JP and Me!

With my thesis work winding down... i am actually able to sit back relax and think about my entire masters experience ... of the 2 years.... a year and a half was spent working on my thesis work ... out of which i was away in the field for a lilttle more than 6 months .... it was an unbelievable 6 months ... spent back home in Madras ... of course it was awesome staying with my தாது அப்பா and அம்மா, hanging with all my friends was super o super ... ofcourse spending so much time with கர்ணா after almost 10 years and feeling like a day hadn't passed was yet another pleasure ... but most of all meeting new people was even more exciting..... No matter what , I will always be grateful for meeting JP and am thankful for his friendship.

JP aka Jayapal was the fieldworker that was assigned for our project ... he had been working with the community for the last year and was well acquinted with the people. But this was not the reason for our friendship .... the first day we met we clicked ... it was like we were connected in some weird way ... there were no awkward introductions or silences ... we just slipped into being friends ... and this was definitely the beginning ..... ofcourse the primary reason we clicked was that we were the youngest in the lot and he was not much older than me.... the average age of the reserachers was 50. with two 40 year olds, 1 50 year old and two 60 year olds... making me 24, and JP 26 the கடை குட்டிஸ் .... also since i was fluent in english and தமிழ் ... i was automatically assigned to work with him during the workshops and for the rest of the project works .....
So.... I know this sounds like any other regular friendship BUT one thing stood out , for me about JP... ofcourse during the course of our time in the Madras University campus --- me and him used to hang out a lot during the breaks from our workshops , we ate lunch together , and when we went home ... he would walk to me to my bus-stop before he himself took the bus home .... AND OFCOURSE .... cheap minds ...started to wag their tongues at us.... infact one prof even went to the extent of telling JP's boss that he should stay away from me cos ... ... and this was his reasoning -- that i was there only for 6 months and that invariably JP would fall in love with me and i would fly back home ditching JP and JP would become like devadas ... I mean come on .... I was SO freaking pissed when i heard this .... but more than being pissed i was worried that JP would somehow start feeling awkward and that it would be horrible to step around each others ways for the next few months ... BUT no .... JP took it so well... he told me not to take this to heart and that no matter what we should hangout together and thats what we did.... and even now when i think back to those months would have been such a drag without HIM.....
I mean ... when i was pickpocketed in the bus ...JP was the first person i called and he was by my side in the next 15 mins....came with me to Police station to complain...and would go with me every few weeks to find out if they had found anything .....along with ....
All those afternoons we spent at Udayam theater watching the 1 o'clock shows .... late lunches at Nair's mess.... our long evening walks and talks along the marina beach...window shopping at City Center .... some late evening dinners/ mid-afternoon tea/ mid-morning breakfasts at various கைஏந்தி bhavans , long bus rides , rainy days in trains , shopping sprees in t-nagar , long mid-night phone calls cos either he couldn't sleep or i couldn't, catching up on monday mornings about our weekends ... .... I miss you JP ....I miss Us haning out ....
We still email each other and on the rare day he wants to hear my voice ..... i call ....
I just thought about you today.... my mail is on its way ....cos romona பாட்டி ...(hehehe) was asking about you......
I cherish the fact that i met a man like you .... who does what he wants and doesn't apologize for being what you are , and for allowing me to be me with you... and also for enveloping me with your unconditional love and affection ....