ode to vipul

well, not trying to be agonisingly mushy about all this.. but it's something i gotta do, cos its the end of an era!! this is a farewell (of sorts) to vipul.. who has finally seen that the grass is indeed greener (actually, the 'grass' would be better dry and brown..) on the other side, and has moved to baltimore. indeed, for me, vipul mehra is a person who all his life has concentrated every bit of energy he has in the pursuit of only one thing - to be comfortable!! it does appear to us around him that that is his sole, driving aim in life - to be comfortable!

through his two winters here (he has vehemently refused to count this year in the total!!), vip has been known by many names.. vipul, vip, mehra, dhamaar mehra, cleopatra, ganja gopi, mehra-G, chotte sarkaar, brown n$%%&r (sorry, no offense meant!), chotta daddy.. hmm.. i'm sure i'm missing a few here.. damned short-term memory loss! help me out here, people!

his keen pursuit of comfort was always helped along by a few constants in his life: his black hoodie.. a plate of daal-chawwal (or rajmaha, whatever was easier to make!).. a semi-slouching position on the couch.. twinkies and pineapple cubes with whipped cream.. M*A*S*H reruns and PBS documentaries.. sleeping in till noon.. a plaintive cry of "kya hain??", or ".. i'm telling you!".. sitting around in a circle and passing on the magic dragon.. night shifts at Hubie's.. and the light that sparks on in his face whenever he has one of those ground-breaking ideas that usually and unfortunately lead to a lot of effort being expended!!

anyways.. it's been a great time dude.. some totally awesome memories.. and some even more awesome times too.. thanks for everything dude, and we're sure gonna miss you around here (until you get back that is!!).. take care buddy, and all the best!!

NB: i think it would be really nice if all of you who met vipul would chip in here and said a few words about how he touched your lives ;-)) (whew, vip, this is sure sounding like an obituary here!! sorry about that dude!!)