Life, as they say, without friends , is usually boring. The best example would be imagining yourself standing alone in a railway station (when the trains are delayed by more than an hour ) and then imagining yourself with your buddy group for the same duration, there .
Especially if you have friends like i have, believe me, they will make each second of your living worth the effort you may take to live.
Since most of my friends are young and habitually non committed , we have all the time over the weekends to meet up and laugh to the hearts content. The root to the laughter session usually would be someone within the group. Not necessarily one has to do something silly to be laughed at. Believe me, when everyone is acting silly and you act sane, chances are very high, you would be the one laughed at.
There has been times when each one of us may have thought and rethought the sanity levels of the group. But as they say, the birds of same feather, you know, always flocks together.
I have taken my own time to understand the dynamics of my buddy-group to understand when you would end up being the topic of group laughter or expense bearer for others fun. Post understanding these, i devised strategies as well. I have also used these strategies successfully with my other peer groups. Yes, Successfully!!!
For example, if you feel the table is turning upon you and you may have to bear the burnt,
1) Change the topic.
2) Involve the opposing leader (there always is one) into the topic.
3) Kill your dignity and make fun of yourself.(This is easy, trust me).
Yet you need real guts and smooth talent to do any of these. And to know when to use what, is a mission in itself.
Shopkeeper: " Kya naukri karte ho sir? " (After 25 mins spent into befriending him and negotiating a super discount this is what he came up with)
Me: " Investment Banking "
Shopkeeper: " Bank me ho? Kaunsa bank?"
Me: " Bank nahi.........." Investment bank"!!! "
Shopkeeper: " Acha!! yeh Investment bank kya kaam karta hai? Bank se alag hai kya??"
Me: Well, they are into a host of activities including M & A advisory, Raising public money (IPO) , overseas borrowing FCCBs, ADR , GDR, Complex financial transactions,financial restructuring, management takeover, spinoffs and also advising institutions on their investment strategies.
This is what i should have told,but thanks to my lazy attitude, i replied to him,
"Humlog Share bazar me kaam karte hain ( "Share bazar" i told as if Gujarati blood is what i am filled of)"
Shopkeeper: " ooh acha...Dalal ho !! "..( with a smile he said this as if he had decoded a complex derivative equation)
This was reason enough for Vinay and Sarath and CJ who were along with me for purchasing shoes, to laugh their wits out. All the three were creating a ruckus laughing very loudly leaving the shopkeeper with a killing guilt. And me?.... Offcourse my guilt was buried the same day i made friendship with these creatures. I was thinking really hard as to which expression would make me look sane, and not make the shopkeeper loose his cool and take back the discount he showered a few minutes before.
Just to conclude , there are times when the above three strategies wont work . One has to be dynamic and at the same time shameless to face these situations bravely. Huh!!!
