October Babies

I once wrote a piece on my typical day in university - from waking up in the morning to getting to class, and about the people I met and saw on the way, using purely descriptions, without any names. (I really ought to publish that piece here!) Now, 7 years ahead, reading back - I have no idea who half of those described were. I take it as a sign that I'd failed myself terribly. I hope the same isn't going to happen with this post.

There are so many of you (of us, I mean...) - the October babies!

Nos 1, 2, 3 - I cannot remember much of birthdays and such before the early teenage years, but as far as my memory stretched, the 3 of us had always celebrated our birthdays together within the month of October. We used to have parties, sleepovers, and even (sometimes nasty) tricks (I wrote about 1 such here). But as we grew up and grew physically apart, the combined celebrations were not always achievable anymore. It is, sadly inevitable, but we'll be having one soon. Real soon now!

He is one of the first persons I knew outside my school gang to be an October baby. Ever since I knew his birthdate, 10+ years ago, I'd always sent him a greeting card. Every year. A real, tangible card that had to be posted through Pos Malaysia. And he never sent me anything in return. I think I ought not to send him anything this year, especially since he hadn't been behaving well lately.

He was the formidable figure of the club, the president, the one whom I was quite afraid of. When he wasn't smiling, it seemed to me he constantly had this dark expression on his face. It took quite some getting to know him to dissipate the fear I had of him from first impression. But once that was done, it was easy to see that he is really a funny, friendly, very likeable guy.

She was my roommate when I first entered university. She was really special because up till I met her, I only spoke Mandarin with my own family, and English with everyone else. She was in fact, the first person in my adult life with whom I communicated with in my so-called mother tongue. There were others after that, but she is the first! We were not very good for each other academically - when she woke up in the mornings and saw that I was still sleeping, she'd go right back to sleep; when I came back from class, I'd go straight to sleep if she happened to be taking an afternoon nap; if one of us saw the other studying, we'd strike up a conversation that lasted till it was time to go to sleep... (yea, we slept a lot!)

He is the guy who taught us the art of skipping classes! Our friendship is a little different from the usual because, in some weird way, it may be said to had started from the previous generation - my father and his father were classmates in their younger days. We clicked well, I remember, and were rather close, up to the point he got himself a girlfriend (yes, laugh if you must). Don't ask how we are now that he has a wife. I hope he is aware that I still exist.

He is my favourite - a Halloween baby! I first met him during our university's orientation week, when queuing for food. Back in those days, even though there wasn't any rule saying that the boys and the girls must form different lines, somehow the students simply did it. On that fateful afternoon, the "girl-queue" was very long whereas there were only a few guys in the "boy-queue". A girlfriend and I decided to break conventionality and joined the guys in their shorter line - and that was when I met him. Thereafter, I was told recently, I was frequently seen stuck to him around campus (which, I assure you, isn't true).

He is one of the latest addition to my list of October babies. He is known for his animated story-telling, his many stories, his voice, his love for singing, and now, his new-found passion for work. *ahem*

There are still others (but the post is getting long and it's getting late and I'm tired...) - Mrs L, the one who does disappearing kata, the twins, the Ipoh beauty, the fat one...

I know this post meant nothing to most of you reading it. But here's wishing a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all the October babies! Many happy returns :)