This morning's post is about Friends!

Achal: Bhai, friend, mitr, bandhu. I share a very good relationship with Achal. Achal is my brother and my best friend. No one else, comes even close to him. We understand each other very well. As the saying goes, 'A best friend is the one who understands you without you having to say a word.' Silence is the biggest conversation between best friends. You can spend an entire evening without having a conversation and still feel happy and satisfied. Achal & I, we share that kind of a relationship. The unspoken has meaning. It's that way! I share my deepest thoughts, secrets, joys, sorrows, feelings with him. And, I suppose, he too does!

Nilesh: Childhood friend. We were together in school and junior college. Formed a good friendship with him in Junior College (Fergusson College, Pune). Haven't met him for a long time. Didn't meet him the last time I was in Pune. I want to meet him. Go for a long drive. Visit Khadakwasla, Sinhagad, Lonavala, go for lunch & dinner. Catch up with information about schoolmates. Talk about life n'times.

Ganesh: Childhood friend, schoolmate, neighbour (same society). My oldest friend. Haven't been in touch with him since July 2002!!! That's because he is in USA, pursuing his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida. I was in touch with him through MSN Messenger and emails. I send him mails, sometimes, however, must say, haven't been in touch regularly with him and, he too, hasn't! People go their own ways. He's in US. He's married. Different place, different work, different life!

Suman: Professional acquaintance. Now, I can call her a friend. She was my trainer in Bangalore (call-center, customer service classes), when I was with MSource. The best thing about her is that she always replies to my mails, whenever she has the time and inspite of her busy schedule, she always finds time to say a kind word or two. I'll definitely meet her when I visit Bangalore. Right now, I'm in touch with her through mails and I must say, she too replies regularly! Thanks for being my friend, Suman! I appreciate your friendship! Take Care & God Bless You!

Ngn: Senorita! That's what I called her, in Bangalore. She was my voice n' accent trainer in Bangalore. I felt good in her company. She gave me a lot of hope and encouragement. She always had good things to say to me and, about me. She always made me feel Very Special!! I don't know and don't care for what others think about her, she was good to me. She's in Chandigarh now. That's her hometown. The last time, I spoke with her, that was in Feb. this year, she was pursuing an online course. I'd asked her about her future plans and she'd mentioned about taking up a job in Delhi/Chandigarh. Haven't received any mails from her, although she sends 'Forwards' sometimes. What's the point in sending 'Forwards' when you can't find the time to send a 'Hi!'. The meaning of Ngn is 'A Jewel'. She is like a Jewel. Ngn is beautiful & intelligent! And, that's a very rare combination!
Now, don't let your thoughts wander. I have only made a point. She's a beautiful, good-looking, slim (atleast was, haven't met her since July 2003), and intelligent girl. You may put it in any order you like.
What feelings do I have for her? Well, she's Unique! :-) I want to meet her again!

Binu: Met Binu in Bangalore. Professional acquaintance. He is working with Mindspeed, Bangalore.
Binu, impressed me with his simple and precise communication skills. The one line that I learnt from him, and I use very frequently is, "How are you doing, Bro?" Besides that, 'The challenge for us is...' 'There is value in understanding...' Good sentences to use in Business talk. I've found them to be very useful.

Arpee: My Bhabhi. (Achal's Wife). I get along very well with her. She's a very nice n' adjustable girl.
She's simple, down-to-earth, practical and intelligent. A perfect wife for Achal! God Bless You, Arpee!

Office Colleagues:
Jahangir: Project Manager: Very different from other managers I've worked with.
Jahangir lets people do their work. He doesn't interfere. This is to be done, this is how we do it and now do it. That's it. He is very friendly and so far, he hasn't once thrown his weight and that's very very unlike a manager. I have a very good impression of Jahangir. I'd say, he's the best manager, I have worked with. I have a very independent nature and so, almost invariably, I've always had differences of opinion with my seniors, as I speak my mind. Although, I haven't found any such thing with Jahangir. Jahangir is very open and simple. My opinion is, He's a Good Manager!

Deb: Happy-go-lucky. The most talkative person in the group. There's always something to talk, chat, discuss about whenever Deb is around. He's a good colleague. We've been on team lunches together. He's good company to be with.

Anwar: Anwar was my first friend in office. I met him on the first day of joining. He was working alongwith me on Content Research. Now, he's in another team. He's a good colleague.

Umesh: Umesh is a part of our team. He's a software developer. Haven't had much of a conversation with him, except for office work. That's because we're from different background and plus he has a problem in understanding Hindi and I can't speak Telugu and they're either talking in Telugu or if I'm discussing something with Anwar, Deb and others then I'm speaking in Hindi. Although we've had conversations during team lunches.

Sai: Decent, straight-forward, simple person. I've found Sai to be a very good colleague. He's a nice guy. He's very good at his work.

Venu: Venu is a good colleague. We discuss politics sometimes.

Krishna: Krishna is a nice guy. He's the newest member of our team. He has joined as a Trainee.

Burman: The office boy. He's from Tripura. He understands Hindi and is learning English. He's a nice guy!

So that's the office team. A small team, yes. We're going to make it big! :-)

Aparna: You may say, she's my online friend! I chat with her daily on Yahoo Messenger. She is an ex-colleague, although, we interacted very little when I was her colleague. That's because we were at different locations and our work profiles were different. However, while chatting with her from my new office, found that we've a lot of Professional Common interests. Interests related to online marketing, internet and other web-related work. I chat with her daily and I must say she always replies, without fail and I've found her online company very enjoyable. I'm at a loss about whom to chat with, when she's not online! :-)
I'm going to meet her very soon. Have been saying that to her for quite a longtime now. :-)