The Stanley Jones Motley Crew - Part 1

With this latest series, I will be going back around 10 years into the past!...Wow..time sure does fly! :-O

I am gonna go through all the characters that were part of my life at school - at least those that were there till the end of the 2 years in St Thomas - and try to describe them the best I can and in addition try to outline those 2 amazing years of my life - The St Thomas Stanley Jones House. Let me start out with the guy who probably influenced me the most during my stay at the hostel and who went on to become my best friend and who is one of the few whom I maintain real close contacts with even now.

Anish
=====
For those who dont remember this name...try this : 'vappi' :D....
Ok now that should've rung a bell :) Now this guy is a doctor - Dr Sam the mad doctor :))

Anyways, going back all those years, when I first joined St Thomas, I remember being so homesick. See earlier blogs to read more on this. When we got through all of the admin stuff to get into the school and hostel, it was rather late. Parents dropped sis off at the girls hostel and came over to drop me at the boys hostel - Stanley Jones House. At first glance, this is a run down kinda place...nothing much to be excited about....but boy did my opinion and mindset about the place change over time....it really came to be a home away from home ;)

Anyway, since most of the 'real' 2 dorms were filled, I along with a few others were relegated to a 'third dorm' which was nothing but a hall with some beds and shelves put together...a real run down place...if my mood was depressed and homesick, this place only made it worse!
I set up all of my stuff on one side, set up my bed and everything and well just waited....there were a few other folks there that also got along with me in the third dorm. And there was this guy who had set up his place right in front of mine...I guess a pretty smart looking guy...well who was acting a bit too smart :)).....He came over and introduced himself - 'hi-am-aansssaamuel from dubaaai!' - I didnt get anything at first - so just kept nodding my head and ofcourse introduced myself also....well after he introduced himself to a few others, I got the idea. Anish Samuel from Dubai!.. ha ha!! :D

Anish at his early stages was a guy who I guess tried very very hard to impress and gain acceptance from everyone else. Well he has changed a lot from those days even though there are still sparks of that old guy coming up in him once in a while :) But right now this guy is very level headed - at least much much better than old times ;)

Well coming back to the good ol days, the third dorm was a great place....no seniors...no problems...we had our own rules...the wardens were not there all the time...and boy did we make a lot of use of it....tell stories...read books..play games..have food parties...etc... One thing about the hostel - it was a very strict place...we had to keep to strict timings....a bell would ring signaling the end of a particular 'time' and the start of something else. Study time had a bell. Waking time had a bell. Sleeping time had a bell. Play time had a bell....and so on... :) Third dorm was a great escape from all of this...we did get in a lot of trouble with the seniors and wardens a lot of the time...but still life in the third dorm was worth it...!

Anyway, coming back to Anish...this guy was in many ways what I would have liked to be but probably never could and I guess that is what started out this great friendship....And both of us had high aspirations which helped us bond more with each other.... Anish had this way of doing a lot of stupid things...he would blurt out stupid stuff...do dumb things etc...it was so hilarious...but during those 2 years over there, I could see a clear change in his character....he become much more 'stable'...stopped doing all those dumb things....all the stupid escapades with girls... :)....Of which I had my share also...which we used to discuss a lot about....it was lots of fun.. :) Even in class, we all used to sit together on one bench and we were a class of our own....it was great...

Anish helped me get over all of my homesickness and we became great friends in a very short time...

This guy's handwriting was another funny thing about him - no one could decode it unless that person had prior experience with it - I guess this was kind of like a pre-requisite to a career as a doctor! ;)

Anish had a way with the ladies...at least with some of them... :)) ..I have no idea what they saw in him.....but anyway it was hilarious watching him in action...trying so hard to impress them... :)
This guy also takes his friendship very seriously. He will defend you if the need arises and I have several instances in mind when that has happened though I dont remember the exact details....10 years is a long time.....but I remember one time when I defended him with a senior of his who was a batchmate of mine in Bethany - Philip Thekkanal - a bit of a crazy guy - Do you remember that Anish? :)) That was fun... I just told the crazy guy to quit insulting my guest and get out of my room...!

We have had a lot of close calls riding the bike together....the first time I think was when we trying to overtake some scooty guy who would just not give up and we nearly ended up being part of the landscape! :) That was my first close call with high speed biking....The beginning of many more like that...!

I donno - I guess I can just go on and on when talking about Anish....we have shared that much in common....what can I say...this guys is a great guy...my best friend...probably the one guy who has influenced me a lot and in effect plays an important part in who I am right now.....I hope he can say the same about me....we have thought each other a lot of things....learnt through each others experiences....and well....whenever we didnt like something the other guy was doing....we'd just come out and said it...no second thoughts...

Simply put...Anish has helped me mold myself into the person I am right now and hopefully has helped me become a better person! :)