Tuesday, December 28, 2004
You've been uprooted and planted in totally new surroundings. It's a new life in a new place with new people. And yet, within no time, you stop noticing the difference. It all seems perfectly normal until some small incident, utterly insignificant in itself, puts things into perspective.
I'm walking along the hostel corridor when at some distance i spot two bai's chatting. When i get a little closer, i'm shocked to hear them speak Hindi! Bai's are supposed to speak Marathi, I want to tell them, it's like their mother tongue. And then i realize i'm in Hindi's homeland.
I'm just a student like everyone else around. Exams, projects, assignments - you get the picture. One day i notice one of my classmates typing. She's doing it slower than i can do without looking at the keyboard. And it all comes back to me.
I'm riding my cycle to the department and i see two people on a Kinetic. Not a very rare sight, almost an everyday occurrence. And yet, one day it reminds me that I too have one of these back home. I actually have to imagine what it must feel like to ride a vehicle again.
I'm walking along the hostel corridor when at some distance i spot two bai's chatting. When i get a little closer, i'm shocked to hear them speak Hindi! Bai's are supposed to speak Marathi, I want to tell them, it's like their mother tongue. And then i realize i'm in Hindi's homeland.
I'm just a student like everyone else around. Exams, projects, assignments - you get the picture. One day i notice one of my classmates typing. She's doing it slower than i can do without looking at the keyboard. And it all comes back to me.
I'm riding my cycle to the department and i see two people on a Kinetic. Not a very rare sight, almost an everyday occurrence. And yet, one day it reminds me that I too have one of these back home. I actually have to imagine what it must feel like to ride a vehicle again.
The most effective way to shorten a line is to draw a bigger one
Here I am, on Platform 9 at Allahabad railway station, surrounded by blood thirsty mosquitoes and the biting cold, waiting for a train that is 9 hours late, and yet, i'm not really complaining. Though not exactly singing "God's in his heaven and all's right with the world, i don't subscribe to the popular opinion around that the railways have been taken over by the devil.
All because my waiting list seat got confirmed !
Here I am, on Platform 9 at Allahabad railway station, surrounded by blood thirsty mosquitoes and the biting cold, waiting for a train that is 9 hours late, and yet, i'm not really complaining. Though not exactly singing "God's in his heaven and all's right with the world, i don't subscribe to the popular opinion around that the railways have been taken over by the devil.
All because my waiting list seat got confirmed !
A day less ordinary
Girls Hostel - IIT Gate - some place halfway between IIT and railway station - Kalianpur - Girls Hostel - SAC bus stop - Gol Chauraha - Jhakarghatti (NO, i did not make that up) - Gol Chauraha - IIT Gate - Girls Hostel
Sounds like a busy, productive morning? Busy, of course, productive, hah!
Let me start at the very beginning of this tale of extra-ordinary stupidity. 'm so ashamed of it, i want the world to hear it and laugh at my face so that i dont do such things again (I know the world doesn't read my blog, but i really can't yell this out from rooftops)
It all started one fins (?) Sunday morning. It was the day i was to leave for home after 5 months of stay in the hostel. The day started with me getting up an hour and a half later than i'd planned and 20 minutes before i'd planned to leave. No self respecting girl can get ready in 20 minutes and neither did i. I did manage to get out in less than an hour though. Everything packed, breakfast eaten, goodbyes said, i was on my way to the railway station marveling at me speed and efficiency when lightening stuck. I'd forgotten - you won't believe this - my ticket!! It came a such a shock, i took quite some while to gather myself and ask the rickshaw wala to stop. About turn, back to the hostel. With help from and utterly disbelieving and utterly support classmate, I was on my way to catch a bus to catch my train, ticket firmly in place. The bus timetable however did not match the train timetable and i had to accept the fact that i couldn't make it to the station on time.
Angry, ashamed, frustrated, i cancelled my ticket and booked another one for the next day. Came back to the hostel and narrated my story to everyone, wanting them to laugh at my face. Most were either too disbelieving or too polite to do it. Spent the rest of the day drowning myself in serials and movies.
Latest Update:
A new day has come. I'm sitting in the ladies waiting room at Allahabad railway station, writing this story and many many more. The train is 9 hours late. If this is a regular habit with it, i could have walked all the way from Kanpur to Allahabad and still made it on time!
Girls Hostel - IIT Gate - some place halfway between IIT and railway station - Kalianpur - Girls Hostel - SAC bus stop - Gol Chauraha - Jhakarghatti (NO, i did not make that up) - Gol Chauraha - IIT Gate - Girls Hostel
Sounds like a busy, productive morning? Busy, of course, productive, hah!
Let me start at the very beginning of this tale of extra-ordinary stupidity. 'm so ashamed of it, i want the world to hear it and laugh at my face so that i dont do such things again (I know the world doesn't read my blog, but i really can't yell this out from rooftops)
It all started one fins (?) Sunday morning. It was the day i was to leave for home after 5 months of stay in the hostel. The day started with me getting up an hour and a half later than i'd planned and 20 minutes before i'd planned to leave. No self respecting girl can get ready in 20 minutes and neither did i. I did manage to get out in less than an hour though. Everything packed, breakfast eaten, goodbyes said, i was on my way to the railway station marveling at me speed and efficiency when lightening stuck. I'd forgotten - you won't believe this - my ticket!! It came a such a shock, i took quite some while to gather myself and ask the rickshaw wala to stop. About turn, back to the hostel. With help from and utterly disbelieving and utterly support classmate, I was on my way to catch a bus to catch my train, ticket firmly in place. The bus timetable however did not match the train timetable and i had to accept the fact that i couldn't make it to the station on time.
Angry, ashamed, frustrated, i cancelled my ticket and booked another one for the next day. Came back to the hostel and narrated my story to everyone, wanting them to laugh at my face. Most were either too disbelieving or too polite to do it. Spent the rest of the day drowning myself in serials and movies.
Latest Update:
A new day has come. I'm sitting in the ladies waiting room at Allahabad railway station, writing this story and many many more. The train is 9 hours late. If this is a regular habit with it, i could have walked all the way from Kanpur to Allahabad and still made it on time!
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