The Great Thinker

Almost a year has passed and there hasn’t been much communication between us. The distance between us has also played a vital role. But, this should not in the way especially if one of the guy stays in Mumbai and the other stays in Wellington.

The guy I am talking about is Anil Jhurani. Right from the time, he has flown to New Zealand for his higher studies, he seems to have disappeared. Apart from a couple of comments in the blog, there hasn’t been much news from him.

He was so fond of Aloos (Potatoes) that it formed a vital part of his diet. Also his meal would be incomplete without a customary serving of Pappad. According to our internal sources (Read Ali), Anil had smuggled a pressure cooker full of Pappads to New Zealand.

His personality was complete with a receding hairline, a paunch, stubble and a cap on his head to conceal his hair loss. The kind of image Himesh Reshammiya sports now a days. But no need to worry. Jhurani doesn’t sing.

Always lost in deep thoughts. He spent his nights in front of his PC playing Age of Empires or Commandos. The day before the selection of the Indian cricket team, he spent sleepless nights wondering who should be brought in the team and who should be chucked out. The next day, he would discuss his team strategies with us.

Instead of whiling his time thinking about the Indian team selections had he studied his engineering subjects, maybe he could have been a scientist today. Apart from his extraordinary thinking abilities, he was also a keen believer in ordering something different from the group whenever we went to a restaurant. But, he leant his lesson one day when all the animals from the group pounced on his plate. Poor guy…. Could not get to eat anything… Serves him right.

We are so used to calling him Jhurani or Jumanji that sometimes we tend to forget his first name and this leads to problems when we call at his residence. Just imagine this conversation supposing I call up his residence and his dad picks up the receiver.

I: Hello, Jhurani?

His Dad: Yes, Jhurani speaking.

I (fumbling for words): Err….. Uncle… Can I speak to…… (trying hard to recollect his first name… )

His Dad: (patiently waiting on the other side): Yes…. Who do you want to speak to?

I: Well uncle… I will call back later…. (Disconnected)

His personality was quite a hit with the girls. The Paunch, the receding hairline, the stubble all added to the mature gentleman image. Think Akshaye Khanna from Dil Chahta Hai. I guess by now, he must have won the hearts of many girls in New Zealand. I, Tarun and Anna are firm believers of the fact that from our group Jhurani would be the lucky guy who would marry the most beautiful girl.

Jhurani hasn’t even forwarded any of his pics from New Zealand. The only information we have about him is that he is in Wellington. I don’t even have any of his pics at the moment except for one group pic. So, pop those eyes out of our sockets to sneak a glimpse.

One of the precious pics in my album where the group is together. Can you find Jhurani? Well, there he is to your right... wearing his trademark Red Cap.

Sheesh!!… All the while… I just forgot why I am writing this post. This objective of this post is not to tell the world that we have lost touch with our friend but to tell them that its his Birthday tomorrow. So, on behalf of the Animal Kingdom, I wish Anil… Many Many Happy Returns of the Day.

P.S: Anil, if you manage to read this, do post your comment by clicking on: "__ have said something" on the right side just below this line.