Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Avanti and I.

A few months ago, in a crazily sun-lit class, I played a game with my friends.
As we sat there, hiding from the monotonous drone of an irritable professor,we discussed emotions that we had never ever experienced.
amidst giggles, snatches of the abovementioned professor's voice and frequent shh-es, I pondered over the question in mind.
Anger,nope.
Love,nope.
Hatred, definitely nope.
Happiness,nope.
Greed,Nope.
Jealousy,nope.
The list was infinite. The lecture wasn't. The closing bell brought an end to the lecture. And to my search as well. Knowing that I had exhausted all possible emotions, I settled on acceptance.
Three days ago, I realized that I was wrong.
Losing someone who you were close to is nothing compared to the way it's portrayed in television soaps and romance novels, its much worse.
Twenty years of knowing her and I realized that whatever I have known about Avanti can't be summarized in a post,a blog or even a dedicated book.
Sure, we all knew about her love for Shahrukh Khan, (it almost bordered on obsession if you ask me) and her hatred towards Yuvraj Singh ( another obsession,if you ask me again!). Yeah, beneath this hair-loving,shopaholic, critically-acclaimed film expert lay a girl like no other.
A girl, who at the age of six, pinched my nose with a clothespin and pushed me onto an overly ripe jack fruit, (though not simultaneously) just for fun.
A girl, who at the age of eight, dressed up as a fairy for a family fancy dress competition wanting to spread peace and harmony across the world.
A girl, who at the age of nine, had a imaginary kangaroo friend named maya.
A girl, who at the age of ten, knew more about the world wresting federation than most boys her age did.
A girl, who at the age of eleven thought that flouroscent green tights and an Undertaker T-shirt were cool, and who was gutsy enough to still think they were.
A girl, who at the of twelve, gave up on meat, because franky speaking, she thought that being a non-vegetarian sucked.
A girl, who at the age of thirteen, loved songs from B-grade Bobby Deol movies, and had the guts to admit it.
A girl, who at the age of fourteen, wanted to become a Miss India Coordinator, and who, in her own cheesy way, wanted to make a difference in the world.
A girl, who at the age of eighteen, said, and I quote " Charlie and the Chocolate factory is a classic Tim Burton movie. Its a movie which says" Come, watch me!"", with a straight face.
A girl who at the age of nineteen, paid for the hundreds of times we went to Mochas or CCDs, telling me that she was going to get pay back when I started earning.
A girl, who at the age of twenty, took me along to see artsy plays at the Prithvi, after which we discussed them rather pretentiously outside the cafe to seem elite.
A girl who at the age of twenty one, obsessed over high heel confidential so much that she could exactly pinpoint a dress in a fashion magazine into the blog's archives, date,name or designer wise.
To the girl, who always wanted to stay tall.

Avanti, this one's for you.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was beautiful. I hope we never forget the Avanti you have captured in this post.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ani, u'v written it so well. I could actually picturize Avanti in her fluoroscent tights & undertaker tee proclaiming herself Abbu's favourite grandchild!..I guess she is the reason v r so close, cz she always made plans for all of us cousins 2 hang out together..Avanti is an inseparable part of all of us n will continue to live..

left unseen yet seen because.... said...

this is manalee naik avanti was my senior at wilson BMM ...i hardly knew her..but ur post bot a tear to my eye...rest in peace avanti...my heary felt condolences to her family members...

Roshnee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roshnee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roshnee said...

Wow. I don't think I'll ever stop missing her.
If there was ever a person I knew who would stand up for herself and for everything she believed in, its Avanti.
A lot of people claim to be righteous and strong. But I have seen Avanti, holding on to her stand,ever so often, even though it meant going against a friend.
She was my classmate in Wilson, and many might wonder why her death has affectied me so much.
We weren't extremely close, but yes, we were, 'hair twins', Roll nos 13 and 14 and made a very *ahem* prestigeous film together!
But more than anything else, I know how I wished I could be like her. There are very few people who make you admire them, who have so much positive energy and conviction that its infectious.
Even when she was around, we would talk about her as THE most admired and loved person in class. I don't think anyone EVER had anything bad to say about her.

More than anything else, the world has missed out on someone who could have changed it.

I really believe she would have.

Roshnee Desai

@niruddh@ said...

@ amrita: we never will...

@ mallika: i am sure we'll have many more pop tate parties to go to, and millions of movies to watch!

@ manalee: this was just my part of the story, i am quite sure many others will have other memories to cherish.

Unknown said...

hey Ani.. this was beautiful...!!! it brought a tear in my eye...
Ur an amazing writer... of the real things in life... that touch and connect!

Quaint Murmur said...

That's a lovely description of someone I now regret knowing so very little about.

Two weeks after Avanti's passing, my cousin passed away in a road accident.

I still feel sometimes that I cannot accept it. I try, and I manage to fool myself but mostly the dull ache triumphs.

Thanks for putting this up, it's a side of Avanti we never knew.

I'm sorry for your loss.

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