Yes! I am calling it a meet of friends, not MS meet. Why ? So simple..I did not find ANY participation or involvement from MS management.Such apathy pains me!.. It does not COST MS anything just to WISH the members to have a great meet. MS is yet to understand the MAGIC OF WORDS.
I attended my first meet with friends at Nirula’a Noida. We had fixed the program to start at 3 p.m. Our driver took half an hour to drive us to the venue from our house in Faridabad. I arrived at the venue at 2.30 with my son, AADITYA. People were on the way. Both of us spent some time taking a look at the place.
We went inside the restaurant and had our seats. Since you have to place the order at the counter, no waiter came to bother us !!! The first to arrive were Pooja, Suraj and Sana (Mrs Khan) with the children. Pooja and me could recognize each other , thanks to our profiles and interaction on MS.
Alok made a brief appearance, but could not stay for the meet since some guests were expected at his place. But the sweet gesture to turn up and say hello! itself spoke volumes about the person. Each one of us knows how hard it is to go out of our homes when we are expecting guests. Thanks Alok, Dilliwale dilwale jaroor hai.
It took me a while to really make myself believe that Suraj had traveled all the way from Mumbai to Delhi (more than 1000 miles) just for this meet. Wow ! that is something which would put many of us in shame when we say LAME excuses for not going a few miles to meet someone.
I am not a great talker, so I listened to Suraj and was amazed at the speed a bonding took place. Here was a young guy from Nepal, staying and studying in Mumbai, having come all of 1000 miles in peak summer to Delhi for a social network meet. Gestures such as this are proof of the strength of national integration. Suraj was simply sweet and was talking even to my tongue tied Aaditya.
A little while later Shalu joined us. The children knew Shalu because they shouted Shaludidi and were quite comfortable in her company. We introduced ourselves. Our food items came, and the children got busy with it. Real discussions were yet to start. We were waiting !
One of the ladies was always after the bunch of children. They were really prepared for the meet. They were shouting and screaming and having a great time. Almost an hour later in walked a team. It was the king of the meet Khalidbhai accompanied by Shubro, Ajay and his friend Rashpal. Immediately the place lighted up with action. The excitement was in the air. Khalidbhai was all charms.
Ajay and Rashpal had traveled all the way from Amritsar (almost 300 miles) just for the meet. People like these make social networking a very special and enjoyable experience. We ordered some food for them, since they had not had their lunch !!! Pooja asked if chicken pizzas were OK, and all of us forgot in the excitement that Ajay is a veggie. When the 2 chicken pizzas came, Ajay was searching for his food!!! Lo ! Soon, a veg. pizza was ordered for the hungry vegetarian.
The discussions started and Khalid became our official cameraman. He set up his tripod and started clicking. All photographers I have seen are happy by nature, and Khalid was no exception! Suraj and Pooja too took some snaps. All were happily discussing on the various topics. Shubro was a sweet personality with his charming smile. Khalid prodded him and he sang a few songs for us. He sang so well without any accompaniments. His magical voice made the evening a very special occasion. I am not knowledgeable on music. My only association with it is that I like good music. Shubro's voice and his rendition of the songs won the appreciation of all present. Shubro definitely should go for the audition of Indian Idol in the next season. He is so much better than many of those whom we saw even in later rounds of the program. Ajay was cracking jokes and kept us laughing. This was a cheerful person who could light up any dull gathering. Rashpal was mostly a silent and smiling spectator! Aaditya looked bored with the meet and was not involved. Maybe because it is his first such meet. He was soon off and playing with the kids and seemed to enjoy himself in their company.
