Milestones

  As the flight took off and thrown me into another new city and ofcourse which made me go through much more array of  interesting   happenings by the end of the day or situation  that was finally good enough for me, to sit back and  laugh at my own innocent and puzzled actions…

Caution: Happy days with Bumpy Rides!!! Ahead so watchhh outtttt here comes SAHANA who thinks just like every commoner, just the way an fresher  and  narrates just all the real cool  youthful stuff that she happens to go through  during her  college life... 

Life is indeed a highway ride!! & every road surely be wild, plot unfolding and nerve wrecking some times

COLLEGE DAYS.. THE HAPPY DAYS…. AND how would I describe them??

College means freedom! Independence?! and no much slogging??!!(Nahhh)…

NEW CITY, the initial euphoria of shifting to a new place evaporated soon. The people are sweet and amicable and overall the change was palpable.

Mom fell ill with change of new climate.. So I have to start my college life (class 11) little late… hmm how late?.. 1 fortnight  late and then …..LATE LATIFF AWARD  of the YEAR goes to??…(thanks to my day 1 late entry!)

Let my DAY 1 BEGIN:

July 16

Just the day before night I dreamed of myself running in slow motion…..amidst lush green grass, looking nothing less than a Yash Chopra heroine with folios of all colors raining from the  sky.  Mom  handed  over one of the pastel shaded salwar kameez for the first day of my college…(Dreams unlimited)…My mistake so no complaints as my super memory never let me remember  anything especially when it comes to work for myself, I have forgot to get my stitched uniform from the tailor!. 1st day college that too in civil dress… great… wow..(u fool r nt u suppose to work on ur memory) finally when I was to walk out of my home I have no other option but to walk with my sneakers..!! Salwar n sneakers!!

That day I did’nt have the luxury of my dad’s car. I have to board on a local bus, which was to become my fate for the next two years of my college life. My anxiety to reach made me scream to the conductor “Bhaiya please let me know when we reach the next stop”

He shouted back fighting with the roaring ignition of the bus. “Don’t worry.” After 45 minutes he frantically waved at me “The next stop, is College road stop.” I hurriedly stomped past the standing  crowd stamping on few  unknown feet to the gate, and with my heavy backpack,  stumbled on the metal steps.

It was already 9:30 am, and pucca  I am going to miss  morning assembly( I was  still in my old school days time table thoughts)… Wait a second… am I on the right location.! Last week when me and dad came for admission, we did not take this direction…OO no.. I was going on a wrong road? Or did I get down on wrong stop??  I stopped to ask a guy through his thick specs under umbrella about the right way, meanwhile wiping beads of perspiration forming a necklace on my forehead on that sunny July morning.

“O! your on the right way but you have stepped down in the 1st stop, the college is on the 4th stop. Doesn’t matter , just a 20-25 minutes walk from here” . I took long strides and in between I was trying to recollect the outcome of late overall .. in between heavy breaths and huffing ( I had 1 more extra delicious dosa and 2 extra scoops of curd… O maa.. I really wish I can still say I love the way u cook and feed bt right now I am lil nt sure!!) Pushing back my long plaits finally I was standing just infront of the college looking little lost.

The office boy took me to my final destination i.e. IX A (Science) and left out with some murmurs… u go and sit.. they will come (They?) I peeped into the room and found empty class and with no idea.  I was going through some indefinable moods and feelings… Not sure whether I was excited, over expecting or it was simply that I got time to relax and refresh myself under the high ceiling fan which of course no where making any sense to provide  air. I tried to wipe sweat around my neck, made a 360 degree visual scan. The green board filled with the name, section and no.of presents , few science posters and ofcourse my attention went straight on to the benches where I was still not sure on where I have to settle back. I just loitered all over the class, from to the high elevated dais  till the last benches where in all the  backbench historian names were engraved. I thumped on the 1st bench and my hand unintentionally got stuck beneath with something sticky substance and before I realize  what  it  was, I heard squeaky voices booming from the corridor. From the giggles and chirpy voices, I could trace out probably students of my class were coming and with the  heavy boot beats   resounded  which alerted me that it is now time to face my future friends. One after the other entered making some surprised looks, some did not even felt to give a glance and few not even in mood to give me any expression of welcome..(great!! What an class) last and finally an Tall, middle aged, well polished gentleman entered the class and closed the doors. I just sat with no much expression on my face nor I have uttered any words but two boys stood very next to me with more of anxious and overexcited expressions!(Uff .. grow up!! Geeks). I nervously fiddled to walk out from the bench and took the side of to the middle aged man..” Sir… I .. I paused a little and showed the slip where in my name and class was scribbled by the Admin clerk. “Well, Class.. We have a new student and she is.... he paused and gave a look at me and said  “Young lady ,why don’t you introduce yourself? He said and handed over me my task to finish my intro…Every one’s eyes turned towards me as if I just landed from Mars.It was damn embrassing. I took a deep breath gazed the full class, my eyes fell on the 1st bench of the 3rd row, an skinny girl with thick spects was giving me an welcoming smile and I liked her instinctively. Before I could say something.. She waved at me..”Hi im Payal.. btw… her voice gave me a pep up and I said “Btw my name is Sahana and hmm im..err…I was interrupted by Sir. Oo BTW(stressing on the word BTW) “I AM GVK DAS.. I am your physics teacher for this year” and u r late on 1^st day? And instead of giving the right answer I started to mumble,and then few jeered voices joined with BTW and everyone started to mimicked my confused answers.

As all the benches were filled so I had no other choice but sit next to an utterly butterly cute looking girl called Samira who introduced herself as Sammy and who would bat her long eye lashes for every now and then .She would give a tight skin scalding patting ( smack) on my back or for that matter to anyone whenever she feels funny.

Before I could feel well settled, I could hear someone whispering from behind for a pen..”pschh pschh.. hey uu.. I need a pen..” (GVK SIR class was made to sound as pin drop silence)  and in hurry I dropped my bag and then my pen box.. making an huge bulky sound. Amidst those cold stares and “u know what” sort of expressions I felt as if I was caught for some petty theft!... “he is Uday… lazy idiot, never gets his own stationary”  mumbled Sammy batting eyelashes in between.  Sir continued with his uninterrupted lecture on 1^st law of motion, and every time he mentioned about the marks allotted to that chapter (we are all starving and studying only for MARKS)meanwhile, i gazed all around , all heads down and everyone were at their extreme levels of inertia jotting the notes(SERIOUSLY CLASS 11 IS NT REST YEAR!!).. God bless all these Einsteins and Newtons. My attention was grabbed at the last bench at the rear end, an chubby, thick hair colored boy(Shabbir) sleeping with his notes and mouth open, to my next left were some extra intellectual faces all ready to make an extra Stud impressions. A boy with those Chinese looks and spiky hair-Manas, blinking his eyes from his thin framed spects ,whenever he turned pages of his notes. On the other side, my gaze unintentionally got struck on a fairly handsome chap with amber eyes on whom Sammy was gaping him every now and then. She whispered me that he was the class monitor . He seemed too much gentle and soft. I could not stop myself to give him a smile for which he did not reciprocate.. Damn Attitude! , somewhere among all those new faces, I found someone who was familiar, extra joyful,  superbly confused, extremely gorgeous and strikingly humble face and she was non other than Tanya(I called her BARBIE) … who  was my full and final close friend for the coming years.   By the time class ended, we were all assigned with home task each to solve and discuss on the topic the next day… The second period was  chemistry  which I enjoyed the most, better  than I ever liked. Bio lab periods were announced and we were all supposed to group up by next week. Sir told me to collect notes from the CLASS MONITOR  as I missed  portion,  btw his name is AKASH.(An typical 1^st ranker who acted snobbish as I was newcomer later became an never forgetting character in my life) 

In the break all the restless souls like Payal, Tanya,  preet, JAI, sandeep almost mobbed around me  and poured out with their queries… All I was doing was answering and trying hard to get some answers back for me.  Subconsciously through all this, I kept an eye on Hemant!(I will get back to him soon in the narration).

 In the break I have decided to visit my refugee place..’ LIBRARY’, carrying my books and my tiffin box in one hand, heading towards and all of a sudden I could feel someone giving me a hard push leaving me lose balance of the stuff in my hands.. My tiffin box lid fell aside and all the food inside it spilt out..Hey… Oyyy… Hey uu… Pony tail…OYY..some of the students were running in the corridor , there was lots of chaos all around.

Before I could know what was all this about, the one who did this mess was almost left out of site and I had no other alternative but to clean and walk out from there towards the library… cursing him  and with rumbling tummy. It was getting hard for me to sit back with such hunger state. I was about to leave the place  , picked  up all my stuff. The moment I was about to reach near the entrance  I could see someone coming near me.He was coming directly towards me, few inches taller than me, innocent with silver of timidity and hair neatly combed into pony,… “Hai…   r u the one whom I dashed?? He meekly inquired. I become little annoyed but I controlled myself. He could be my Senior I thought in mind , “hey wanna  join  with  me? sharing samosa.?”His friendly gesture or may be on hearing such yummy delightful foodie  offer  I could not dared to say NO. We both walked briskly and between he started his conversation:

You seem new, Commerce? He asked giving me an toe to head stare,  Nahhh  You must be Science section right?? He re-corrected his question . I gave an Affirmative look . Bingo! He exclaimed as if he discovered an million dollar solution.  Whats your name?, before I could answer him he walked away from me so fast that I was literally panting to reach him. I am Sahana, I answered weakly ( did not even felt to know his name or may be it was of no use)” May I know where are we heading”, I tried to enquire out of curiosity.   “Canteen” he shouted back by that time I found myself in the busy, hussle and crowded hall where students were buzzing, shouting and eating.

 Why are we here?  I asked in high pitch. Yaaa,  JLU! He uttered winking his eye .What?? I puzzled with dat JLU (just lucky u).  He rushed towards the counter meanwhile I tried to settle at one corner ,toying with my plaits. I was clueless about why I was following him. I could see him talking to an fat guy  near the cash counter  with an still more fatter book placed on his table. After a while I saw him get back swinging, swaying to his whistling and with a cold drink in hand he sat carelessly infront of me. I was to take a bite, I shoot out my doubt with an raised brow. “So how come I am JLU”…  He grinned and tried to elaborate his words. “ No fresher, that too  from Science stream that too before the fresher’s party  ,  get such privilege . Privilege?  Gosh! Dis is really too much.. you are the one who pushed me, you are the one who called me to join you, you are the one who got me here and  till this second you haven’t even felt to say SORRY!! I was about to lose my temper with his kind of response… “OO OO chill chill.. You have to thank me instead.. coz I got you here,  no girl gets such help from me… saying that he was pulling his collar  Yaa if you were from commerce group , that would be totally an different issue saying this he started to grab another  Samosa out of my plate. “So how come AN SENIOR LIKE YOU is sharing and helping an SCIENCE FRESHER like me?? “  All of sudden I can see him and his voice  has changed. His face alarmed me.

 Rishuuuu.. Haii rishuu.. from my back I could hear an femma fetale  voice, and along with that few more girlie chorus… Rishuu…  MMF was asking about you and we were all like…   The moment that group reached us, my nostrils got flared up with an exotic perfume smells, I finally realized why Commerce girls are so much hyped. I found myself like an ugly duckling among those hi fi.. well maintained chicks..  (Are these born  phirngies??or they got stuck with this accent syndrome??) every word they spoke was totally out of my understanding… Rishu..  seems you have someone with you? The girl asked eyeing on me little suspiciously..   (OMG she was wearing makeup to college?) a short boy next to her, tried to push him aside and  Rishu, this so called guy did not left any minute to change his color.... OO nono.. nothing much… I was about to call you all here,  gud that u all are here.. She is our Junior… S 11 ,new girl buddy  and she is all yours… She is going to get all whatever we want… Order  whatever you want… She will pay and saying this he managed to turn to his group. I slowly realized im getting under the grill in the name of ragging. Do you booze? An girl with  funky jewelry  asked, I nodded negative with fear, Got boy friend? That short boy with bulging tummy asked. I nodded again.. Etc etc…  and some  bizarre questions.  The femma fetale voiced girl gave me a thumbs down expression and   tried her best to humiliate  me  and have fun in the name of ragging.. I had head spin, and a tear did trailed across my cheek leaving wet splotches .

  By the time all of them finished with their attack.. All I was left with penny less . But I did learnt something.. I did something called TIT FOR TAT

 The moment I reached class already the news that I was ragged by seniors, has brought half the class to fell pity for me,  more or less I have became good friend with all of them.

 The last bell rang and everyone were in hurry to walk out of the class, I heard someone calling behind me… Sahanaaaa., It was Rishu/Rishant.. I tried to  ignore him and walked briskly. “Wait… hey… wooo… WAIT.. Look im sorry ok!! “ he  his was quite apologetic. Sorry for what???  I gave a fake smile.  Look.. I did not mean to do that but it happened… Don’t take them as threat… it was just for fun!! .. So when did I took it seriously?? And I laughed.. Threat??  And I laughed out tauntingly. Seems  one of them is too much obsessed with you that  I have to pay back for that!! Saying that I gave a sheepish grin.( I came to know that this  girl who  ragged me happens to be Rishu’s ex GF  and so said he dumped, some said she dumped but is planning to get him back by hook or by crook and any girl near him would be derogatory)

 Sahana… I got  something for you.. saying he  was trying to give me Chocolate bar and he continued saying, I swear  I won’t do that again…   But the Canteen food is too gud.. next time try out  Chole it’s awesome there.. and the lassi too and the pop corn also, hot hot….

Yaa.. I know.. I had it just after you all left. His face turned little puzzled, but I saw you look little worried as all your money was over… Yaa,  I was worried, but thanks to you.. You were the one who showed me the canteen, and thanks that you even shared your amount too..!! saying that, with the chocolate  bite in my mouth… And hey.. I have ate on your credit…   its 80 bucks, and Rishant Basu.. rt?? So the total goes to 2000/- plus 80…

Rishant  dropped his jawdropped… He had his day and so  as me!

Quite ridiculous but we became friends slowly (from my side) and instantly from his part.

And by the end of day I learned, absorbed and understood   the myths and realities which prevailed in my head till that day about COLLEGE.

A college is a place where pebbles are polished and diamonds dimmed. (AHH!!! what an intelligent, outstanding & extraordinary Thought !!!!)