Apoorvam Chilar @ The Groove Shack
It was not to be, but still it happened. When a planned trip
got cancelled, I was not really hopeful of making it to Calicut, let alone
having a MCC get together. However once again proving, that if there is a will,
there is a way, it took place. After the cancellation, when we made a sudden
decision to drive down to Calicut for two days, I was afraid to inform people
lest something came up again. And so, it was after crossing the border that I
messaged Freddie. Interestingly, the first message that I got when I got the
phone network back in Wayanad was a candy crush request!!!!!! Oh lord, will
these ever end???
After umpteen breaks, we landed safely in Calicut and then I
sent out an SOS in the group. ‘I am here’. Pat comes the reply from none other
Sameer, ‘I am here too’ and so the wheels were set in motion and our dear old
Freddie voluntarily took up the job of calling people up to see how many we can
gather at such short notice. Abha had confirmed she would come down from
Kalpetta, Deepa from Nilambur, Sameer all the way from Doha, so we had
something going after all to encourage people. I guess Freddie was ‘on the
line’ quite a bit making calls J and finally we seemed to have a confirmation to get
the get together going.
The venue: Where else but the happening - ‘The Groove Shack’
– Luckily Fabby agreed to having her mad mates into her den and was willing to
brave it out. And so it was fixed for 4 p.m. on Friday the 22nd May
2015. I get a call from Freddie around 1 p.m or so and he says ‘I will pick you
up’ and I was glad. I didn’t know of course that he had promised to pick up
half the other crowd as well. And so it was that at a little after 4 p.m when I
call him, it was Hemanth who picked up the call and said, ‘Hold on, we are
coming!!!!’. I get picked up around 4.15 and then he says, we now got to pick
up Bindu and Deepa !!! And so off we go through some weird shortcuts almost
getting stuck, and finally land in front of Focus Mall and they are picked up.
The first follow up call comes from Sameer…….. Freddie in his usual inimitable
style handles it, and all the while Hemanth is ranting and raving about how
Freddie never keeps up the timing part J And our dear Freddie
is cool, smiling through it all and our constant ladies chatter in the back
seat. Finally we land in GS and Fabby sets up the tables for us under the
trees, facing the sea. What a setup indeed…….Right beside, the Lion’s park is
thronging with the weekend crowd already.
Kahi door jab din dal jaaye...........
As expected, the chatter goes on and on, rolling along……And
Hari walks in…….Abha wonders where his hair has gone and he says it’s because
of all the tension of being a married
man. Sameer has some ‘nuskas’ for Hari on this on how to keep the hair on your
head despite being married!!!! We were so busy talking, catching up that we did
not even realize that we had to eat or drink and did not even order anything
and so it was left to our gracious host Fabby, who took the initiative and
asked everyone what they wanted and happily called out the order into her
kitchen, ’Monee…………4 watermelon, 4 Chiku, 2 Cold Coffee’. Suddenly I realize that
Sameer and Hemanth got up and are moving around……..Oh dear!!! You don’t
say…..really……Yes of course, the crows on top of the trees had decided to join
in to our get together and Sameer and Hemanth happened to be the benefactors of
the dumplings in the first round J Got to say the crows chose wisely- one a genius
artist and the other a gracious businessman doctor J And perhaps that is
what finally triggered the ‘Total Recall’ – err- the dumplings on the head I mean!!!!!
Yeh dosti hum nahin thodenge......
Ok, here comes Cherian ……….And a little later Nitin - Total
surprise…..Not bad, the count is the 11……..And out come the stories now. Prasad
lands up despite the fact that it was his anniversary and Miswar despite his
busy schedule. The best stories came in after that. Since a few had trouble
remembering Miswar, Sameer took the up the initiative and he said, ‘Yeah he
used to be a good and nice guy, but used to get thrown out of class for nothing,
just because he was with us’ J Sameer goes on about how they used to trouble
Jayasree Mam in English class and how after she complained, they were warned
from attending her classes!!!!! Years later one day while in Medical college
casualty, he was sewing up the scalp of a guy, who had a scalp injury in a bike
accident. He had his mask on and then suddenly he noticed that the guy’s
parents were standing by and his Mom was crying. None other than Jayasree Mam and our dear Sameer removes his
mask in order to reassure her and introduce himself, but you can guess what
happened next and how ‘reassured’ she felt J There were some
stories about Seb and I was surprised indeed…. ‘Seb nee aaloru decent party
anenna njan karuthiyathu J’ Pinne Nanayude samoohika santhulanathinu vendiyulla
parishramavum, shafeeyude chaya and vada kathayum angane angane poyikondirunnu.
The best of the stories of course of our dear Freddie……Of
the times when he visited Sameer in Mangalore and how he ended up with a stolen
three legged stool which belonged to the security guard from a bar, how they
escaped being attacked by an elephant in Muthanga, how he and Vyas ran out of
the car half way to Bangalore and so on. I decided I should be wise and
immediately applied for the rights to Freddie’s memoirs. As Sudha said, his
stories really are legendary stuff and perhaps will truly end up as best
sellers. Pinne royalty namakokke kittum, oro kathakalilum, nammalororutharam
okke aanallo kathapathrangal’. Parents and principals may hand over one copy to
kids when they get into college and say read this to know ‘What you should not
do in a college’ and friends may probably say ‘Hey. Let’s at least try half
that stuff man’ J
Rakhsayilla pillarse…….Enthokke cheythalum aa kaalam thirichu varilla……..The
great times we had was also courtesy the Principal we had at the time, Mr.
Yesurathnam and his ways. Apparently someone mentioned that he has joined FB
recently, I am sure he is soon going to build up a credible friend list J
All those who owe him their freaky college day memories ……We remembered all the
good old Karunan Maash, Devadas maash, Chandramohan Sir, Muthu Maash…….How the
poor dear teachers were troubled by many of us - the brats………Ellarkum undu
‘Gurutva Dosham’. Appam athinu Freddie de come back ingane ‘ Njan Irene aunty
kku ippozhum Bday gift okke kodukkarundu.’ Athe athe Freddie, nammale
padipikkathavarumayi ignayokke irikkum,
(avarkonnum nammade kayilirippinte direct effect undayitillalo),
padipichavararanengilo …. the ones no more, must be turning in their graves
when we discuss their names and ones alive might still be cursing under their
breath……….
No MCC get together is complete without a mention of Stan and
we all fondly recollected him and how we missed him.
The scene was somewhat like this more or less throughout,
someone would tell a story and someone would add on and we would all just roar
with laughter. The crowd in Lions Park really had a nice time. I caught quite a
few standing near the fence and staring at us as though ’Why are these idiots
practicing laughter therapy on a Friday evening by the beach side?’ J
Yeah in between all this our co host Dennis, helped click some snaps and we are
really grateful to him for having us there despite the fact we really did
create such a ruckus……Needless to say, Fabby’s staff both the ‘mons’ were quite
amused and kept giving us some queer glances as well……’Ee kuthiravattatheenu
aduthengandum oru kootam odi poyathayi paperil vayichayirunno’ ennangottum
ingottum chodichu kanumo ennenikoru samshayam J Pinne daily Fabbyeyum,
edakyu Freddineyum kannunannathu kondu avarangu adjust cheythu ……… The best
part is we really were oblivious to everything, the beautiful place, the music
in the background, the curious stares, the gentle sea breeze and the mild fishy
smell………As it always happens when friends meet up after two decades, it was
just constant chatter and fun all the way….. Miswar next time, ninakku
immediate welcome drink, urappa J Varthanathintedakku marannu poyatha nammade paavam
host Fabby ……..please don’t take offence…….
Finally like the Bingo Mad Angles ad we clicked and clicked from all angles and corners much to the amusement of the onlookers :)
I did not honestly think that at such short notice, one
phone call and people still landed up in earnest despite other commitments ……
Yeah we seem to be a different breed like Nana said…. They certainly don’t make
them like that anymore. I am always amazed at how we continuously chatter as if
we were never away from each other in the first place……Manasariyaathe paadi poyi - Oru vattam koodiya arabikadalinu theerathu ..........
Fabby : A big thanks to you and Dennis for having us there
for such a long time……..Hangover still there......
Disclaimer: Everything written above is a figment of my
imagination, including all names, characters and stories mentioned!!!!! If
anyone feels that what is written is about them it is only a coincidence. This
article is meant entirely for entertainment purposes only J
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