The name's Koch...Keshab Koch... :-)

"I am really worried about you..."

"I just cant come out of my shell...I dont really want to..."

"I am your friend...but maybe not the way you want me to be..."

"Of course I am a romantic!!"

"What?? Marriage??!!! No way!!! I'm not ready yet."

Wondering what was all that?? Those are the simply, absolutely evidently contradicting words of one of my close friends. And this post, goes without saying, is about him and me. The name’s Koch…Keshab Koch (in truly Bond ishtyle). I don’t even remember calling him by his first name, coz I call him Koch. He’s one person with whom I can just keep talking for ever and ever!! More so, he is the only person with whom I can talk about Viju all day long!!! He’s a true friend. It’s more than a year since he joined Emulex, but its only recently that we bonded so much…I really admire him as a person, coz, to be frank, he is one among the intellectual kind that I have come across…and also, tries to be a perfectionist…but then…he’s really not all that perfect you see. Like a true Piscean, he takes quite some time to make his decisions…and whether they are right or wrong (most of the times its right…touchwood!!), he just sticks to them. And yes, he totally contradicts his own words!! As you might have read above, where on the one side he shows so much of concern, on the other side, he just doesn’t wanna emote!! That’s where he causes confusion…not just for himself, but for others too…hehe…jokes apart, I know he cares, its just that he doesn’t know how to show it…

I really don’t know when and how we became such great friends, but yes, it feels really good to be associated with him. A very good listener he is, never ever has he cut short when I am speaking to put his own point. I have spoken hours with him about my fiancé, and he listens to all of it with rapt attention (the attention might also be on fried chicken though :D). Our favorite topic?? Zodiacs…yup…we can talk on no end about zodiacs…I had read somewhere that Virgos and Pisces don’t really gel well…but I don’t believe in it one cent!! Why, my fiancé is a piscean too, leave alone Koch!!! Guess its his profound knowledge ( ;-) ) about Zodiacs is what made me so interested in him…hehe…

I regret that I coudn't be his friend a bit sooner…but well, that’s how I am…I do take a long time to make friends…and he knows that pretty well…the typical Virgo I am…but tell you what, although we’re very good friends, we don’t emote that often…maybe that’s coz I have kinda adjusted to the shell he is in…and the day he breaks the shell, I’m sure I’m gonna be face to face with an altogether different Koch…someone who, I can bet, will be very sentimental, emotional and a die hard romantic…and that Koch would be only for that special someone (though I have my own doubts as to how he is gonna manage expressing to his wife… :-) ) I dunno how many people are running behind him to get him caged (that’s what he says…that marriage is a big cage), but now, it seems like as though he IS giving in, after all…looks like he’s kinda trying to get into the cage slowly but surely, but he’s just making sure that there’s a lot of ventilation…plus A/C… :D as for me, I’m waiting for YOUR D-day Koch…(with due respects to your cage) ;-)

“Chalo Chungs jaate hain…” Chungs is one restaurant which was home for us…I’m sure even the waiters knew us pretty well…we were so regular there…I simply enjoy lunching with him…but more than that, Chungs has become an emotional part of our lives…when I told him I would be quitting soon, and flying to US after my wedding, I got this senti statement from him, “Ab mere saath Chungs mein khana khane kaun aayega??” :-) Very unlike him, I thought, but yet, it felt good. I dunno how serious he was, but it felt good. “Oh God, we don’t have much time…we’ve got to catch up on our Chungs sessions…” :-) We both might not, rather never accept it, but somewhere, I feel we are very emotionally attached to each other…he has a very special place in my life…And I’m really lucky to have him for my friend…

“This person is the Health, Hygiene & Nutrition analyst at Emulex”, was my question. The whole office gang went quiet, racking their brains. “Keshab Koch”, I said. And I cannot express in words the squeals, and the burst of laughter that erupted after that. Sadly, Koch wasn’t there to witness it. But when I gave him the “aankho dekha haal”, he was no less in laughter!!! I was scared if he would get offended, but here I got to know one very good trait of my friend. He is one of the most neutral characters I have ever seen. Wo kehte hain na, “kabhi kisi ki baaton mein taang nahi adaata” :-) I really like that about him…a very refined character…I have really got to learn so much from him…things which, maybe I knew, but they never surfaced, until I spoke with Koch…things which really made a very big difference in my life…and maybe HE is the reason why there is no tagline to my blog today… :)

Boy!!! I’m gonna miss him…time seems to be flying so fast!!! It’s not long when I would be married, and off to a totally new country…new people, a totally new life. And when I tell this to Koch, he says, “Don’t worry, main aaunga na tumhare aur Viju ke ghar…tab tak kahin mat jaana. We’ll go to Niagara Falls :-)” Wow!! That really makes me feel much better…just the thought that I’m gonna have visitor friends from India, specially Koch, keeps me going…parting ways from friends is so hurting, and its so much a part of life, but there is always a plus side to it...that, although we might not be together anymore, but we’re gonna keep in touch…always…yes, relations will change, but they will have the same intensity when we’ll meet again…it’ll be like reliving those old days…I’ll wait for that…and I’ll wait for the day Koch when I’ll see you in Pittsburgh…I’ll wait for the day to welcome you home…