For Bhopal and My Friends

With a bag in my hands and a guitar on my back, with aspiration in my mind and passion in my heart, with support of my loving parents and company of a dear friend, I came to Bhopal for pursuing my post graduation.

A city which I didn't like when I stepped here for the first time. A city where I had to spend my 2 important years. A city where I had to learn how to thrive without family. A city where I had to make new friends...BHOPAL.

You don't like the songs of A.R. Rahman when you hear them for the first time, but gradually you start liking them and soon they become your all time favourites. My experience with Bhopal was something similar. I had to live with filled nostrils and a bad throat for more than a month as it rained and rained all day-all night. I used to get so happy, even when only 1 sunray popped out somewhere from the clouds. I had to live with bad stomach as I was eating outside food. I had to make a habit of living in a PG with very less home-like facilities.

Someone has rightly said that its the company of your friends which matters the most. Thanks to my friend who had come here and joined college 10 days before I did, that I didn't have to find or look for friends. They organically came towards me. Sometimes I think that it couldn't have been possible for an introvert guy like me to make friends quickly if I had joined college before my friend. In fact, all my classmates (barring some) were so good and genuinely caring people that it didn't feel like I was among new faces. Thanks to Whatsapp group, soon a bonding developed between us and it was fun to attend the classes.

There are so many places in and around Bhopal that Ravindra Bhawan, Bharat Bhawan, Manbhavan Tekri, Mahadev Pani, Bhojpur Temple, Kaliasot Dam, Kerwa Dam, Shahpura Lake, Moti Masjid, Birla Mandir, Van Vihar and of course the Bhojtal-bada talaab were all visited by us in the first 2 months only. Also, the DB Mall, Haat Bazaar and New Market became our places to hangout. The storage capacity in my phone and digi-cam had already started getting full with so many clicks all around. Soon, I began to realise that I had developed a very wrong perception about Bhopal in my mind. But this was just the beginning.

Previously I felt that I will not be able to leave home and gel with the new life. Soon, it became difficult to leave Bhopal. The atmosphere of this city was water and I was a soluble.  There was something in the air (No! Not carbide gas) that I got mixed-up quickly and then this started to happen-

A group of 4 and a trip to Sanchi by train.

A group of 5 and a trip to Delawadi-Salkanpur by 2-wheeler.

A bunch of good friends and a trip to Ujjain-Omkareshwar by car.

Same friends, same car and a trip to Pachmarhi.

Same friends, some other car and a trip to Indore.

Madhya Pradesh (HINDUSTAN KA DIL) was even more amazing than as depicted in the advertisement, just because of the company, just because of those friends. Not only roaming or visiting places, but we also used to study together during the exams. Exams during the winters were fun. We used to gather in a park and study so that warm sunlight provides us some vitamin D. The annual inter-departmental competition (Pratibha) in the college was also a great learning experience. Breaking all boundaries of Seniors-Juniors, we used to work, prepare and participate as a team to bring accolades to our department. Such was the understanding between all of us that both achievements and disappointments were equally enjoyed. Apart from college days, the weekends were spent at a friend's flat where pizzas weren't ordered. Rather, all the vegetables and necessary items were bought. The girls of the class were transformed into chefs and boys into helpers. What a bliss it was to eat together, watch TV together and have fun without any pre-occupied tensions! Sleeping on the rooftop of that friend's house under an open sky, or I should say chatting for the whole night on various topics about what are we going to do in future or how do we find each other without taking it too seriously or getting hurt, was a feeling of extremely pure friendship! In the words of a very good friend of mine - "raat ka safar aur tootTe hue taaro ko dekhne ka anubhav jo hum sabhi ko mila vo ek khwab jaisa hi tha". Yes, we actually saw falling stars, 3 of them during the same night. That doesn't mean our trips ended. Bhopal's Manav Sangrahlaya, Tribal Museum, Saer-Sapata as well as Raisen Fort, Maihar Mata Mandir and Satna were still left to visit and we covered them all. 

Having joined my first job in Gurgaon, far from both Bhopal (my alma-mater) and Jaipur (my hometown), whenever I miss Bhopal, I start going through all the images/pictures which we captured. A strange feeling strikes my mind every time that when a person crosses the mark of 21 years of age, he starts looking for friends who are here to stay, who will be with him to support him, who will be his friends forever. In the course of looking for these true friends, he tends to forget what great time he spent with his old friends. He makes many mistakes. He is too quick to judge people. There are a few quarrels over petty issues. There are a few misunderstandings as well as compromises. Time passes by, he grows up, some friends fall apart and some become close to heart. Finally, he reaches to a point in his life when he looks back and sees that all what he did was a mere stupidity. The time he wasted on all the useless things could have been utilized in living to the fullest and enjoying with all those people whom he left behind or judged as - not good friends!

That time will never come again but just because of my friends, this song (Bhopal and the memorable time) is now amongst my all time favourites! I had to twist my words to - The city which has become my second home. The city which will be missed forever. The city where I spent the best 2 years of my life. The city where I found family in my friends...BHOPAL

B- Beautiful (Because of its greenery, its culture and the friends I made here) 

H- Hilly (Almost like a hill station with areas named as - Arera Hills, Shyamala Hills)

O- Optimistic (Teaches you to build a positive side of life)

P- Progressive (Rapidly developing)

A- Astonishing (Because it can surprise you)

L- Lake city (A huge lake in the heart of the city and other water bodies/dams)

P.S.: For all those friends who made my 2 years in Bhopal memorable and also for those who somewhere feel related to my words...The voice messages I received this birthday from all of you ignited in me the feelings to write this. Thank you and miss you all.