List of places I went to and new people who left an impression to in 2009-

Chennai -1.caretaker

2.Tamilian who gave me a lift

3.The gulti family from Madhya pradesh

OOty - Encircled in the warmth of Ritika And Sudeshna

Bangalore -the auto driver who gave free advice on my way to the museum

Delhi-No comments.Its best to forget disgusting impressions

A month Later

Back to Delhi-This time as a student In DSE

My classmates and friends-Geeta Nidhi and Kripi

The friends i made in the paying guest-Sreyoshi,Fairy,Akriti,Piu,Vinita,Lucky and Mehak

10 days of pure fun despite DSE, because of these people around me.

JNU-Its in Delhi but its a world in itself

Lavanya,Sudeshna(my roomie),archita shakhi,sunanda,Priyanka,Tia,all the ppl in Jnu-staff and students I came across left me happy .

Osian(rajasthan)-Our driver to Jodhpur(i loved his moustache),the perfect salesman ( a 14 year old kid taking care of his shop in the absence of his father)

Gudeh(rajathan)

Jodhpur-The Bata salesmen

kalka

Shimla

Kullu- Manali

Rohtang-The salesman who saved me from dying thanks to his cheap windsheater suites.

Ive a feeling there were too many salesmen who left an impression.

Back to Kolkata to wrap up the year -the salesman(Yet again!) in MG road whom be bought belts from.Il easy fall for a salesman ! god save me

year 2009

Year 2009 -good bye.

You have been the most amazing year of my 22 years on this planet.I give an honest account.

Lats year this time I was dancing away the night at my neighbours new year party .It was fun but not really what I wanted.I wanted something else then ,someone other than the neighbours or my family members.The first few months went off with one minor and another major hiccoup in my long distance relationship.

Down South:

In May we planned to go south.We-Ritika ,sudeshna and me.Actually they had an exam -The entrance for the Madras School of Economics and I had convinced my father that I was going for a holiday with my friends -or so I thought.On the day of the departure my father realized to his horror that I was actually gonna go for a holiday with just 2 other girls .Naturally he burst out in his usual sarcastic way.I was just feeling depressed and angry with my friends for not having told me earlier that in all probability there would be no sight seeing in Madras and I was to be sitting in some cyber cafe to check the train ticket status for the next part of the journey.They had plans to meet their freinds and relatives in bengaluru too ,so basically the "3 friends together having fun " part were only the 3-4 days in ooty in the 10 day schedule.I got a phone call from a fellow who was the world to me in those days,at that point of time.A little bit of pep talk from him and i was shinning bright,a happy eager traveller.

We passed almost two days in unbearable heat of the peak summer season across the eastern plains of the Great Indian terrain in an overcrowded ,dirty and rickety Train to Chennai.Then we headed to a guest house.The next morning I did something I'd never done before.I went travelling alone in a new city without any other person known to me .The thrill of being on my own wothout parents or even friends was great.But to say that i was independent would be wrong.The guest house caretaker walked with me to the bus stand( I just asked him for directions).Some old Uncle in the Bus cum Van like vehicle gave me directions to the tourism department office(this came free I didnt even ask for directions).Again after walking a couple of minutes I asked for further directions .This time I was ridding pillion on a middle aged tamilian's scooter to my destination.( Fancy getting a lift instead of directions!).Chennaites just love to help around tourists, i thought.Once in the tourist bus I wondered when I'd get to hear some beloved Hindi words after an hours had elapsed sitting in the bus with tamil,telugu words constantly hitting my ears .Then suddenly a little kid spoke out in Hindi.I almost jumped of my seat In excitement.He was Vamshi.And soon I was talking in Hindi to Vamshi's sister Kirthi and Mother Vijaya .They were Gultis living in Madhya Pradesh.Soon I became a part of their group and they were adressing me out as "baby come here" whenever I was a little behind or away from them.I visited temples ,saree shops ,snake park-a reptilian zoo ,an auditorium and the beautiful marina beach tagging along with them.A family away from my family.Was this gods way of ensuring that I wasnt aloneThe Next destination was ooty.no actually it was first a train to Mettupaliyam


This quiet little hill station was the first thing i saw that morning.We had already entered the station and most passengers had left bythe time we woke up.Thankfully it was the last station and the train was in no hurry.
From here we travelled on a winding road to ooty-when despite my earnest request the engine driver of the scottish little toy train didnt permit us to have a seat in his engine cabin .The ooty story is long and memorable so il continue it in another blog post.


The next destination after ooty was bengaluru.Il not harp much on this part because it is here that i decided to part way with my friends for 1.5 days and spend it with my maternal uncle's family.From the relations point of view oit was a good decision but from the friends point of view it wasnt.In a way I ditched sudeshna by leaving her in the hotel in the belief that she had enough relations to take care of her there and i certainly wasnt a part of her plans so I could just move out .Now I think may be staying back woudve been a better idea.Firstly because we had come together and it was kinda rude and secondly coz my maternal uncle's wife wasnt the same woman I was so fond of as a child.She had started hating human society for what all downturns she had gone through in life.Her son was too busy shifting postions between his T.V. and computer to notice my existence.Not that she was rude .She was just not the happy person I knew once.She did take me out .I had icecreams in the rain ,bought a kind of bag i wanted for a very long time ,saw U.B. City and had an eggy muffin thanks to the dominating -i always right attitude of my aunt .The next morning I cooked up a nice story about friends waiting In M.G road and sneaked out to be on my own.Free again!.I breathed a healthy breath in the gheelishious more than 80 year old MTR restaurant.Then a warded off a stalker and almost fell asleep in the Lal bagh gardens before scampering off to a museum-technological ,to spend some time .At 6 the guards shooed me from the museum and i was left with no alternaive but to call a friend who worked in some office near bye.I spend the next 2 hours hanging around with him on Brigade Road.We went to church and searched around streets for some cookies he wanted me to have.In between I had the yummy ice cream corner chocolate fudge and killed time in an open air CCD .This brought me to the end of my bengaluru trip nad before i realized i was heading back home.

One fine day the Jnu protesting bug would attack me too!This was something I'd never imgained.The usual sloganeering,relay hunger strikes,midnight candle light protest walks... all seemed a bit of an exaggeration to me .Not that I didnt feel for the issues ,what was the point of screaming and shouting yourself hoarse when no one was there to hear to you.The picture above is that of the Administration block .JNU Prashasan Bhavan.....to be continued

journey through the J land

2nd october,

Its a lazy holiday morning.V intend to go to pragati maidan(P.M.) for the gandhi jayanti mela.Lazy bitches as v r ,v have misd d breakfast (7.30 to 9.30) .Its a national holiday so v wont b getting dinner and lunch comprises a fruit ,4 puris,some allu ki sabzi and a sweet.V dress up collect d lunch packet wid whole hearted intention of throwing it in d bin n den eating it in some corner of the yard out of sheer hunger.By us I mean Lav and myself.D rest of d bitches have rushed back home to catch a setting glimpse of the durga puja.V r a pack of 6 bitches primarily, though at times joined by a couple more.deres a dog too but he is in love wid one of d bitches so d pack separates wen he comes(his beloved bitch is in no mind to accept his love).I belong to d dog free subpack.V r trying to get a japanese dog amogst us coz hes cute and "fuhnnny"-just waiting for him to shift to a hostel beside ours-chndrabhaga.
back to 2nd oct-v go to another hostel in our neighbourhood -sabarmati -in d hope of initiating a new bitch in our gang.She turns out to b a serious bitch n rejects our invitation to go to P.M.v walk back to Koyna-our hostel n decide to dress up like hot sexy bitches n go to iit.D most unfortunate part of our lives is dat v r lazy in dis too.v go n fall asleep.wake up,feel hungry, dress up hurriedly n decide to walk to iit.who cares how v look neway!v walk till d main gate(20 minutes walk) n den ask for further directions ,lazy again, v take an auto.
Once in iit .V can see d difference-neat gardens,archtecturally beautiful buildings-and technollogical superiority.to site an example-we have an eatery called Northeast where u get all kinds of chinese and northeastern food at very cheap rates U go place d order at d counter n ur handed a token number and ur supposed to wait at the tables till d food crew shouts out ur token number.Contrast dis wid iit.aftr uve taken d token (u can chose from slice of italy n McD n oder food biggies who get to open counters on d iit campus contractually) u wait at one of the tables till a nice music plays above d table n a digital screen flashes ur token number.Neat!.

1st october visit to maulana azad medical college was a similar experience n i cursed d JNU student body for breaking down the nestle outlet wid every sip of the iced tea i had from d nestea machine.

v returned to jnu -lavanya complaining n me defending Jnu .rite in front of the tapti hostel deres a little space of about d size of our classrooms in presi .a mat was laid across d space and a projector was on -screening a documentary or something.widout thinking or remembring how tired v were v jus sat down on d mat n watchd wat eventually turned out to b d screening of Mera India.Ppl watch documentaries n serious movie so passionately here dat its hard not to get drawn into dese,something dat i didnt see in iit or mmc


4th october,
V first went to d national museum .It had clean nice toilets and clean public spaces.One of the reasons cud b dat dere r hardly ne delhites who come here-mostly foreighners and tourists and bengalis.By which I need to let all by bengali friends know dat im turning more bengali dan in all my years in bengal,yesterday i was mouthing something in bengali in my sleep!!!!.Den v headed to d DLF place mall in vasant kunj in our neighbourhood.Stark contrast.swanky sexy structures, live band playing at the self service food court .huge brands.French cafe styled restraunts.and another one styled like a spaceship.KEWl.Den Lav commented "i Wish I had more money to buy loads of stuff here."And I wondered if a few ppl had more money everything wud b fine.Isnt d mall restricting finery to a select few elite who can b presentable enough to enter its doors and rich enuf to afford d offerings of dis palace.Isnt it unfair in a way.V discovered a new route back to d hostel from d backgate just acros d DLF mall and i found out why Jnu is Unlike ne oder major University campus.JNU is all about equality of the masses.So that no one is left out,or embarrased ,so dat everything is achievable and accessible to all and not just a select few. being a boy or a girl or being rich or poor doesnt matter once inside JNU.U R unique and eligible for anything in d campus.Some1 did stare strangely at me wen i was in IIT ,but ive nevr had to face dat in JNU.Some 1 did jostle past me in d crowded mall,but no ones ever shoved me no matter wat d size of d crowd in Jnu.Even if im d one at fault an apology generally follows such an incident.

V also went to dilli haat on 2nd october and Lav went crazy seeing bijoli grill and having d heavenly Kabiraji.I too enjoyed the Dhapata from the maharashtrian counter.