I was close to quitting Freshworks, thinking about taking a break. A startup wanted to experiment with me, but we parted ways because our skillsets didn't align. That was the start.

Nikhil was just moving to Bangalore from Mumbai, and Saketh wanted to upgrade from a PG-type environment to a flat. It was perfect timing for all three of us college friends to get together and share a space. We saw it as an opportunity—a rare one for college friends to live together five years after graduation. We're grateful we got it.

Pretty far from the important IT corridor of Bengaluru.

We were different people than we were in college. We had our fair share of differences, but with time we adjusted and grew stronger together. A lot of that credit goes to Saketh. He's an amazing friend who truly made this a home, which otherwise would've just been a house.

I learned cooking and reconnecting with friends from him. A peaceful and self-sufficient guy.

Nikhil's office was nearest. He got a cycle that he never used. Saketh's office was 6km away, and mine—which was supposed to be less than 5km—turned out to be 15km away when I moved to Scalekit. Farthest among us. But I still chose to stay because it just felt like home.

We called this place Central Perk. The inspiration came from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

We called this place CentralPerk. The inspiration to name that came from F.R.I.E.N.D.S

There was a routine we built over time. A park nearby with a lake and a walking track became our spot for evening walks and good discussions about life.

That's Saketh, lost in thoughts.

If not that park, there was another we called Ganesha Park—much smaller, less greenery, but still a tiny track to easily reach and have conversations.

Breakfast would usually be at Cafe Gokulam. The fanciest among our nearby breakfast places. As time passed, we saw Udupi Garden rise up, and we began visiting Cafe Gokulam much less often.

Much of our learning came from two places—Tea Day and walking on the streets in our locality.

All of us had office work to finish every day. In the beginning, not all three of us were going to the office; over time, we were. Although living at the same place, we were all occupied with things that kept us busy—office, family, and whatnot.

But as long as we spent 30 minutes at Tea Day, we got to speak about everything in life over tea. Around 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm was when I'd pull both Nikhil and Saketh to join me. It was fun, and many times playing chess over tea became our favorite pastime. We saw Tea Day go through many variations—they started as a cafe, then began serving morning breakfast, expanded the menu, but in the end, we saw them close down. Months later, the owner would tell us it wasn't as profitable as they thought.

 

Over two years, we had friends come over, families visit, celebrated birthdays, spent night-outs. When Vineeth came over, it turned into a Hi-Fi cinema hall because he brought a projector we could play on the big screen.

Salvi, Sai Teja, Krishna Teja, and my parents all have their share of memories doing so much fun stuff around this area.

In the beginning, a lot of details—WiFi, electricity bill, managing owner expectations—were all handled by Nikhil. But when Nikhil's startup had to wind down due to lack of funds, he moved to Delhi, and just Saketh and I had to continue.

The day Nikhil moved to Noida. Revanth, Bulbul, and Akash joined in to bid him farewell.

 

We were fond of the yellow lights. We replaced them twice over two years because their lifetime died.

Saketh bought his first laptop on a 6+ months EMI while he was here.

 Since Nikhil left, we began living in separate rooms. My room became a bit more workspace-ish.

 
I got my first scooty—which was originally supposed to be a Royal Enfield Hunter.

Nikhil got a new job.

A temporary space for Yaswanth and Vineeth to lay by.

A place where I learned to properly cook and manage a household.

I grew patience driving to office 15km every day.

This area grew along with us. We saw new roads being laid, new supermarkets coming up, older ones dying, and much more.

I should admit the hardest part for us was managing trash. We were once fined Rs. 500 for throwing trash in a shopkeeper's drum when we were new to this area.

A classic look of us.

In exactly two weeks, I have to say goodbye to the place I've stayed for two years. We joined on January 7, 2024, and it's January 17, 2026 now—a lot of time flew by.

Saketh is getting married to Harini, and Nikhil found his place in Noida for now.

It's time for us to embrace the change. Life has signaled too much, and it's too much to hold and stay at this place alone.

Going to find a new place.