The Striking Eight

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

In the pic (left to right): Ravi Teja, Karthik, Dheeru, Prashanti, Jhansi, Satya, Kishore, Nagendra, Mukesh.

9:30 PM, July 31st, 2010

"Sir, aapka pizza ready hai", a guy from Dominos was speaking to me on phone. What the hell! I did not order any pizza. But the number and address he told are exactly mine. Who could have ordered a pizza on my name?? I thought it was a prank and told him not to waste time thinking about this order.

9:40 PM: "Era pizza vadda? (don't want pizza?)", Nagendra, one of my friends from B Tech has ordered it for me. It was friendship day the next day. How could I forget it??

Its been more than two years since B Tech and we, the members of our small gang "The Striking Eight (Yea! there are nine members in the pic, and still its Striking Eight!)", are now in six different cities. Though there was no regular hanging out, parties, outings as we had during our engineering, we still have the same essence of friendship, sharing our joy, tears, experiences etc..

Graduation days are the best days of our lives for most of us. And may be striking eight is one of the prominent reasons that I still cherish my B Tech life. Not only we had lots of fun together, but there was something unique about each one of us. We shared the most personal of things, advised the toughest advices, always had a shoulder to lean on.

"Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success" - Oscar Wilde

True isn't it? We found great joy in each others successes. Striking eight is the first thing comes to my mind to share any joy. I cannot forget the night IIM L's results were out. I was in Pune then, had a small but a great party with Kishore and Nagendra, who were equally happy on my success. This year had been a wonderful year so far for us, as four of us left our IT jobs for something bigger and better. This includes me getting into IIM L, Karthik getting into MDI and Nagendra becoming a scientist at ISRO.

Missing you all.. Wishing you all the very best in life.. Three cheers to Striking Eight..!!

Karthik had a wonderful experience to add to this post

"First Puf and First Sip!!

In the peak winters of Jaipur, with Marlboro packet (we never compromise on brand as always :P), we are scouting for a place to taste our first puff. I remember the reactions on every body's face, the confusion whether to smoke or not. Then our mentor Kishore lighted up the ceremony and all inexperienced followers tried their hand. What a memorable night it was!

Then comes our philosophical journey of drinking, which was initiated by our Dheeru. I remember his uneasiness to get into that wine shop to ask for a beer :-). Though it was not a successful step, We ended up drinking RED BULLS! My first step into the world of drinking and no stopping there after ;). Finally that beer bottle was used as a model, guys lined up to take a photo with it. Not to mention our Nag was damn good at giving his wonderful poses as always :-) haha.. another adventurous night to remember..

We enjoy together.. We spoil together.. STICKY STRIKING 8!!!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------