KNOW MY MATES 6: Jillu

This is about Sriram Sivaram popularly known as Jillu. Sometimes as Jillu mani. Please don’t think that the mani was added as a mark of respect. It was because of a silly incident. Jillu was taking bath in some hostel bathroom without a lock and one guy just walked in. He din’t see anything unusual or strange but still felt that the title of ‘mani’ should follow his name(Mani in tamil means Bell).
He is a jolly type guy caring the least about studies and classes. But before exams gets possessed by a demonic urge and swots through the course contents. Often learns from S.A.Kannan. He is a 9 pointer. You may think why I am mentioning this and why the fuck am I bothered, but he is my next roll number. He has helped me a few times in my exams.(ok thats an understatement) And I have helped him back by providing answers to questions that he might have not studied (happens once in a blue moon) and also in one another way. When the evaluator corrects his paper after mine, to him jillu’s paper looks like an oasis in the desert. So with his own efforts and mine to provide the much needed contrast, he has bagged numero uno of class once.
Although he is the topper, his interest is in the English language and other non technical fields. Has no technical inclination and if he converts IIM-B (waitlist32), will take it up ditching the Ivy league admits he has got.
He is very frank with his mom. Has teased her sometimes, saying that he has fallen in love and hence going to marry some girl and not someone they arrange. But I don’t understand the fun in that banter. He has a big crush on vp of our class. Anyways he, like many others in the class hasn’t done anything about it.
Currently he is in a little depression because his crush and long time girl friend has become committed to someone else(edited later as per sriram's request). The people from his hostel wing have reported that they hear wails from his room late night. I hope he soon overcomes the loss and gets a move on with someone else. And dude why do you cry for that??
And yeah I forgot to mention his characteristic trait. He is a compulsive stickler for time. Jus kidding. This guy never turns up on time. Whenever you call him, for whatever reason, he just answers that he will be there in five minutes. But his five minutes takes an eternity. So now you are forewarned.
And he is the fastest in SMSing. The time taken for his replies is only the time taken by the network to deliver them. He has an odd habit of dancing when in conversation with a group. Now I think we guys have made him kick the habit, but it used to be a pretty sight to watch him do that.

KNOW MY MATES 5: Sissy

This one is about Sisyphus Raja. As you can make out, the first thing people notice about him is his name. Peculiar. Ain’t it? So is it good or bad to have such a peculiar name instead of the ubiquitous karthiks and kumars. This is worth a debate. Lets see the pros and cons. A peculiar name is advantageous when you are getting introduced first time to a girl. You can be pretty sure that any girl who wants to talk something for the sake of talking, is going to ask what kind of a name it is. Since its your name you must be knowing stuff about it and can go on crapping. And I am sure Sisy has used this topic for flirting extensively.
Now the cons of having a less known name. In the classroom while rollcall any teacher can quickly remember the face that goes with this sort of a weird name. So it is difficult for others to give proxy for him. However with progressing semesters, lecturers became more dumb or lazy or both, that we got away with proxy calls even for SISYPHUS.
And about the name, I don’t remember much. Once Sisy was explaining to some lecturer that it was a Greek mythological character or rather a stone that gathers moss while rolling (Weird huh!! Forgive me Sisy I have a very poor memory) or something of that sort.
The first time you talk with him, you will feel WOW this guy knows his things and gadgets and is trendy. (hmm I’m not going to say what you are thinking) He spends a fortune on changing his mobile phone as often as the season changes. He plays a lot of PS2, but the funny thing is that he lost out on a challenge in his favorite game NFS to a rookie. But he drives his Baleno a lot better.
He loves to drink. It seems it all started when he was in his primary school. During the vacations in his native place, his parents used to mix some beer in his milk so that the poor child doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night hearing spooky sounds. Thus he picked up the habit and is now a virtuoso.The puzzling thing about him is that we can’t find when he is sober and when he isn’t. The enigma’s favorite tee says “I’m home. Take me drunk” This sums up Sisy for u.
Has a long list of girl friends. Was very close with one in first semester but then broke up. Anyone in our group who mentions that sported a black eye for a week. Then in third year he fell bigtime for Divya. During our combined studies, he used to slip away to dreamland imagining some raunchy tamil numbers casting himself and her. Now has got a lot of close friends in Coimbatore.
He is going to become the next GM of his dad’s company as soon as clears his papers and gets through college. And he has promised me that he will give some inside info for me about his company’s share in the Madras stock exchange, but he still doesn’t what its face value or current valuation.
He had vowed to finish off every lecturer who was mean to him. Anytime he gets scolded, the next line he says is “enna! thookidilama?”, but still I havn’t seen him make one flying. The funniest incident between us happened during an Antennas assessment test. Sisy and I had not prepared for the test for obvious reasons. We depended on Gowri to show us the answer sheets. Gowri finished his first sheet and passed it to me. I scribbled it and sent my sheet to Sisy. As happens in the game ‘Passing the secret’, the content got degraded after every hop. Then when I returned Gowri’s paper, one more guy in our middle wanted to see. So Gowri kept his answer sheet inclined. Gowri was absorbed in the questions that he didn’t notice our antenna teacher seeing him. So he got caught in the act (no pun intended). We thought he would plead and ask sorry. But dude he surprised us and even the staff. He started arguing how he could be treated like this when he had studied all night. Finding it illogical, he was given an instant zero. Sisy and I came out of the hall contented with our performance but feeling sorry for Gowri. But this is the clincher. The sheets were returned with me scoring 2 and Sisy scoring 1 on twenty five.
However Sisy, Gowri and I cleared the subject when the class topper and one electronics nerd were given arrears.

KNOW MY MATES 4: Mams

This one is about the studious guy in our group. Oh yes!! There is at least one among us who is good at engineering education. Prakash is a weird guy. He will look the most careless jolly kind of guy (like me) from the outset but boy he can swot it out if required.

A total veggie he likes to eat anything but always in multiple servings.

He is yet to start shaving. But he may tell you that he has already begun. I would suggest you to take a look at him and then decide for yourself.

He likes gaming and tv. During the many nights we have spent with him, gaming on our PS2 we usually doze off before dawn breaks. But he stays put and continues…… The same applies to nights before tests too. He can be awake for stretches of perpetuity without even winking and can also keep you awake alongside.Sisy will corroborate that.

Before tests Prakash has a practice of writing down whatever he has learnt. If you are not careful enough and let your notebooks strewn around while studying with him, you can be assured of a totally filled up notebook when you wake up.

He has a soft corner for AB batch’s Aishwarya, but we lost interest in digging up that issue as he has an uncanny knack of avoiding discussing his issues although we all may be interested. The latest in that is that he was spotted going around the hostel for her photo on the pretext of loading the farewell photos on his thumb drive.

For his GRE prep, he studied the Barons wordlist upside down. Starting from almost ground zero, in a month he was so adept in it that when we say a word he could reel of the wordlist number and the word after and before it.

And boy he does have a very loud voice. He is the best contemporary example for a stentorian. But you will never believe me because he fakes such an innocent look after a very rude comment that even the person beside him cannot point him.

He has not yet watched porn. Hard to believe but that is what he says. However with his aptitude he can learn things fast and so need not worry.

KNOW MY MATES 3: Ojak

In this edition lets come to know about Saravana Kumar a.k.a ojak, manmadan.
This guy comes from Chrompet. He was the first guy I knew in the class, thanks to our common friend Arun. When I was first introduced to him, this guy was a calm, polite, uninteresting kind of guy. But boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

U can never believe how intently he looks at girls. Has a visual memory with infinite capacity. Also takes pains in collecting their details. When we see a girl in campus and turn towards him, he starts reeling out her name, year, branch, address etc.
Of late he has lost interest in his database operations and guys are terribly missing his services.

He belongs to the aristocracy in his native village near Tuticorin. He is touted to be their next nattamai (godfather). I bet he will do a hell of a job with it if he takes it up.

U never feel bored with him, but once he decides to make an arse out of you, I bet u become a really dumb one. Gowri will vouch for it.

He is the first one to watch all new movie releases come what may. Doesn’t allow academic schedule to affect his attendance at cinema halls. He is the last one to start studying before any test but manages to breeze through the exams. Of course we both love taking the easier route with me being a little more adventurous.

I have seen him angry just once when we played a silly joke on him. We had put up a notice in class saying he had lost one of his personal possessions (worn at all times but still I don’t know what it is called in english). We had managed to clip his photo too on it. He was fuming with anger after seeing it. Poor sakthivel who went and asked him abt it got slapped hard.

He enjoys being with his friends (guys). To believe how big the crowd is, u should have seen him during any of our culturals. Outside working hours of college, it really takes some time even for his parents to find out where he is. Usually stays in any of his friends house and occasionally visits home to recharge his wallet.

He gets smitten quite often. When he appears to have found a soul mate as he puts it, he states some inane reason and backs off. Then again starts from ground zero with renewed vigour. The reasons can range from another guy in the class being interested in her to a bumpy ride.

He is great company to be with but can drive you crazy if he wishes that way. So beware and don’t get him on your wrong side. His way of annoying someone is weird and admirable if you don’t like that someone.

I wish this guy settles down with someone instead of just bird watching (an euphemism he tells for his hobby).

KNOW MY MATES 2: DV

Ok in this edition let us take a peek on my buddy Sathish a.k.a Dv, theriyadhu.
If he is asked any question he first says ‘don’t know’ (theriyadu) and then comes up with an answer. That has become his habit.
How this guy started to be with us is still a mystery b’cos he doesn't copy, doesn't put proxy and doesn't do anything that a righteous college student is supposed to do. Maybe opposites attract. But still he doesn’t hate us for all that.
Often you can find him roaming in the campus. This guy loves college and never likes to return home. He sometimes starts leaving for home, reaches the entrance and then comes back into the college for no obvious reason.
He is a dreamy kind of guy and is very profound in some of his replies. For example I quote one of our conversations.

Me: what r u dreaming about da??
Dv: I am thinking what I am thinking about.
Me: what the hell does that mean da?
Dv: Dei I know I am thinking of something but I can’t remember what it is.

I advise u not to pick up an argument with him b’cos the combo of brain & brawn can drive u nuts. He is a spiritually inclined person unlike others in our group. He stands for everything that others don’t. He has never stayed away from his home for a night unless accompanied by parents (discounting our IVs).

He has a great appetite for breakfast. I actually found it out accidentally. One day he told me that he was famished as he had not had his breakfast. I asked him how he manages doing that. He said he had ONLY a glass of milk, bananas, apples and porridge, but no solid breakfast.

He is nuts about a girl from EEE in our college. He met her during the NSS camp and they both got together based on their common interest in music. The one foolish thing he did was he recorded his every experience in a diary. The diary was later exposed and everyone in the class got hold of it and went through. They both form the most studious couple in college. Their conversations are mostly confined to technical crap. Their favourite hotspot is, yeah u guessed right, the library. Latest on them is that he is teaching her matlab.(did any1 of u think of such a topic to put kadalai??) Oh I forgot to mention!!! This guy is a programming geek.

Ok enough of scorn. This guy is great company to be with. He is understanding and talks sense often. He is a teetotaler and abstains from anything dubious. However he doesn’t avoid others for being wayward.
I sincerely wish that he gets a move on with his crush.
All the best dude!!!

KNOW MY MATES 1: Gowri

In this series, get to know of my friends. I have tried to give a really complete picture abt them, but if i have missed out on anything please feel free to add them as comments.
My first post is going to be on my closest mate Gowri Shankar a.k.a. pandu, mokkai, direction(oops this list will be longer than this post). G.S is Hagrid like in appearance and can intimidate anyone in their first meeting but he really is meek and friendly. I say this cos once in second sem, when i threw him my answer paper for cross validation, he started trembling in the exam hall.
I have spent a lot of time with him trying to tide over the never ending series of exams. The night before the tests, we have spent more time in local tea stalls gulping tea than with our books.
On two wheels and a 100 cc engine I bet no one can beat him. This guy blazes the roads and gives his pillion riders a fright. However he has got an inherent problem with comprehending directions(He is still wondering why West Bengal is in East India). He has sent many first timers in our campus who seek directions, into a maze.
His cup of coffee ( he is a self confessed caffeine addict) includes engineering, laboratory and girls. He has a bad sense of humour and is exceptionally talented at cracking silly jokes. But he argues that girls like only that kind of jokes. We have never discouraged him on this part and have even laughed hard enough on his jokes to cause our tummies to squirm.
He can spend hours on the phone droning with girls, often allowing me to doze off during our so called exam preps. When there is a gathering of four or more, someone invariably starts bullying him and he ends up being the arse. However he always seems to enjoy it. He is a completely different person, when he deals with his little brother. He completely bosses over him on the pretext of teaching him maths.
He prefers tamil movies over english ones. He is crazy about Ajith and Jyothika , the most rotund filmstars. Currently he is learing japanese and is into PS2 gaming ( non racing games).
His Crushes: 1. A girl from G.I. He had allegedly proposed her and this became common knowledge during a stupid birthday party celebration.
2. One of our classmates. Too obvious to give the name and I also hate defamation suits.
3. A girl he met recently in a wedding ceremony. He had soiled his shirt in an attempt to grab the video of that marriage. Now his desktop is full of snapshots from the wedding.
Now on a serious vein, he is a great guy to be with, helpful and a hardworker. Frankly he deserves a longer list than the one above. He has got a great family. A really understanding mom(she even knows abt the GI girl) and a cool dad. I owe him a lot more than the previous movie ticket and the lost John Grisham's 'Partner'.