An open letter to my best friends

Dude,

Since nothing is more impressive than being oneself, I am telling you this. Recently, one of you told me - "Ni career and personal life okati, ni friends tho life okati! Adhi gurtpetko! Dont overlap" (Your career and personal life should not overlap with life with friends). But you know what, that has never been possible for me. I've stayed away from home since the age of 6 and its 19 years and counting since then. Ofcourse I should be the hero of my life, but the main character in my life who has built me, moulded me and made me what I am today is this amazing God-sent messaih called friend. You've been the real hero of my life. We grew up together, ate, slept, played and lived together. You knew just as much as I did, or more (:respect) occassionally. But, our stay together has been a marvellous journey till now. A journey that I'll cherish forever. 

I was neither the best guy in the class, nor the best sportsperson, nor the smartest, most charming or entertaining person at office, but you still managed to stay by me, play with me and support me when I needed a shoulder to rest on. Why were you so good to me? You were not just a friend, but everything to me. Whether at office or at room, college or hostel, my life has been filled with one or the assholes among you. My parents featured just for the 15min phone call I made to them every evening. I sincerely thank God for having introduced you to me. You didn't just come along and go by, but made a mark on my life.  I was a boring, prejudiced moron with the least capacity to mingle with people. But now, there are some awesome traits I've imbibed from you, knowingly or unknowingly.

That living independently and living for a passion, a fervour can help one realize his dreams, Chaitanya you are a standing example dude. I feel so sorry for not having attended even one of your shows. I always wanted to, but never understood that rock/metal music.. I don't even know what to call it. But just to let you know, I always admired you and felt proud of you infront of so many other friends of mine. You cared the least for appreciation or laurels, but a strong desire to play the guitar. Bow dude. And Abilash, how could you be so nice... you cried with me when I cried and laughed with me when I laughed, always kept me lively, whether by mocking at me or praising me. I'll never forget that day you stood by me, when the whole batch turned against me. Thanks a ton man! Bharat, I am surely to learn to be simple like you man... irrespective of your knowledge or any status, you have the least ego and talk to me so caringly... Your presence itself in the room gives me a good feeling. Bhargav, my first friend at college, manchitananki kuda oka hadd untundi ra... Naku ishtamani bus ki ichi junnu paalu pampista annav... I was dumbstruck dude at your gesture!!! You are a gem.. And Vignesh, bro, my alterego, I so loved your company at college. We fought, we roamed, we ate, we played and I don't know what... every moment with you was so amazing... You patiently listened every shit I spoke, accompanied me in all my jobless bike rides, I can't choose examples from our several experiences to quote here, but every second with you was unforgettable and so much to learn from. Your childish pranks all through college lighten up my mood everytime I think of them.


And in office, two people that made my life here.. Dinesh and Yamini, you are the best thing that happened to me at CIQ. How could you be so kind to me inspite of all the childish and immature behaviour I showed towards you, specially in the last few days.. every day I showed you torture. My life at office has been an amazing experience over the past two years just because of you folks. I bugged you, I hated you, I envied you, I pestered you, I hurt you, but you know what, I also loved you guys.. and inspite of all that, you still called me your friend, included me in your fun and happiness... I don't know how to thank you. You made my life here folks. You showed me more nice people like Badram and Vamsi and proved that... kothawallani kalavakapothe, prapancham chinnadaipoddi.. More than all this, whether I liked it or not, because you cared for me... you moulded me, corrected me and taught me.. that I should be myself, be free and show the real Phani to the world, that self esteem and a self-sexy-confidence can bring the world to my feet, that I should take life easy and not read too much into every small thing. You reminded me that I am a tall, good looking and successful person, with great skills that not many have, that I am a kind of person people will come to, not run away from, that I should not judge myself too much and people will love me only once I start loving myself. I truly admire(I'm not getting synonymns) your approach to life guys... I've learnt so much for life... Your JLT(Just Like That) theorem and the paradigm of randomness is surely going to lighten me up when I am down. Every photo that we took, every moment we spent gives me a euphoria, not happiness when I revisit them. 

Now all you assholes are leaving at once. Why does God have to be so rude to me.. taking all of you at once away.. I hate August 2014, for all my best buddies are leaving me, including my closest and first friend of my life - my little sister, even she is being taken away by this idiotic institution called marriage - like Rakesh and Radha.. Ofcourse, each of you have your own goals and ambitions in life, but I feel sad for we can no longer stay, eat and drink together. Surely, life is not going to be the same.. It'll be really bad without you folks, because, till now you were my life.. whether at work or home - dawn to dusk. Fun in room, friday night ge-ttogethers, drinking and eating at home, baby doll dances, fun in the gym or office, long drives, gokarting, ice creams, idli at inorbit, fighting with my sister, whatever... it will be different and I've to accept it.. Ofcourse, Life lo edaina alwataipoddi.. just got to give it time.

Finally, I want to say two things.. Firstly, I am really sorry for having been an idiot at several times, intruding into your privacy and personal lives.. You were my life, personal and professional and I was mistaken to expect the same from you too.. I've only realized now that each of you have your life to lead and I should find mine. I never meant to hurt you, but I still thank you for having understood me in those situations.. I was not curious to know what you are doing, but only wanted to spend more time with you.. because, I had nothing but friends in life. And secondly, I will always be here in Hyderabad, buy a car, home and settle down. You were always a part of my family, and so if you or your parents need anything back here, remember I am always there for you. Any help - financial, moral, personal or anything I can do for that matter, I am just a call away.

I once thought that if I fight with each of you so badly that I hate you for life, and I don't feel bad when you leave. But, even that didn't work out, because I could not fight you. Whether you like it or not and whatever you might call me, gay straight or bisexual.. I loved and will love each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.. no from deeper... bottom of my ass... because the last 19 years of my life was mainly friends... But atleast I thank God he is leaving some of you back with me... Those who are leaving, you better stay in touch wherever you are.. I'll buy a Nokia phone with Vodafone connection and will follow you wherever you go.. because, we are friends for life, we live together we die together wherever we are!!! And those who are staying back, we'll enjoy so much that these guys will feel jealous of us :P

I am already in tears and can write no further, nor read what I a m writing..

Fuck you assholes.. Good bye!

An ode to ug2k7-tel

It was about two and a half years back, when the 2** of OBH E block in IIIT Hyderabad took shape into ug2k7-tel@googlegroups.com, thanks to Rajesh Chowdary, for creating this group.  He is always at the forefront for such ideas and you’ll for sure thank him for what he does. We were a bunch of 48 Telugu speaking unbranded mavericks of the UG2k7 batch of IIIT Hyderabad that stayed on the second floor of the E-block, OBH. Joining together after having been dispersed across hostels for the first year, the E-block experience was simply superb. Incessant gaming with new laptops, countless volleyball matches in the corridors, outdoor dinners every weekend, the introduction to Hitech Bawarchi, birthday bumps and parties that evolved from the college cafeteria to canteen and further to movies and restaurants, and ofcourse combined assignments and exam preparations, we lived the same thought, wrote the same answer and breathed the same air. In spite of all this oneness, every guy found his interests, explored the undiscovered and made his mark on the group. It was a perfect example of the fact that every one of us had a unique sparklle that shone differently from the others.

From the Mr. Punctual Bala Murali(from Las Vegas),the first customer to the First Floor mess every meal, to the perpetually late Mr. Sai Gurudatt(a.k.a. TomTom), you go with him, you are sure to miss your appointment, 

from the embodiment of clarity Gowtham Kurri, to the totally confused Sai Rahul, Damn man! how can you even imagine doing two things at one time??!! :P, 

from the metrosexual stylish icon Prudhvi Kosaraju(Prud$),who always has a comb and a mirror in his two hands, to an introvert Gattupalli Aditya, whose unkempt hair perfectly symbolizes the freedom of thought, expression and appearance, 

from the abashment of a reticent Nithin Maams, to the celebrated conspicuousness of  Chandrakanth Reddy(Chandu) who stood lionized across batches, 

from the sanctimonious orthodoxy of an immaculate Kumar Sadhu(Brahmi S/W), to the filthyness of Veera Reddy,

from the football penalties of Gautham Ambati, to the smashes of Srinivas Reddy, both on and off the court of which I was a victim, 

from the FIFA gaming of a soft spoken Bharadwaj, you got to use amplifiers to hear him talk, to the CS sniping of Abhimanyu, 

I could find every hue of human behaviour  and talent in one or the other guy.

Have you ever used random number generators to select courses in your semester? Then let me introduce a coding freak, Madhava Rao, someone greater than Sachin Tendulkar(Sachin doesn't know to code), you can reach him at python.c.madhav@gmail.com. 

Be it the mastermind behind the success(:P) of Vayu House, Thati Satya Aditya(likes this!), or a cryptic conundrum in himself, Pandiri Srikanth, who can solve a Rubik's cube in less than a minute, 

the mysterious director Subba Rao, who captured the audacity of dogs on campus, or a stunning photographer Kashyap Kompella, who speaks the language of SLRs, 

an ambitious Kalyan Mohan, whose self-confidence supersedes everything else, or the commitment and perseverance of a tenacious Vaddepally Srikanth(Puli), even a quarter of which can transform my life, 

a stingy Rajkamal, who worships the almighty dollar, your dollars are his dimes, or the silence and modesty of Ramakrishna, or the feminine obsession of Allu Vivek, 

the robotic behaviour of Nagakartheek(Chitti),whose bowling I will always dread to face, or an epitome of simplicity, Bharath Ganta, an ultimate panacea to all your technical problems, you'll be totally humbled by the magnitude of his knowledge, 

I could find some noteworthy quality to imbibe or a lesson to learn from each of them.

From the King of e-Commerce, Ronanki Srikanth(Galeez), he probably has an account on every online shopping website, to the acme of lethargy, Kaleem Bhai(Josh), who uses speech-to-text translation softwares to use his computer, 

from the all-knowing Aditya Kiran Nori(Akon), who can tell you about anything, from the nadir to the zenith, to the GK yearbook in flesh and blood, Nikhil(Seth), 

from the butter fingers of KG Pavan(Budugu), anything comes down to rubble in less than a minute in his hands, to the inseparable duo of Varun K and Anil Krishna(Deadman), who keep fighting against each other, 

from the innocence of a Lovely Ganga Prasad, to the candidness of a blatantly open Manoj Narra(Pacman), who first speaks and then thinks, 

from the rocking euphoria of Bandi Chaitanya(Buttekhan), to the personification of peace and tranquillity, Anil(Dootha), 

from the tenacity and perseverance of Sunil Kumar, to the studiousness of Baji Babu, 

from the poor jokes of Sreekanth Reddy(Kasikanth), who hates people that do not like his jokes, to  Sreekanth(Brahmi H/W), a living database(bmdb) of movies, 

from the all-pervasiveness of an elderly Galla Vinod, a numero uno in every sport, to the versatile dexterity of Rajesh Chowdary at art, painting, drawing, photography, drama and music, 

there was a hidden marvel capturing golden moments all along the last four years.

And finally, five amazing guys, who defined friendship and stood by me in the toughest of times, my first and best friend on campus, Bhargav(Gundu), who pulled me up when I fell and was nothing less than a perfect mate, an allrounder Abhishek(Chabby), who albeit all this talent was a humble, noble and trustworthy companion, a hardcore Michael Jackson fan, Abhilash Reddy(nvar), who stood by me  in the toughest of my times, cried with me when I cried and laughed with me when I laughed, a Lite! Bharath V(Brat), who, though made his mark, whether at SIGMOD or GSOC, was a wholehearted supporter, and last but not the least, my alter ego, the notorious Vignesh(Dumbo), with whom I had countless experiences, each of which was not just fun, but lessons for a lifetime, and every one of his childish pranks that I enjoyed completely. 

Exploring the brighter side of each of them, I wonder where I fit in. I wonder if I am just a dark new moon(Amavasyapu chandrudu), much ado about nothing among you twinkling stars shining and illuminating my life too. When I now sit back to retrospect all our fond memories, be it the fights with Kalyan and Abhilash in my room(room lo kottukovadam :P), or the unending mockery by The ABC Gang, the chases of Vignesh or the projects with Rajesh, the bumps I got for every birthday or the comments on facebook with every post or video, tears trickle down when it seems that it has come to an end. You guys were responsible for a transformation of my self, from what I was, to what I am. Today, I have to go home and this is the first time in 16 years of my hostel life that I do not want to go home. I'll miss every one of you and it would be a great void that cannot be replaced. Let the fervour and spirit of ug2k7-tel prevail eternally wherever we are and whatever we are.

Home turned into a Bommarillu :)

        This happens to be my first post from home. I recently got my job and came home for a week long Pongal vacation. I long had a wish of having a bike for myself. And now that I had a job and things were in good spirits, I found it the right time to make my proposal back at home. No sooner had I talked to my dad about it did I realize that things were far beyond my reach. Every event that was happening was a remake of the Bommarillu story :). Probably, its not wrong that movies are inspired from real life situations. Everybody was against me and I struggle to make my stand.

       I asked for a bike and my dad offered me a car. :P I was at first shocked and later dejected. I just wanted a bike to roam around and have some gala time, while my dad justified his offer to ensure security. I mainly needed to get consent from three people, my dad, mom and uncle.. and all the three of them were against this idea of a bike. My granny supported me as usual, but no big deal.. didn't work out. I simply can not comprehend why parents are always like this. They don't understand our concerns and situations. I struggled to remain adamant, convince them and go about with my request. But, they did not yield to me. I simply can't understand why they want to give more than we ask for when we are wholly satisfied with what we wish for. I blurted out every reason and explanation that favored me, but still failed to convince them.. Indirectly, I had a vehicle, but the keys were with them, the choice theirs but vehicle mine :P. They were wholeheartedly interested in what I didn't want. I wonder when things are gonna change and work out our way.

New Year without Commitments

       First when I joined college, July 2007, I didn't know much about what was happening around. Come Jan 1, 2008 and I confidently made my unending list of commitments for the year.. :P I'll do this, that, and what not... except studies, everything else featured there - play games, go swimming, do workouts, lose weight and so on... The first few days went fine, but later came my usual self. Procrastination and lousiness took the lead and was back to my original form. 2009, 2010, every year came and went by, but the list still remains the same. Every new year was just another reason to get reinvigorated and remind myself of the so-called commitments. This was simply not working!

        And so, this year's gotta be different. Bugged up of these unfulfilled promises, I've decided to try something new this time. I set out to look for a motto to make a satisfied living and finally zeroed in on two statements.

"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!" - Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple Inc.

"Yesterday is a history, Tomorrow  is a mystery, but Today is a GIFT, that's why it is called the PRESENT!" - Master Oogway to Po, Kung Fu Panda.

        So, decided to make the best possible of every single day. And learn as much as possible.. Hope this works out!! Wishing myself and every one a very Happy new year 2011, Sign off.