The Vikas Connection

A couple of weeks ago, I met an old, old friend from college days, Mr Sai Vikas Munipalle. He's a legend. There are books written about him. I wont forget the first time I met him in class. He shrunk up on me and said, hey, can we exchange topics for the Economics project?

I was amused. I said no.

Vikas was the guy who jumped out of his skin if a girl so much as touched his arm. He looked at women as if they were aliens. He also didn't drink, or swear, or smoke. That was in the first year, of course.

Three years later - Vikas had long hair, played drums for three bands, cursed like a professional rock-star, had an impressive beer belly, was the joker of the classroom, and one of the most popular people in college.

I was always fond of him, like an older sister, I was especially proud of the long hair. In the harsh summer of Bombay in our second year, when he was whining about wanting to go bald, I displayed my eternal zen wisdom and told him to keep his hair on.

Anyway, after college, with a strange twist of fate, I landed up with a job in Vikas' home city - Hyderabad, while he went on to take on a photographer's job with Time Out, Mumbai.

Two weeks ago, we met, after probably two years. His long hair is gone. He has a funny moustache-beard thingy, which makes him look like some Spanish don. Or something.

But he's still the same boy I used to bully and still has the same retarded laugh. We caught up on old times, and I didn't care to tell him much about the new me. He'd known me in my beer guzzling, pot-smoking, rock-n-roll days, and couldn't really believe I wasn't drinking anymore.
I briefly mentioned yoga, and the ashram.

Later, he dropped me home, and when he stepped into my room, he noticed a photograph of Sadhguru, and said, hey, I know that dude. I was amazed. Vikas and Sadhguru? No way.

Turns out, his mother is a seeker and follows Sadhguru's path. I was thrilled. Promised him that I would go visit his mother.

Today, aunty called me. She's excited to meet me as much as I am to see her. And then she mentions that I should not come between 4:00pm and 6:00pm which is when she has her drawing and painting class for children.

And I'm like... What? Really? Please let me attend! Drawing class with a bunch of kids! Especially since I've recently started painting myself! Definitely more fun than sitting at home and staring at my Google Reader feeds.

So yea. I have a date tomorrow. And I'm going armed with my watercolours and paintbrushes. Woohooo.

Ps: This is Vikas et moi about 5 years ago.