Warwick Diaries

Its been a full year since I wrote anything! And like always, the long gap makes me all the more conscious of what I write in this 'comeback' blog post!
Anyway, this one is about being a uni student in UK and it wasn't until my friend from India asked me 'How's life in UK?' that I thought of writing it...
Well....its fun and nice...and given the number of Indians around, you may actually forget you aren't at home.
But there will always be these little moments we'll miss when we go back home:

1) Going shopping and mentally converting all the prices to INR and then uhh...leaving a few things behind.
2) Its freezing cold and you have like a million layers on but drunk British girls walk by wearing practically nothing, screaming and puking all over the streets of Leamington Spa.
3) The waitress at Costa Coffee glares at you for not ending each sentence with a 'Please' or a 'Thank you'.
4) The fire alarm going off at 3 am at night (Seriously, why does somebody always have to try smoking in their rooms at this unearthly hour?!)
5) The cleaning lady comes knocking on your door the only day you decide to sleep till late.
6) You crave golgappas, namkeen, papad, maggi and all those things we so take for granted back home.
7) When vegetarian food tastes sucky, has no salt (of course!) and comes with fat and oily fries.
8) The Costa Coffee guy stares at you when you ask for 8 sachets of sugar (8 is normal!)
9) When the shops close down at 5 and you have nowhere to go :(
10) When u finally start cooking by yourself, discover there's always been a chef hidden deep inside you and start bragging to your family members back home (come on...I'm sure you do that too!)
11) That feeling when that essay is due the next day and you haven't begun writing yet.
12) It being sunny when you are about to leave home but raining when u do ;)
13) And when you do go back to get your umbrella, the wind ensures it is turned upside down and broken and you are drenched..
14) When you and the Tesco delivery man are down to first name basis.
15) When you feel handicapped if you don't have access to the internet (*shudder*) for even a minute!
16) When its summers and the sun just doesn't go down and there are girls in itsy-bitsy shorts everywhere (:D)
17) That moment of realization when water no longer means just water. It means either one of- tap water, still water, spring water, sparkling water, mineral water etc etc...
18) When you start categorizing the world into Chinese & non-Chinese (sorry, but true!)
19) When the pound rate starts going up just before the fee instalment due date... :(
20) And finally....when chips become 'crisps', college becomes 'undergrads', beer becomes cheaper and dissertation becomes a pain in the neck!

Remember Me?

Sometimes, I keep my mouth shut....And then, its too late to open it..

Here goes...

So I was having lunch with two of my friends (lets just call them Tomboy and Girly) at this college cafe..

Along come this seemingly unknown girl, A.. Right beside my table, she stops and then she goes- "Sonam!! What a coincidence! Fancy meeting you here...blah blah!"

She talked non-stop for like 12 minutes. She spoke about school (Oh! So she's a batchmate from school!), my course, my result etc etc. All in all, she knew a lot about me.

I obviously, had little recollection of her. Her face seemed faintly familiar and that's it. However, not having the heart to break her heart, I went along, nodding at all the right places, smiling broadly and appearing to be as pleased to meet her as she was. This was just a short meeting and I may never see her again.

But as god would have it, she didn't seem keen to leave and stared at my friends. I had no option. I introduced them to her.. Tomboy stared at me- wondering why I wasn't introducing her to them. I mouthed "Shut up", hoping she doesn't ask A to join us for lunch.

Then, A asked for my number. I obliged her. Then she gave me a missed call. I stored her number as well..as A.

Months went by. She called on my b'day.

My cell screen flashed "A calling". I took her call- "Hi! I say.

"Happy birthday!!"

"Thanks. Nice of you to remember."

"Stop fibbing. You haven't even recognised me." (God knows it was not too late. I could still have agreed and asked her name. But for some godforsaken reason, I didn't. Instead-

"What rubbish! Of course I have! Your number is stored on my cell!"

"Oh great then...blah blah. Anyway, I want a favour from you..Please can you find out...blah blah?"

"Ok. I'll find out and call you back. And thanks once again!"

Two days later, I did find out whatever it was she wanted to know and called her.

"Hello!" (Shit! It was a male voice! What do I say?? Whom do I ask for??)

I hang up. (I DID message her later!)

I still don't know her name. I just hope she adds me on facebook!

P.S.- I hope she doesn't read this.

Yaawwn!

In my entire life, I have never encountered a situation more hypnogogic (hey, I took GRE, remember?) than the Chemistry [why anyone would want to study that subject is beyond me...by the way] class in school. So much so that it deserves an entire post.

It was an endless series of yawns, interspersed with rubbing of eyes and blank stares at the world around you. I used to yawn so frequently that I soon began to improvise and learnt how to yawn by opening my mouth the tiniest bit possible. Mind you, it was a wide-spread phenomenon and the entire class would go into a trance for the 50 minute period. Time would stop. Eyes would glaze over. Tears would flow. 40 pairs of eyes would fix glassy stares at the wall clock.

Now, at that time, 6 of us were very close friends and one of us had a solid steel ruler, quite different from the normal variety. One day, she dropped it on the floor in the middle of the class. A genuine mistake.

The "Clang!" was nerve shattering. 39 (+1) faces turned towards the culprit. The entire class came out of its stupor. All said and done, it was highly effective. People woke up from their power naps and looked around. Refreshed. A wave of renewed energy and vigour flowed through our veins.

Henceforth, it became a daily ritual. In the middle of each Chem class, the credulous ruler was taken to the edge of the desk and pushed over by the sly fingers of one of us. The teacher would peer at the culprit suspiciously, until the innocent look on her face satisfied her. The class would proceed until the bell rang.

Years later, memories of the class still have the potency to make me yawn. And this harmless incident never fails to bring a smile to our faces.

P.S.- What is the maximum number of times you've yawned in a minute? My personal best is 11 per minute, I guess- I stopped counting after class X. What's yours?

;-)

For Delhi, with Love

Delhi. It’s where I spent some of the best years of my life.

A thousand places in one; it’s where dreams are woven.

Where dreams are lived.

Where friends are made. And lost. And new ones found.

Where love happens.

Where friends become family.

Where maggi tastes best after bunking a class.

Where long walks lead to the ridge. [And monkeys scare you away!]

Where sitting alone in a coffee shop earns you free cookies.

Where the 2nd lane behind McD always takes you home.

Where it never rains for long.

Where ‘chikoo’ and ‘paan’ flavoured ice creams taste heavenly.

Where the greenery charms your senses.

Where winters mean steaming cups of coffee at Arts Fac.

Where IPL bets always fail (Damn!)

Where cute yellow sippers get lost. And are found again :)

Where a ‘good day’ lasts forever.

Where a missed call denotes that the class has begun.

Where three aces spell money.

Where DUTA and DUSU ensure frequent holidays.

Where a game of LIFE makes your day.

Where December and Crossroads go hand in hand.

Where birthday cakes are rarely chocolate!

Where Ludo means endless hours of fun.

Where you can shop till you drop.

Where hot chocolate fudge makes you drool.

Where Saturday means a roll, momos and a movie.

Where a diva cannot shake a leg.

Where happiness comes in a packet of fun flips and costs five bucks.

And then again...it is also the place

where ‘puchkas’ taste nothing like they do in Calcutta (No. Not even remotely close).

Where hostel food does one of 3 things- it either tastes good or it looks good or neither (mostly the latter).

Where girls in frocks climb over walls.

Where ‘badaam’ is well....’mungfali’ (:-P)

Where frequent bomb scares occur the day before tests. And no, they don’t get cancelled :(

Where they don’t deliver pizza at India Gate!

Where there are lesser number of guys in your class than your marks in Macro(!)