"Home away from Home".Equals("Flat 6B") = True

Five minutes walk from the Tiruvanmiyur beach, opposite to the RTO office stands the Sri Sai Subodaya Apartments. On the 6th floor of this building rests what i call "Flat 6B". In the not-so-friendly city of Chennai (erstwhile Madras) this is where my soul found solace from the sorching sun, tormenting language and alien people.
And the folks living with me were as mad as me.. if not more...
(but greatest of friends to say the least...)
i joined 6B in winter of 2005 (oops.. sorry .. no winter in chennai... do not be suprised to find people wearing monkey caps in Dec / Jan @ 16 / 17 degree C) along with Prateet and Sudip. Luv and Anand were already there. Anand later became famous as Captain Anand.
6B had a nice private Tavern. Luv made it and sudip and i refurbished it.
It was a great thing to inherit (though later after Luv left, one fine morning i cleared it under influence of satsangi Prateet and Captain Anand).
After Luv and Anand left, we were joined by Mayank pajji and Aalok ( from Shols jungle). Mayank pajji joining proved to be a great boon.. apart from being a good human being , this guy took care of your tummy with delicious aloo paratha's. Hence i acheived the impossible.. gained weight.. what i couldn't acheive in 22 god damn years... i acheived in one year.. a jump of 13 kilos.. from a thin lad weighing 55k.. to a pot bellied 68k (Amazing to say the least)!!.. Although sudip was way ahead in the race (80K only)!!
All of us had one thing in common... "we hated chennai like anything".. but there was one exception to this Law... "LALA" aka parteet.. (y he liked chennai.. i cann't disclose in a blog).
i learnt cooking courtesy to prateet and pajji. Later on became th "Pulao" master.
After sudip joined 6B, we never had trouble from mosquitoes... courtesy to his smoking habbits.. which i presume by now have made him lose his potency!
Aalok was the most amazing thing in 6B. His favorite place was bathroom. An hour of early morning "Toiletting".. anything less would mean a bad day for him (not kiding)!
All in all.. it's a true home away from home in alien land!

ma chanson de favori - High Hopes

Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
In a world of magnets and miracles
Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun

Along the Long Road and on down the Causeway
Do they still meet there by the Cut

There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps
Running before time took our dreams away
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground
To a life consumed by slow decay

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide

At a higher altitude with flag unfurled
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river

Forever and ever