19. Lunch Time Conversation
The place - a quiet Indian restaurant in Pittsburgh. Four amigos from India are waiting for their lunch, nursing their Taj Mahal beer. The restaurant is lit with just one candle at a far corner and the friends were having difficulty in the low lux environment, trying to figure out if they are drinking their beer or somebody else's. There are six simulataneous conversations going on between the four of them. Ajay Palvayanteeswaran, an ex-IIT Madras product, has just been introduced to Sexy Jainee, a. k. a Anurag Jain from IIT Kanpur, currently on a visit to Pittsburgh, looking up an old classmate who is a friend of Ajay's. (You got the picture, right ?)
"Acha, you are from IIT K ? So, when did you pass out ?"
"Me, I passed out in '87. And you ?"
"I passed out in '88. That is interesting. Then you must be knowing Rajeev Gupta. He passed out in '87 "
"Wow, How do you know Rajeev Gupta ? That bugger is in Wisc-Mad. Then you must be knowing Ramesh Ramachandran"
"Of course, how do you know him ? He is in his fifth year Mechanical Engineering ...."
"But he must be in the four year batch ..."
"Yes, yes, I know. In IIT Madras, if you are in Mech Engg, then the entire batch also gets to go do a fifth year - at the Ohio State University."
"Acha Acha. Did you then know Deepak Sundaram ? I think he was in bijlee. I think in Ganga Hostel"
"Oh, yah, that bugger is from Bombay. Did you go to school in Bombay ?"
"Yeah, You know that bugger is now in New Jersey. I haven't talked to him in a year. Actually it is kind of funny. Last year, my parents were coming from India and I asked him to receive them and put them on a plane to Columbus and this bugger sent a wrong set of parents to Columbus and it was total confusion. Acha, did you know Prafulla Shah. He was doing Civil and I think he is somewhere in Texas .."
"You know PJ too. God, it is a small world and is fast shrinking into a singularity. That guy is total 'Kaat' bugger, a complete village type and 'dehaat'. Do you know what he is up to ?"
"Not much yaar, I heard ki he has joined a country club and now likes country music. Acha do you then know Shashak Moitra."
"God, this is like going back to the future. How do you know Potto ?"
"We were in kindergarten together. Great bugger. Slightly muggu type. I heard that he is married to an American chick."
"That bugger ? Marrying an American chick. God, he is the last person on the earth who would do such a thing. I wonder what that woman saw in him that we didn't see. Oops, never mind. Acha did you know Radhika Venkataraman, then. She was in IIT K."
"Oh yes, we used to call her the Mobike Female. I think she is still in IIT K. Quite hep. One bugger Prashant was despoly after her..."
"Prashant, you don't mean Prashant Godbole. I know him. What the heck is he doing ? I must talk to him. Do you have his phone number shone number ?"
"No yaar, But I can find out. Do you know Manjit Ahluwalia ?"
"Yes, of course ! Then do you know Charles Gunaseelan ?"
"Oh Why of course ! Then you must be knowing Sanjeev Sharma"
"Yes, yes, then do you know Rangarajan Parthasarathy ?"
"He was my classmate in high school. Acha then do you know K. V. Rao ?"
"Rao bugger, of course. Then do you know Arvind D'Souza ?"
"Of course, do you know Sharada Iyengar ?
"Yes, do you know Tushar Patel ?"
"Yes, do you know Javed Mohammed ?"
"Yes, do you know Chetan Palsule ?
"Of course, do you know Amitabh Bacchan ?"
"That bugger, sure, do you know P. V. Narasimha Rao ?"
"Yes, do you know this dumb guy called Ajay Palvayanteeswaran ?"
"Abhey, moron I AM Ajay Palvayanteewaran, and don't ever call me dumb".
Presently, the waiter arrives with sizzling orders of vegetarian thalis and the friends continue on to demolish them and make more such friendly, small conversations.
