Happy Anniversary !!! :)

Hey Amchi Gang, guess what? Today's our first anniversary :) Surprised that I didnt mention anything about it earlier? That's cause I wanted to write this blog post n surprise U all :) Well, here's the entire story, from the horse's, rather the mare's mouth ...

It all started way back in July 2005 when I started the Amchis group on Orkut. It was an attempt to get to know other Chitrapur Saraswat youth on Orkut.com. And if I could search for Amchis on the world wide web, would I spare any efforts to find them on campus at IIT-B !!!

Chetana Baliga (aka Bastet aka CB) was my cutie pie department junior. Kunal Kundaje (KaKe aka KK) I met through the Orkut Amchi group. Rather, it was KK who found that I was a student at IIT-B just like him and also introduced me to H4 ka Hero Ashish Balsawer (aka AB). AB got Siddharth Tallur (aka ST aka Sid aka Shrek) to join the gang. And just btw, Sid is the youngest member of the group, hence lovingly called Sid Baab :) Alongwith me, that is Maya Murdeshwar (aka Maya Pachi aka MM), the five of us formed the AMCHI GANG @ IIT-B :) :) :)

The Amchi GangSTARS: (l-r) ST, KK, AB, MM n CB

Oh boy! And did we have fun! We had our very first Amchi meet on the 23rd of April 2006, in Room No. 202, H10, my hostel room that is. And in true Amchi style, it was a total foodie thing, an Amchi Me-Eat :) There were delicious Phenoris and Besan Undes provided especially for the occasion by Sid's Amma (bless her!); there were slices of a yummy, juicy apple; there were chocolates courtsey Chocoboy KK; and not to forget the one and only, yummilicious (???) hybrid of kaallya phovu and normal phovu, the unique Maya Pachi's Putchi Phovu (Clap! Clap! Clap!). And to wash this all down, we had icy cool Kokum Sherbat... mmmmmmmmmm.... But of course, there was lots n lots of chitter-chatter in Konkani... what a treat, both to the tummy and to the ears!

The yummilicious food n drink

Maya Pachi's Putchi Phovu

We kept meeting on and off after that, at the Boat house besides Powai lake, and at innumerable restaurants demanding and ensuring treats from each other. There were also the nightly chat sessions on the IIT-B LAN and then the very recent spate of e-mails in which the Amchi Girls tried their level best to get the Male Sloths out of their hibernation - aestivation cycle... n succeeded only with young Sid Sloth. The older sloths simply refused to be roused from their hibernation! ;)

Today, we have all drifted apart. AB is working for Maersk Oil in Qatar, KK's got a fat pay packet from I-forget-whom :) CB's done with her Masters in Biotech, Sid's leaving for Cornell for his internship, and I'm in Bangalore doing my PhD. But we all are very much in touch and keep recalling the wonderful moments we spent in each others' company. To put it in Sid's words...

Endsems draw near, leaving me with little time As my fellow amchis pass out, I made this little rhyme To my best friends ever, a small tribute Try as I might, I won't be able to forget The times we spent together No matter where we all go now A promise let's all make Never to forget one another Our amchi group shall forever last.

Amen to that, Sid Baab... so shall it be :)

And finally, my dear Amchi GangSTARS,

Love Ya All ... Keep Smiling, Always :)
~ Maya Pachi