quit school in 9th to pursue his dream. Struggled for few years with Channel V and then Star TV. He has turned producer director and is now co writing a movie for a sequels sequel - Don 3 with Farhan Akhtar.

And now something about my roommates, the first friends I made when I came to the US to study. We were six of us were sharing a house. One day we decided to go to Exhange Place along the Hudson river to get a great view of the two World Trade Center towers. This was our first visit. After the initial first five minutes of "Oh Ahh What a great View", one of the guys had a brilliant idea. He put forth a question to the rest of us.
"What will be the force and trajectory required to hurl a ball from top of WTC so that it reaches across to where we were standing on the pier in Exhange Place"
See the diagram below.

Image Courtesy Google earth plus photoshop overlays

I am not going to discuss the technical aspects of the discussion that ensued with detailed calculations, theories and assumptions. The point is that we all learnt "How to spoil a perfectly good evening trying to figure out something that is irrelevant and of no use to anyone"

This is what happens when you have three roommates who are IIT'ians and doing reasearch here, another two from BVP Pune, one doing research and the other studying management and me an architect.

But these are the friends who stood by in every difficult situation and become part of an extended family. For each of us WE were the support system through out little journey away from home studying here. So this post is dedicated to them.

Also wishing all the bloggies who visit here - as they are my new set of E-friends.

Happy Friendship Day!

107 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah got some mails which told me that today was the day, happy friendship day to u!!!

Pri said...

here's wishing u a very happy friendship day....

hope u make many such great friends in the future :)

cherish the old and welcome the new...
cheers!!

Hiren said...

happy friendship day bhai !!!!

hope u get many more of such intelligent and successful friends :)

broca's area said...

happy friendship day..:))

Sameera Ansari said...

Nothing like getting back with old friends!And though they are nerds,your roommates seem a cool lot.

Happy Friendship Day! :)

Cinderella said...

Happy Frenship day !

Karthik S said...

Thats a good dedication. Wish you a very happy friendship day.

Cheers :-)

Satish Bolla said...

i would've slapped him n then broke out into laughter. good one.
happy frndship day to u too

Rakesh said...

great...wish u very happy friendship day:):):):)tending to infinity.

Compassion Unlimitted said...

Wish you a happy friendship day
Tc
CU

ceedy said...

@aquagirl

thank you..hope you had a good time

ceedy said...

@pri

thanks - sure thats the fun of life...I keep meeting old pals all the time and in the future I will meet the new ones too :)

hope you had fun

ceedy said...

@hiren

Thanks bud....I have a long list of friends who are way more sucessful in "real" life - I shared the news of these two as I heard them last week....

ab mera kya hoga kya pata :P

ceedy said...

@brocasarea

thanks

ceedy said...

@sameera

yeah...nothing like it...

honestly only two were nerdy...the rest of us were "intelligent" but really outgoing...we did lots and lots of GUY things...

thank you and hope you had fun

ceedy said...

@cinderella

thank you

ceedy said...

@karthik s

thank you...life is a mixture of friends and family...so this dedication...

hope you had fun

ceedy said...

@satish

hahaha....these guys are crazy....love to talk to them and get their insight...they have a very different viewpoint to life....

hope you had fun and thank you

ceedy said...

@rakesh

thank you and to you too....

ceedy said...

@compassion

thank you sir!

You must have a phone directory of friends by now to enjoy good times with :)

Anonymous said...

re: happy friendship day- to you too :)

ceedy said...

@abreysham

thank you..and hope you did have some fun :P

Compassion Unlimitted said...

Honestly ceedy ,couple of my engineering classmates,we meet every weekend,of course over our favourite scotch ie whoever is available on that day joins us.sometimes its just 4 of us sometimes its over a dozen,a dirty dozen.We go back to our college days and laugh & laugh on those funfilled days.Sometimes we wonder,we spent only 5 years together but manage to talk about it for last 30 years.Amazing,as we exchange de jokes.The guys sitting in the adjacent tables many a times evesdrop on what the hell we talk about..lol
thats life !!
and regarding the phone directory,hmm

Tc
CU

Mysterious Mia said...

happy friendship day mate...n i dunno what to say abt yur roomies ....am still digesting the fact....hajmola pls...

Preeti Shenoy said...

Happy friendship day to you too!
What a discussion to have with your friends!(trajectory one)
Incidentally today's Times of India carries a well written piece about online friends.
Cheers
Preeti (from 'Just a mother of two')

Tejas Lakhani said...

happy friendship day dear.

Aarti said...

Heyy

Happpy Friendship Day!!!:)

and wow, ur friend is going to the Olympics!! nice..

lol at the incident you've written abt - the WTC and ur friend's thot...hehehe... brains always take over and spoil the moment!!!

Aarti said...

Oh., btw.. have put up the translation u had asked from my play post... :)

http://reeltreat.blogspot.com/2008/08/theater-hindu-metro-plus-theater-fest.html

Anonymous said...

Happy friendship day ceedy bhai. hope you had fun in NY summer.

the roomies discussions was hillarious nd thats what you expect out of the geeks or studs, as they are called (India me).

i hope you had/having a good day today..

aMus said...

happy friendship day to you too...

:)

Anonymous said...

Hiyallo CEEDY :)

verrr happ happy Freindship Day !!!

it is GREAT to hve such nice frinds online !!!

and too al of you above my comment and whoever r gonna below my comment too!! friendship day wishes!!!

Ankur said...

bhai...

Happy Frndship Day!! :)

Cheers!!!

Phoenix said...

happy friendships day!!

hey dont make such remarks....friends never haress me :)

Keshi said...

A very happy friendship day to u too Ceedy!

Some friends come and go..some stay...but what matters is that we felt their friendship during their stay.


Keshi.

♥ÐÅyÐяєÅмє®♥ said...

lol bhai...kya sawaaal tha..mujhe bhi mann kar rha ahai solve karne ka...

main aapka ab high rehne ka karan and uske pichhe chhupa dard reh sakta hoon...three iitian k sath..lol
kya jhealooo jindagi hai :P
full of technicallities

Romila said...

Hi! Happy Friendship day to u too:)

KP said...

Happy Friendship day to u too:)

Pavi!!!! said...

Wish u too a Very Very Happy Friendship Day Ceedy... the Architect for my future home ;) (I use every oppurtunity to remind u)

A toast to u n ur friends..n touchwood!its amazing to have friends who have lasted a lifetime:)

BTW..i didn't even know it was friendship Day until i saw a few orkut scraps..Gee:( i hope thats not the sign of old age :((

RADhika said...

Happy friendship day! :)
oh and the 'reflections' pic is fantastic!

Jaya said...

Happy Friendship day. Hope you always find good true friends. Both your childhood friends are amazing. I'll look out for Indian sailing team this August.

ceedy said...

@compassion

haha - I can so visualize the amazement of the people around...that must be great to have all your friends around...

I am more in touch with my school friends as we were very close but the thing is we are spread as of now over 4 continents and so meeting is once in two - three years...but everytime its a blast....

great....now I am waiting to share a scotch with you :P

ceedy said...

@princess mia

thank u....well this is one of the saner issues we spoke about...beleive me - when the "geeks" meet it is scary as to how even a grain of rice and its consistency can become a topic of dicussion and how it can be related to the person cooking and his interest in his favorite program running while he is cooking coupled with temperature of the water and the weather :P

ceedy said...

@ps

thank you...

yes read my comment to princess mia above...we have had so many mental skirmishes - it was simply awesome....

welcome here again....

ceedy said...

@tejas

thank you and welcome

ceedy said...

@aaarti

Thank you and same to you....

yeah I am proud of him - we all who know him are....

read my comment to princess mia above....for more of such discussions...

and I did read the translation...it must be fun to watch these plays...If you like this I invite you to read my short story blog....the link is on top right corner...I do touch upon different cultural aspects in different stories...

thanks

ceedy said...

@buzzz

Yes, buzzz I am having fun...where are you - in US or Desh?

Yeah..read my comment to princess mia above for more of such discussions

thanks bud

ceedy said...

@suma
thank you and hope you had fun

ceedy said...

@veens

Thank you and hope you had a blast...

same here...to know you online...(only ;)) (pun intended :))

hope upar wale and neeche wale all read your msg...

ceedy said...

@ankur

you too bud..hope you had fun

ceedy said...

@phoenix

thanks and hope you had fun

are that is just the way it is said.... :)

ceedy said...

@ keshi

thank you and hope you had a good time


you are right...its important to cherish that friendship while it lasts....

ceedy said...

@daydreamer

do it...I can send you all the measurements...really...the width of the river, the height of the towers,... :P

are it was a great experience and we had lots and lots of different "arguments" read my comment to princess mia above....for one such irrelevant discussion...

and high ka to kya kare....dimag hi kuch aisa hai :)

ceedy said...

@ romila

thank you and hope you had fun

ceedy said...

@kp!

thanks bud....I saw you had puri and lamb...so you did have fun :)

hope you did not have shrikand with the lamb ;)

ceedy said...

@pavi!!!!!

Thank you and nah you are not old...I would not have known about this if not for the emails that I got from everywhere....

and how can I ever forget my potential project.....so dont worry - whenever you are ready we design :)

thank you touch wood too...read my comment to compassion above at the status of my friends...its kinda weird but I still know 6 of my friends and we keep in touch whom I know from kindergarten....

ceedy said...

@radhika

thank you....and hope you had fun

that pic is taken in downtown philadelphia....last month by me...thanks :)

ceedy said...

@joy

cool....thank you and hope you had a blast....

yes they are an inspiration . actually we all are to each other in some way....

Rho Tau GWIS said...

City Hall in Philly?

Rho Tau GWIS said...

Nice :)

Rho Tau GWIS said...

Hey, are you going to the BIG show in Atlantic City?

KP said...

no shrikand dude:).I am glad my sis didnt know how to make shrikand...it would have been deadly combination:)....lol

ceedy said...

@carolinagal

Yes.

Thanks.

No. Was late to get the "reasonably" priced tickets...its obnoxious how much people are paying..

ceedy said...

@kp

hahaha

Imagine serving it...it will be deadly :) LOL

Anonymous said...

yup it was fun- MY kinda fun =P

Urv said...

Sahi bhidu.. :) I can sooo relate to the Trajectory type discussions :D

Rho Tau GWIS said...

I know!!! Its ridiculous!

RADhika said...

really?! very nice pic indeed, and nice photography...

Neetal said...

happie happie belated friendships day to you too !

Anonymous said...

yeah i got to check mail today ..i got a few too...lol..about that wasting time for sumting non useful lo..it happens all the time... meeting old frinds always fun..even when u meet then just for 5 mins when ur plane is landing there ior sumthing..i absolutely adore those moments

Anonymous said...

HEY! I am late again I see! ole well Who or what do I blame for this one? LOL!!

Happy Belated Friendship Day to you Ceedy!! I hope you are looking forward to my Radio show thinking about doing it tonight or tomorrow...

LOL!!!

Ne

Anonymous said...

belated happy fraindship day to you too my fraind:)

Nefariousoutlook said...

happy belated friendship day..and i truly relate to your situation...the friends that you live with in some foreign land they do become your extended family..also when research people meet up, the discussion is generally about things that is of least relevance but i guess thats what interests them :)

Solitaire said...

Maybe reading the zillionth post on friendship day today but all of them are so unique.

Hope it was fun.

rantravereflect/ jane said...

Happy FRIENDSHIP day ceedy, n hey, 2 iitans and guys from bvp and an architect..
ya shud have had a stupid girl like me to dilute teh objective, n make it creatively fun.. i'd ask you to research and all and find out the force required in reverse trajectory (if there's nethyn like tat)to hurl one of cupid's arrows from ya place to a cut chic atop the wtc..

after all love does transcend all barriers like wind velocity, direction of wind, rivers and seas(water in btw) ;)

and ya have famous friends who're making it big in life :) niceeee to hear that buddy!!

have a great week ahear

ceedy said...

@abreysham

let me guess...you were alone contemplating your next move?

ceedy said...

@urv

heheh...so you have a geek squad too?

ceedy said...

@radhika

thanks....

ceedy said...

@neeku

thank you and hope you had fun

ceedy said...

@the paratropper

yes absolutly...these moments are precious....the discussion can be useless but the memories are useful all our lives...

ceedy said...

@ne

you have to be...you were baking in the sun n sand....damn there is sand popping out of my screen

thank you and hope you had fun....yes surely...will check your blog for the update on the same...

ceedy said...

@an illusion

thanks and hope you are doing good

ceedy said...

@nefariousoutlook

you are right on both instances...

welcome here

ceedy said...

@solitaire

I had fun a week before friendship day...on that day simply slept.

ceedy said...

@rantravereflect/jane

hahhah...you should have been there...those guys would have been HUH! beleive me some of them would run to the dictionary to find out who cupid is.....

i hope you become a science teacher in some school...we will have geni asses

you too have a great week

Deepali said...

Sorry its late but Happy Friendship Day. I didn't even remember till I started getting SMSes. My first thought was 'man this feels like college days, I cant believe people still wish each other this stuff'. But of course I wished everyone back who did bother to wish me.

Anonymous said...

HAHAHA!! I DID IT!! I THINK YOU ARE MY INVISIBLE Co-Host.. I talked about you yet again! LOL!!!

You make my show.. I am gonna have to get you on there one time!! okay??

Anonymous said...

I move in crowds but theres a deep solitude no one person/being can fulfil- something like cosmic loneliness.

the day went just normal- in the evening got together with a pal and whiled away the evening listening to ghazals and having meaningless discussions :-)

so you see, getting together with close friends and talkig about nothing in particular seems to be a common group behavior. :-D

rainboy said...

first time here...blogrolling you m8.

Gunjan Aylawadi said...

sowwie im late but a belated hapy frenship day :)

ceedy said...

@deepali

so agree with you..."is it still done?" but I guess it is...since it was rampant here on blogger

well hope you had a good time and thanks...remember you are the one who visits once in a while

so it is the deep "alli" re "alli" moment...:)

ceedy said...

@ne

cool...i heard your second show...it was awesome...i am you invisible GHHOST :)

yeah let me know how...I dont mind joining you there to get all the Indian names right :P

ceedy said...

@abreysham

yes..I know what you are saying there....but beleive me these days are as important as when you feel frenzied being with the crowd

nice time you had there...happy vegetating....and I so agree we are all non important people as far as banter goes

ceedy said...

@-v-

kewl...will visit you soon too

welcome and thanks

ceedy said...

@gunj

are dont worry...its the thought that matter :P

(sounded old right) - well honestly I was so saaaad that you did not wish me...muahahahaha:P

Satish Bolla said...

first of all, one small wicked grin on my mouth

Satish Bolla said...

and then, the truth that this is the 96th comment.

Satish Bolla said...

97 comes after 96, right?

Satish Bolla said...

or is it 98?

Satish Bolla said...

whatever it is, am sure that 99 comes before 100.

Satish Bolla said...

finally, the 100th comment. a small sigh of relief

ceedy said...

@satish


hahahaha.......I loved the way you started this century....

*wicked grin* :)

kewl the tradition continous with obtaining the coveted 100's

how are you?

Anonymous said...

Yep.. I noticed moving in a tornado of activity isnt always the best way to try and get in touch with Him- ok even listening to ghazals may not do the trick, but it mellows you out a bit.

As I said ages ago, I am lost, though it feels sometimes now as if He is out there looking out for Me. The feeling of being suspended in plasma is lesser some days.

Anonymous said...

sheesh- the 'm' in the 'Me' makes 'me' sound diabolical.
whoops-

rantravereflect/ jane said...

i know genie asses ;)
geee
make that janie asses :)
my name's jane..
it's been a ple-ASS-sure meeting ya!!!
bwuahhhh...

ceedy said...

@abresysham

dont worry so much...you will find a way out...tough times make one tough...and everyone has their time....so wait for it

ceedy said...

@jane

you sounded like james bond :P

now should i also shake my geni ass in confimation of the ple-ass-ure

rantravereflect/ jane said...

:P

shake that arse geni-ass!

we'll be a bunck of alter-ego beyonce and shakira..