So did I meet the friends I made during the rally again? Not only did I see them, but over the last few months. we also went on a couple of outings together. I dedicate this post to half of the dance crew whom I'm still in touch with.
I will start off with the bubuddy who is responsible for all of us still being in contact. The person who created the Whatsapp group that bridged the gap between us and brought us even closer than we were during the one month of rehearsals. By now you would have made out who it is of you have read my last blog-post. Yes, the very spunky and petite Apoorva a.k.a. Appamma a.k.a. Appu. Don't go by her size and her innocent looks. After all, looks can be deceiving. Being a true blue Cancerian, she never shies away from calling a spade a spade. She is a refreshing change from some of my colleagues who indulge in backbiting and childish gossiping. She has the guts to say things to my face which sets her apart from others. Not to mention I'm as straightforward with her, if not more. Give her a pen and she will display her artistic skills on her palms. It is these childlike qualities that made her colleagues nickname her 'Baby'. My day in the office is incomplete without tormenting her. We invariably end up fighting almost every day. Just the other day she told me that she hated me from the bottom of her heart. How sweet. I used to get very embarrassed every time she called me 'donkey'. Now you might be wondering why anyone would call someone as intelligent and intellectual as me a 'donkey'. She tells me the name suits me because of the hoity-toity and pompous person I am. Now how I can be more humble and modest than I already am is beyond me *winks*. However much I fight with her, deep inside, I know that she is a good person and I will always like her for that.
Moving on to Appamma's BFF, Deepa a.k.a. Bujji. She is a woman in love, madly in love. With whom you ask? With herself, of course. The camera loves her and it shows in all her photos. Well, she didn't win the CKT Award for the most photogenic person for nothing. Once the camera is on, her smile gives way to the constantly vexed face. She loves to be clicked and this was one thing I learned about her during both the outings we've had. Speaking of outings, none of the bubuddies show the kind of enthusiasm that she shows for outdoor trips. During our Wonderla rides, the decibels her voice reached were far higher than how high we were above the ground. It wasn't until very recently that I discovered that she is a budding poetess and has an eye for business. Initially, our favorite pastime used to be teasing her about Sweat guy which was put to an end by her very protective BFF, Vijay. Vijay a.k.a. Tiger a.k.a. Himesh is one of the most fun-loving guys I've ever come across. He is full of life and vitality. That baritone and vocal skills of his bear testament to his proclivity towards music. I wonder where he got his proficiency in pure Hindi from. Though our friendship went through a rough patch a few months ago, I felt immeasurably relieved when we sorted out the misunderstandings and buried the hatchet. His gregarious and free-spirited personality has made him very popular among the bubuddies. He is the kind of loyal and caring friend everyone must have.
Then there is the dance coordinator, Chandana a.k.a. Biker Chandu. Cycling being her first love, she was inconsolable when she her bicycle got stolen. She is Miss Congeniality. Everybody loves her. I was very amused when I got to know her name. Every time our choreographer mixed up our names, it evoked laughter in the recreation room. To make the confusion worse, we share the pet-name 'Chandu'. It's always nice to have cheerful people in your life. I've never seen her lose her temper or patience in the most trying situations. That shows the immense mental strength she possesses. I hope she remains that way and stops making fun of my white belt. I have no clue what it is about my white belt that fascinates her… so much so that she wants me to wear it to the office every day! The celebrity of the group; her acting chops were there for everyone to see in the short film she played the lead role in. She is even supposed to start shooting for a music album soon. Chandana's extremely close bubuddy, Priyadarshini, a.k.a. Periyamma, a.k.a. Dimpu is someone with a hard exterior, but behind that facade is a delicate, emotional girl who would take a bullet for her family and friends. If you want to remain in her good books, be very careful of what you say to her as she can get a little sensitive at times. In the one month I sat next to her, I never felt I was working. I remember guffawing frantically and uncontrollably for so long with her once that everyone around us thought that we had completely lost it. I would make her record her punchlines in her famously broken and heavily accented Hindi and she would make me record funny videos which on sharing on the group would get tremendous response. Albeit a tomboy, on some level is also a very feminine girl who giggles at the drop of a hat and scares easy. Doing her impressions was one of the things I enjoyed and entertained my fellow bubuddies with.
I wouldn't have shared the camaraderie I do today with the bubuddies if it weren't for one person. And that is Naidu, a.k.a. Poli. The first time all of us bonded was when he came up with the idea of playing dumb charades on the final day of rehearsals, also the antakshari that I've mentioned in the previous post which helped us connect further. If it weren't for him, I doubt I would have cared much about the dance crew let alone writing this post at the break of dawn. He was the sole person instrumental in bringing together all of us and I shall be ever so grateful to him for that. In short, he helped us buddy up (or bubuddy up) with each other. Being the entertainer that he is, he has everyone in splits the moment he starts talking. The catchphrases he frequently uses while texting are, "Morning :)", "Wao nice nice" and "k k kool kool". His courage is something that needs to be lauded. Whether it is facing his team leader or getting on the high thrill rides of Wonderla, he does it all like a valorous lion *coughs incessantly*. I think I need to get my Benadryl before the cough gets any worse. Naidu's former college-mates are no less hilarious than he is. Sonam is a chirpy girl who always has the funniest stories to narrate; most of which involve outsmarting her austere parents. One such incident even happened when we were on our way back home from Wonderla. Sorry I can't give out the details here but I sure had a good laugh about it. She is a delight to talk to. The airy persiflage her and Naidu engage in is nothing short of hysterical.
Naidu's other ex-college mate, Siri a.k.a. Sirius a.k.a. Siri doll a.k.a. Siri Chilli a.k.a. Siridevi a.k.a. Maya a.k.a. Pooytya (whew!) is by far the wittiest woman I know. Her side-splitting one liners never fail to make me roll with laughter. The dynamic between her and Naidu is very amusing. She never misses a chance to take the mickey out of him. She is without a shadow of doubt, the best dancer of the lot. Her crystal clear and crisp dance moves had me believe that she was a trained professional, but I was bewildered to learn otherwise. With some people, you just meet them a few times, yet they manage to leave a lasting impression on you. Siri is one such person. When she speaks, she speaks sense. Since she is spiritual, you get to learn a lot by just listening to her. We hit it off from the word go, as we are on the same wavelength and intellectual level. Before I met her, I thought I was the only freak who chided friends for their misspellings. Apart from having misspelled words as a common pet peeve, we also share the same interest for TV shows.
There was this one incident that took place during one of the practice sessions that has stayed with me till this day. I was dancing crazily as always and hadn't realized that Siri was standing right behind me. I accidentally poked her in the eye and she let out a bloodcurdling shriek! I flipped out and apologized profusely for my recklessness. I expected her to throw a fit and yell at me for not being more careful. But she just rubbed her eye, surprised me by regaining her composure in no time and assured me with a smile that she was fine. Needless to say, not only was I immensely relieved, but I was also mighty impressed with the grace and dignity she possessed in that moment. I saw brief glimpses of perfectionism in her every time she urged her group members to come for the rehearsals a couple of hours earlier than the stipulated time in order to perfect their moves. She was always appreciative of any constructive criticism that she or her group received for their dance and took them very seriously. I'm taken back to a day when the two of us were having an exchange of opinions and suggestions on each other's team's performances. She intently listened to my feedback, remembered them, and the very next day, she made everyone on her group work on the points I had mentioned to her. Her leadership qualities were further revealed the day our choreographer was on leave. She took charge of the entire team and pushed everyone to do better. When everyone else was goofing around, she would be sitting in a corner, focusing all her energy into healing injured people through Reiki (injuries were quite common during the rehearsals), thereby showing real altruism and benevolence. Besides healing injured people, she also has a side to her that is philanthropic. She has devoted time to the humanitarian cause of writing exams for the visually impaired.
She was a revelation on the dance floor; her stamina has to be seen to be believed. It was a treat to watch her shed all her inhibitions and dance vigorously with the same energy from the beginning to the very culmination while the rest of us were so exhausted by the end that we could hardly move our bodies. What bowled me over though, were her profound and complex poems that belied her years. To top it all, she is easy on the eye and as cute as a button, just like her name, which in Norwegian means "beautiful woman who leads you to victory." She is also a violinist, but unfortunately I have not had the privilege of listening to her play it yet. Despite everything that she is, she remains a humble, down to earth girl at heart and a true paragon of virtue. In a world that lives in constant fear of being judged, it's refreshing to know someone who is so forthcoming about their shortcomings. It was her who coined the name 'Bubuddies' for the group. I'll save the story behind the origin of that name for some other day.
She was a revelation on the dance floor; her stamina has to be seen to be believed. It was a treat to watch her shed all her inhibitions and dance vigorously with the same energy from the beginning to the very culmination while the rest of us were so exhausted by the end that we could hardly move our bodies. What bowled me over though, were her profound and complex poems that belied her years. To top it all, she is easy on the eye and as cute as a button, just like her name, which in Norwegian means "beautiful woman who leads you to victory." She is also a violinist, but unfortunately I have not had the privilege of listening to her play it yet. Despite everything that she is, she remains a humble, down to earth girl at heart and a true paragon of virtue. In a world that lives in constant fear of being judged, it's refreshing to know someone who is so forthcoming about their shortcomings. It was her who coined the name 'Bubuddies' for the group. I'll save the story behind the origin of that name for some other day.
We were able to relive the rally thanks to the wonderful photos taken by our photographer, Bharath a.k.a. Musician. Though usually he is a very calm and composed guy, I was left open-mouthed when I saw him blow his top and give Naveen a piece of his mind, sending the message loud and clear that he wouldn't let anyone walk over him.
On our way back from Wonderla, little did I know that I would be getting on to another high-thrill ride. The cold wind slapped my ears as he rode his bike at 110 km/h. Not wanting to sound like a chicken heart, I refrained from asking him to go slow. We spotted a wrecked car on the highway, lying there like a fallen warrior who fought until his last breath. It didn't help that he kept narrating stories of his friends who died due to rash riding, which further sent chills down my spine. That was it. I put my foot down and told him to slow down. We were lucky enough to make it back in one piece. Nevertheless, he is a warm, laid-back and down to earth guy who is very easy to talk to.
Nisha, a.k.a., Manager; marvelling at the moon with Appamma and wishing everyone ‘good morning’ is the only time we see her messages on the group. To me, she has always been an intriguing enigma, a sweet girl with an even sweeter voice. The tact and affability with which she converses with people is particularly noteworthy. I recall her telling us one day that she was going to be on a cookery show. I eagerly turned on the TV to get a glimpse of her culinary skills only find her on the show, a good twenty minutes later to taste the food her friend had cooked. If it wasn't for the masterstroke of an idea she gave Appu to create the Whatsapp group, we would have missed out on all the madness that has surrounded and submerged us in the last six months.
Another vital member of the group is Srikanth, a.k.a. Elastic, I discovered why he was nicknamed so when I saw him dancing like he had no bones in his body, so flexible! He has a body that models would kill for. Forwarding jokes and wishing 'Good morning', 'Good evening' and 'Good night' serve his main purpose on the group. Though he is known for penning pulpy poems, I’m yet to figure out why he calls himself ‘a dead writer’.
Five years down the line, I don't know if I would still be in touch with all of them or if we would have gone our separate ways and drifted apart. What I do know is that they have managed to create a special place in my heart and every time I think about each one of them, I will have a big wide smile on my face.
