People often say, Time flies when you’re having fun! I finally understand the meaning of that phrase! The past year has been like a whirlwind, and one thing I’ve found is that, in the end, when you look back you don’t remember days, just moments!
When I first heard that I would have to share a room in hostel I was quite scared. Even though I’ve shared a room with my sister for most of my life, the idea of sharing a room with some stranger seemed alarming. Then I was given the good news, sometimes I would have more than one roommate! It all depended on luck! And anyone who knows me, knows what bad luck I have, just look at the long list of men I’ve dated! So I was terrified and spent many sleepless nights worrying about my future roommates before I got to Singapore.
Once I got to Singapore and reached the hostel, we were shown a glass bowl full of room keys and asked to pick one. I said my prayers and picked a key and then headed to the lift with my luggage. There was a huge queue near the lift as there was only one lift. After nearly 5 minutes the lift opened and two girls came out. As soon as one of the girl’s saw me she said, “Hi Pooja, what’s you room number?” and when I told her, she squealed, “Great we’re roommates and we have a room with only two beds!”. And I didn’t know how to react because for the life of me I had no idea who she was! And that is how I first met, Bhavya!
Bhavya, what can I say?! One of the wildest people I know but still very mature for her age and down to earth. She was everything I could have hoped for in a roommate and a friend.
The first morning I woke to some really strange noises and was wondering what was happening, when I investigated I realised it was Bhavya’s alarm going off. And she had some really strange song playing, one I’d never heard before! Anyway I woke her up since she seemed oblivious to the alarm and we both needed to get up and get dressed for the orientation. Then I asked her what the song was and she laughed and said, “Oh that’s Pappichulo, sounds like sex noises doesn’t it?!”. And then suddenly it made sense and I couldn’t stop laughing! What a strange thing to choose as an alarm but only Bhavya could have done it!
I think the reason that we both got along very well is that when it came to basic stuff we thought along the same lines. She was as much a neatness freak as I am, so our room remained spotlessly clean throughout the five months that we lived together much to the surprise of all those who visited our room.
We were both nocturnal so we didn’t really disturb each other when we stayed up late at night chatting with friends or going for walks and returning at odd hours. She used to have marathon movie sessions where she watched movies back to back, while I spent my time listening to music or chatting with friends. And so we spent our time in blissful companionship, each of us involved in our own world but glad to have company.
On nights when we were going out partying we would try on party outfits and ask each other how we looked. And once we got back from partying all high n happy we would listen to music loudly on my speakers and our all time favourite song at that time used to be “Ye Mera Divanapan Hai”, which we would both sing as loudly as possible, we were lucky that our neighbours never complained!
And then there were nights when we got bored of doing our pre-reading and we used to search for something to eat. Bhavya would make maggi or some exotic thing from a packet and I would search for snacks and dessert. Then we would share our food and happily eat till early morning while most folks were fast asleep.
Then there was the time that my mum came to Singapore and brought chocolate brownies along. And Bhavya and I used to eat em for all three meals. We’d both be deeply engrossed in our assignments one minute and the next, we’d glance at each other and the brownies and then it would be brownie time! The amount of brownies we ate it’s a wonder we didn’t grow really fat or make our selves ill.
How can I write about Bhavya and not mention her love for shoes! I thought I had lots of shoes till I met her. She is the only person I know who goes shopping and cannot return without buying at least one pair of shoes and usually it is waaaay more than one! And she’s one person who has shoes in all the possible colours! So she would return from her shoe shopping and then we’d both sit and admire them. The best part was that she had the same shoe size as me so I would try em out and parade around.
Then there were nights when we were bored stiff so we would do a fashion show and try on all the fashionable clothes from our wardrobe which we hadn’t had a chance to wear yet. Then crazy photographs would be taken for entertainment.
And then we had our gossip sessions where we caught up on all the news in college and beyond. It was always great to share news and discuss and debate various possible theories to explain all the strange phenomena taking place in college. And we had some really good theories about some folks; unfortunately I can’t reveal all that, what is said in the room stays in the room!
And so five months passed by in blissful companionship and then we moved to Dubai. In Dubai, I shared a flat with four other girls, Ramya, Anamika, Surbhi & Sneha.
I’ll start with Ramya, she was one person who just didn’t believe in going for a bath till the last possible moment. There would be five minutes left for the college bus and she would be going in for her bath. And the best part is she would be completely cool and relaxed about it. Initially it used to get my blood pressure up just watching her, I used to worry that she’d miss the bus and get left behind, but except one odd time she managed to make the bus with time to spare! No idea how she managed it, maybe she figured out a way to stop time and just didn’t feel like sharing it with the rest of us! I think if there was guinness record on fastest bath then she must have beaten the record on a regular basis! Truly spectacular!
Ramya also had some culinary talents and she loved experimenting with food. If the Italians had ever heard of her Szechwan pasta they would have been completely troubled and confused, because only Ramya could think that Pasta should be cooked Szechwan style! Though I must say it tasted pretty good.
Ramya was serial movie watcher and watched movies back to back with a vengeance. There were days when she would be so engrossed in movie watching that we would ask her if she had eaten, in fear that she might forget to eat in her aim to complete watching all the movies in the world!
Then there were days when she would be in a cleaning mode and madly start washing all the dishes in the sink early in the morning. One of our roommates once actually dreamt of a waterfall, what with all the noise! Poor Ramya, always had good intentions, just bad timing sometimes!
When Ramya was in the mood, she was hilariously funny and imitated people so well that she had the rest of us in splits. I used to love the way she always referred to us as “Ladies!”. And most of the time when we found her missing and checked on where she was, we would find that the poor girl was “struck” in college. Ah Ramya, I’m really going to miss all the fun we had together.
Anamika, what can I say about the baby in our room?! Other than always being hungry and tired, she is most blissfully happy person I know! She’s lost in her dream world most of the time, though I think over the past year she’s grown more worldly wise. She has a laugh that I will never forget, it sounds like a hyper gleeful child! And once she’s laughing it’s hard to understand a word she’s saying. She laughs so hard that she has tears coming out of her eyes. A funny girl, who always kept the rest of us amused with her bizarre theories and some times conservative ideas about life, our baby was a little grandma inside!
Surbhi or Sorbhee as she was affectionately called can never be thought of in isolation, when one thinks of her, her famous Khwaja dance always comes to mind. She was my eating partner for we spent most of our time in Dubai eating everything in sight, which explains my current size! A strict non-vegetarian and a big piggy like me so we usually ate during the time we spent together or chatted about the various events taking place in college. We were both quite militant in our dislike of dishonest folks and let our displeasure be known when it was appropriate.
How can I mention Sorbhee and not talk about her love for popcorn. Sorbhee was always burning popcorn in the microwave and declaring different manufacturers of popcorn as worthless. I think it was finally declared that only American Garden Popcorn should be consumed since that was the only popcorn that the poor girl had not burnt. The rest of us were glad of this development because it spared us from waking to the smell of burning popcorn. She was another serial movie watcher and any free time that she had was spent watching movies either at the movie theatre or on her computer. She also spent time reading and re-reading books and crying over them. It was not an uncommon sight to see Sorbhee crying after re-reading “The Kite Runner”. A totally mad child, who was always entertaining, with her dramatic expressions and mad dancing style.
Sneha, my best friend and confidante during my MBA, at SP Jain. I don’t think I could have gotten through the course without her. She always knew when to give advice and when to just listen and that’s what I love about her the most! She and I shared a room in Dubai. She is the sleepiest person in the world and can sleep for long periods without getting disturbed by the light or by any noise, including me falling off the bed! Her other favourite pastime is eating, always the hungry child, she’s needs to be constantly fed. The rest of her time is spent re-watching "Friends" or watching movies.We always had fun together and our friendship only grew stronger during the period that we stayed together, unlike some other folks who annoyed each other so much once they started living together that they don't even talk to each other now!
And then there were visiting roommates. They were a few both in Singapore and in Dubai. For their own sake, I won’t mention their names since none of them were supposed to be visiting according to the college rules! But what’s the point in having rules if you don’t break a few, huh?! I have fond memories of all the visiting roommates; they really made the journey in SP Jain all the more memorable!
Overall the past year has been special and I truly enjoyed living with all these different people. I think that each of them contributed to my learning and enjoying the course in their own special way. Love ya all!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Results
It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.
- John Wooden (US basketball coach)
- John Wooden (US basketball coach)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Time Heals
It has been said, "Time Heals all wounds". I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.
-Rose Kennedy
-Rose Kennedy
Monday, May 19, 2008
What goes around, comes around !
Life has a ruthless habit of balancing calculations at the end of the day.
-Unknown
-Unknown
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Facing the Truth
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
-Plato
-Plato
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Loss
Losses are a necessary part of life and we need them because we grow by losing, leaving and letting go.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Memories of Singapore
This morning I awoke and my dreams were so vivid that I almost expected to be lying in my hostel room in Singapore. Such wonderful memories of days gone by, that I spent the morning sitting near the window watching the rain, listening to the sound of falling leaves and let my mind wander back to those happy times. It seems like only yesterday and already it’s been nearly a year since we first landed at Singapore Airport, a large bunch of confused people, anxious to get our MBA degrees in hand and get back to work. And now when it’s time to go back to work, I wish I had realised the importance of those days of happy, carefree existence, maybe I would have cherished it more.
I still remember landing at the airport and looking around anxiously for the “SP Jain” board. There were three of us and we just could not locate the board, so we reached the metro exit before we realised that we were headed in the wrong direction. Then we had to re-trace our steps, in the process we found another lost soul who was also looking for the same elusive board, and had strangely enough been on the same flight as us from Bangalore but we had been blissfully unaware of his existence till then. Anyway we joined forces and continued our search till we saw an assorted group of grumpy people sitting on luggage and generally loitering about and realised that it must be SP Jain students. I still remember a certain gentleman who insisted on sitting with his feet on his luggage and his headphones on his head and completely ignored the rest of us, or another who was just searching for anyone who would come with him for a smoke or one woman who had pulled out food from her luggage, which was in a neatly packed aluminium foil containing puri and aloo and she was devouring it while making feeble attempts to offer it to anyone who looked in her direction. Strange how deeply etched all these memories are and how clearly I can see them even now and all the assorted expressions on peoples faces from irritation, anger, annoyance, excitement, happiness or just plain disgust at having to wait so long at the airport.
I remember the drive to the hostel and the first glimpse we got of the campus, I was totally awestruck. It really was more beautiful than any of the pictures I had seen of the campus on the website. Till then I had been worried, anxious and scared but after that first glimpse I knew that this year would be special and everything I had ever dreamed that it would be and it has been that and so much more!
Looking back it’s a happy blur of classes, with oodles of pre-reading which we soon gave up on, endless group works and stressful subjects taken by Professors like Mr. Ram Kumar and Mr. Suranjan Das. I remember those long nights when we stayed up and tried to come up with creative ways to get our points across and how by early morning anything anyone said was hysterically funny. Those long nights really built strong friendships and I remember making popcorn and stocking up on chocolates before heading to Einstein’s den for group work or sitting in a friends room in the middle of the night and eating salami, mayonnaise and theplas, what a horrendous combination when you come to think of it, but at the time it tasted even better than five star food !
Early mornings were spent checking email and searching for other people who were awake so that we could go on walks down Cantebury and enjoy the lovely morning breeze and the breathtakingly beautiful view. On days when we had classes it was always fun to go for a bath and chat with those in adjoining cubicles while taking a shower. Some people actually carried their phones to the bathroom and provided the rest of us with good music while we had our baths and I even know of a few people who timed their baths to coincide with some of the music people so that they would be pleasantly entertained while bathing!
Classes were spent faking attention and making fun of those who insisted on “DCP” (desperate class participation). I don’t think any of us would have survived the MBA if it was not for gtalk! Some brave souls even used class time to play cricket on the computer, listen to music and surf websites.
The long queues at the canteen and cribbing about the food added to the day’s drama and provided some comic relief. The canteen was a place where we would sit and talk about things over pav bhaji and butter milk and discuss what future course of action we should take towards problems that we were facing at the time. And we always had a long list of things which were plaguing us, one would think we were given all the worlds problems to solve the way we used to debate and discuss different courses of action.
Evenings were spent gathering people to head towards Fair Price to stock up on groceries, which were promptly stolen from the fridge but we never gave up our resolve or faith in the human race and continued to stock up on food. We then wrote our names with black marker on all the food in the bleak hope that at least when someone stole our food they would know whom it belonged to and feel at least slightly guilty of depriving us of our breakfast ! It was always fun to go as a huge group to the supermarket for then the walk to and fro seemed really short and inconsequential.
Nights were spent chatting online and then meeting downstairs for long walks at night to just un-wind and talk about the days events with close friends. Sometimes we used to sit on the benches and listen to music on the laptop and sing along or take walks to 7/11 where some would drink beer while others would eat Ben & Jerries or drink snapples! Some nights were spent sitting on the benches near the heritage building and talking about our dreams, hopes and desires. How blissfully happy we all were then and so content.
On other nights we would go in search of movies and then settle down with friends and watch the movie on a laptop till early morning or go down to the lecture halls in our jammies to watch the movies screened by the movie club.
At 12 ‘o’ clock on most nights the hostel would ring with the cries of “Leylo” and which ever poor souls birthday it was, would get “Leylo-ed” with gusto. The whole process would involve the person being doused in a bucket full of soap water and anything else that was handy from toothpaste to tomato sauce. And then the kicking or the so called “birthday bumps” would start. On nights when it was not anyone’s birthday some poor bakhra would be caught and “leylo-ed” for entertainment. It was the only time that I used to be happy that I was a girl since this was only done to the boys.
And then I have some assorted memories of days gone by. I once recall sitting with a broom in hand for close to an hour to help a friend chase a lizard out of his room or the time that a flying beetle entered our room and my roommate and I screamed so loudly that not only did it bring all the girls on our floor running to our room, some boys also used the opportunity to come to the girls floor to check what had happened!
Or my birthday which was right at the beginning of the course, how it rained that day, we were totally drenched even before we reached Clarke Quay! And nearly everyone from SP Jain was at Clarke Quay so it was nice to have a huge gathering there to celebrate mine and a friend’s birthday. That day was the beginning of many new friendships for me. Clarke Quay was always a fun place to un-wind and we often went there afterwards to have a drink at Crazy Elephant or Café Iguana. We also often went clubbing to Clinic, Pump Room, F-Bar and MOS. Nights were then spent drinking pitchers of Jack Daniels and dancing till day-break. All visits to Clarke Quay were not complete without a huge ice cream at Hagen Daas. On days when we partied real late we had breakfast at Mc Donalds. And sometimes we took long peaceful walks by the water at Clarke Quay after spending the night dancing, and watched the boats and listened to the water lap against the boats. Such a romantic walk and so incredibly beautiful!
Late night partying always ended with late night baths. Somehow I never could stand the smell of the smoke in my hair and on my clothes. Those late night baths were strangely peaceful and the only time when one could have a nice long bath without having people knock at the door and ask umpteen times when you would be coming out.
Holland Village! How can I ever forget the good food! We spent time in Holland village trying out new restaurants or going to Walla Walla to listen to live rock music which always reminded me so much of home! Cold Rock, was a place we always wanted to go to for ice cream at Holland but most of the time we went to there, by the time we had finished eating the place was closed. But I did manage to go there once with a friend just before we left Singapore and it was really yummy!
Then there was the time that I realised that I was getting too chubby and decided that I should go for an evening jog to lose weight. So I enlisted two of my friends to help me with my weight loss program. The first day we set off they both took off like they were running the 100 m dash and left me way behind. I of course decided that I was not going to be induced to run any faster, for after all, those two idiots were both over six feet tall and took long strides, and there was no way on earth that I could keep up with them. So I continued at a steady pace and they soon slowed down and joined me. The next day, they both were too tired and refused to come for a jog, so I had to catch another willing soul who was sweet enough to accompany me.
Then there were days when the course seemed unbearable and we just picked up our bags and went out shopping to Orchard or to Bugis. Once we had picked up a few pairs of shoes the world seemed a much more pleasant place to live in. Then we would go eat yummy crab and prawns at Jumbo and return satiated and content.
Some times for lack of anything else to do we went for walks to Labrador park to watch the boats or to Vivo City and Harbour Front where we window shopped and ate at Marche’s or Pasta Mania and returned happy. Just thinking of the desserts at Marches, especially the Oreo Chocolate Cheesecake makes my mouth water! Ah, food! I love eating!
And then there were times when we just couldn’t eat the food at the canteen and we set off to Mc Donalds, Subway, Gilman Village or Oscars to fill our empty stomachs. I still remember walking back in the sweltering heat, eating ice creams from Mc Donalds which would slowly melt all the way back to hostel. When the craving for Indian food hit us we would take a bus to “Rangoli” or go to Boat Quay to eat at the Indian Restaurant there or go to little India to eat at “Jade of India” or the hundreds of other restaurants there.
The best part about Singapore is the amount it rains, and after I lost my dad the rain always makes me feel happy for then I somehow feel closer to him. I remember once sitting with a friend and listening to music while watching the pouring rain through the window. It was one of the more incredibly beautiful sights and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so blissfully content.
Riding the Cable cars to go to Mount Faber or Sentosa was always a fun experience even though I was always terrified, as I can’t stand heights. I recollect getting into a cable car with friends who insisted on scaring the day lights out of me by telling me what would happen if it fell. They also insisted on moving around constantly to take photographs leaving me terrified for most of the trip.
Our trip to Mount Faber on Independence Day was so much fun. It was a beautiful sight to watch the fireworks from that height. After the fireworks were over we ate Cornetto ice creams and just stood there enjoying the breeze. Somehow I always associate that night with a certain sense of peace, our first sem exams were over, there was nothing to worry about, we were leaving for Batam on a holiday the next day and my mum was coming to Singapore in two days time. It really was one of the best times ever!
Batam, what can I say?! The best holiday ever! From romantic walks on the beach, to jet skiis, to getting completely drunk and falling down the stairs, it was one hell of a holiday! Please note that I fell down the stairs even before any alcohol was consumed and it had more to do with my complete lack of balance and less to do with any external factors. This led to many nights spent nursing a hot water bottle and many new friendships with kind souls who were nice enough to give me a back massage and make my life more bearable!
Falling sick in hostel was a unique experience and made me realise that it’s often the people who we least expect who come and take care of us in our time of need. From a friend who fed me baked beans and bread when I was sick with high fever (because in some misguided way he felt that, that is what sick people should be eating), to others who gave me medicines to still others who lent me hot water bottles, I’m grateful to all, for without them I don’t think I would have survived.
I remember the sleepless nights I spent when my friends were sick, I would sit in their rooms and worry trying to be of any help possible. I once slept in a chair for most of the night just because a friend was feeling ill and wanted company. How we all bonded and tried to make each other feel loved and cared for especially when we were sick as we were all so far away from home.
The whole Singapore Experience would not be complete if I did not mention the Tiger Airways flight back to India which nearly 50 of us took irrespective of our final destinations. I would like to believe that the folks from “Chinnai” conned us into visiting their city by telling us that it was way cheaper and would be fun. I won’t refute the fun part but it was not cheap at all, since we all ended up paying for excess baggage and some of us had to take domestic flights to our final destinations during which we had to pay for the excess baggage again!
The whole episode was a fiasco from start to finish. The Tiger Airways flight was horribly delayed due to technical problems and so there we were at the airport, half- MBA’s, most of us still groggy after the final SGP submissions with nothing to do. So like typical MBA’s we pulled out our laptops and got busy. Some folks checked email, others watched movies, played games, read e-books and still others like myself stuck to conventional things like a hardcopy book and an i-pod to entertain myself during the long wait. Due to the delay in the flight they fed us sandwiches and juice, and I remember sitting with friends and consuming a nice bar of dark lindt chocolate at the airport for dessert. Then finally our flight was called for boarding and we all ambled towards the plane, half asleep and tired. I don’t recall much of what happened on the flight except that there was really bad turbulence and it was awfully cold, till some kind soul gave me his jacket and then I promptly fell asleep. Before I fell asleep I was smart enough to scare a friend who was sitting next to me into promising that I would not be disturbed. I remember mentioning that I would be most annoyed if woken up and so to avoid my wrath, he protected me from over enthusiastic airhostesses and anyone else who felt inclined to wake me from my slumber. And then finally we were back on Indian soil after five months of having lived in Singapore!
Singapore! Ah, what sweet memories, I’ll never forget those days! I fell in love with Singapore in my first visit and now time can only make my feelings stronger. They say the further you go the more you remember, maybe that’s why things are clearer now. So sometimes when things are quiet and peaceful, I withdraw into silence, where moments of life past and forgotten, moments lost and hidden away, are all waiting to be recovered and enjoyed once again….
I still remember landing at the airport and looking around anxiously for the “SP Jain” board. There were three of us and we just could not locate the board, so we reached the metro exit before we realised that we were headed in the wrong direction. Then we had to re-trace our steps, in the process we found another lost soul who was also looking for the same elusive board, and had strangely enough been on the same flight as us from Bangalore but we had been blissfully unaware of his existence till then. Anyway we joined forces and continued our search till we saw an assorted group of grumpy people sitting on luggage and generally loitering about and realised that it must be SP Jain students. I still remember a certain gentleman who insisted on sitting with his feet on his luggage and his headphones on his head and completely ignored the rest of us, or another who was just searching for anyone who would come with him for a smoke or one woman who had pulled out food from her luggage, which was in a neatly packed aluminium foil containing puri and aloo and she was devouring it while making feeble attempts to offer it to anyone who looked in her direction. Strange how deeply etched all these memories are and how clearly I can see them even now and all the assorted expressions on peoples faces from irritation, anger, annoyance, excitement, happiness or just plain disgust at having to wait so long at the airport.
I remember the drive to the hostel and the first glimpse we got of the campus, I was totally awestruck. It really was more beautiful than any of the pictures I had seen of the campus on the website. Till then I had been worried, anxious and scared but after that first glimpse I knew that this year would be special and everything I had ever dreamed that it would be and it has been that and so much more!
Looking back it’s a happy blur of classes, with oodles of pre-reading which we soon gave up on, endless group works and stressful subjects taken by Professors like Mr. Ram Kumar and Mr. Suranjan Das. I remember those long nights when we stayed up and tried to come up with creative ways to get our points across and how by early morning anything anyone said was hysterically funny. Those long nights really built strong friendships and I remember making popcorn and stocking up on chocolates before heading to Einstein’s den for group work or sitting in a friends room in the middle of the night and eating salami, mayonnaise and theplas, what a horrendous combination when you come to think of it, but at the time it tasted even better than five star food !
Early mornings were spent checking email and searching for other people who were awake so that we could go on walks down Cantebury and enjoy the lovely morning breeze and the breathtakingly beautiful view. On days when we had classes it was always fun to go for a bath and chat with those in adjoining cubicles while taking a shower. Some people actually carried their phones to the bathroom and provided the rest of us with good music while we had our baths and I even know of a few people who timed their baths to coincide with some of the music people so that they would be pleasantly entertained while bathing!
Classes were spent faking attention and making fun of those who insisted on “DCP” (desperate class participation). I don’t think any of us would have survived the MBA if it was not for gtalk! Some brave souls even used class time to play cricket on the computer, listen to music and surf websites.
The long queues at the canteen and cribbing about the food added to the day’s drama and provided some comic relief. The canteen was a place where we would sit and talk about things over pav bhaji and butter milk and discuss what future course of action we should take towards problems that we were facing at the time. And we always had a long list of things which were plaguing us, one would think we were given all the worlds problems to solve the way we used to debate and discuss different courses of action.
Evenings were spent gathering people to head towards Fair Price to stock up on groceries, which were promptly stolen from the fridge but we never gave up our resolve or faith in the human race and continued to stock up on food. We then wrote our names with black marker on all the food in the bleak hope that at least when someone stole our food they would know whom it belonged to and feel at least slightly guilty of depriving us of our breakfast ! It was always fun to go as a huge group to the supermarket for then the walk to and fro seemed really short and inconsequential.
Nights were spent chatting online and then meeting downstairs for long walks at night to just un-wind and talk about the days events with close friends. Sometimes we used to sit on the benches and listen to music on the laptop and sing along or take walks to 7/11 where some would drink beer while others would eat Ben & Jerries or drink snapples! Some nights were spent sitting on the benches near the heritage building and talking about our dreams, hopes and desires. How blissfully happy we all were then and so content.
On other nights we would go in search of movies and then settle down with friends and watch the movie on a laptop till early morning or go down to the lecture halls in our jammies to watch the movies screened by the movie club.
At 12 ‘o’ clock on most nights the hostel would ring with the cries of “Leylo” and which ever poor souls birthday it was, would get “Leylo-ed” with gusto. The whole process would involve the person being doused in a bucket full of soap water and anything else that was handy from toothpaste to tomato sauce. And then the kicking or the so called “birthday bumps” would start. On nights when it was not anyone’s birthday some poor bakhra would be caught and “leylo-ed” for entertainment. It was the only time that I used to be happy that I was a girl since this was only done to the boys.
And then I have some assorted memories of days gone by. I once recall sitting with a broom in hand for close to an hour to help a friend chase a lizard out of his room or the time that a flying beetle entered our room and my roommate and I screamed so loudly that not only did it bring all the girls on our floor running to our room, some boys also used the opportunity to come to the girls floor to check what had happened!
Or my birthday which was right at the beginning of the course, how it rained that day, we were totally drenched even before we reached Clarke Quay! And nearly everyone from SP Jain was at Clarke Quay so it was nice to have a huge gathering there to celebrate mine and a friend’s birthday. That day was the beginning of many new friendships for me. Clarke Quay was always a fun place to un-wind and we often went there afterwards to have a drink at Crazy Elephant or Café Iguana. We also often went clubbing to Clinic, Pump Room, F-Bar and MOS. Nights were then spent drinking pitchers of Jack Daniels and dancing till day-break. All visits to Clarke Quay were not complete without a huge ice cream at Hagen Daas. On days when we partied real late we had breakfast at Mc Donalds. And sometimes we took long peaceful walks by the water at Clarke Quay after spending the night dancing, and watched the boats and listened to the water lap against the boats. Such a romantic walk and so incredibly beautiful!
Late night partying always ended with late night baths. Somehow I never could stand the smell of the smoke in my hair and on my clothes. Those late night baths were strangely peaceful and the only time when one could have a nice long bath without having people knock at the door and ask umpteen times when you would be coming out.
Holland Village! How can I ever forget the good food! We spent time in Holland village trying out new restaurants or going to Walla Walla to listen to live rock music which always reminded me so much of home! Cold Rock, was a place we always wanted to go to for ice cream at Holland but most of the time we went to there, by the time we had finished eating the place was closed. But I did manage to go there once with a friend just before we left Singapore and it was really yummy!
Then there was the time that I realised that I was getting too chubby and decided that I should go for an evening jog to lose weight. So I enlisted two of my friends to help me with my weight loss program. The first day we set off they both took off like they were running the 100 m dash and left me way behind. I of course decided that I was not going to be induced to run any faster, for after all, those two idiots were both over six feet tall and took long strides, and there was no way on earth that I could keep up with them. So I continued at a steady pace and they soon slowed down and joined me. The next day, they both were too tired and refused to come for a jog, so I had to catch another willing soul who was sweet enough to accompany me.
Then there were days when the course seemed unbearable and we just picked up our bags and went out shopping to Orchard or to Bugis. Once we had picked up a few pairs of shoes the world seemed a much more pleasant place to live in. Then we would go eat yummy crab and prawns at Jumbo and return satiated and content.
Some times for lack of anything else to do we went for walks to Labrador park to watch the boats or to Vivo City and Harbour Front where we window shopped and ate at Marche’s or Pasta Mania and returned happy. Just thinking of the desserts at Marches, especially the Oreo Chocolate Cheesecake makes my mouth water! Ah, food! I love eating!
And then there were times when we just couldn’t eat the food at the canteen and we set off to Mc Donalds, Subway, Gilman Village or Oscars to fill our empty stomachs. I still remember walking back in the sweltering heat, eating ice creams from Mc Donalds which would slowly melt all the way back to hostel. When the craving for Indian food hit us we would take a bus to “Rangoli” or go to Boat Quay to eat at the Indian Restaurant there or go to little India to eat at “Jade of India” or the hundreds of other restaurants there.
The best part about Singapore is the amount it rains, and after I lost my dad the rain always makes me feel happy for then I somehow feel closer to him. I remember once sitting with a friend and listening to music while watching the pouring rain through the window. It was one of the more incredibly beautiful sights and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so blissfully content.
Riding the Cable cars to go to Mount Faber or Sentosa was always a fun experience even though I was always terrified, as I can’t stand heights. I recollect getting into a cable car with friends who insisted on scaring the day lights out of me by telling me what would happen if it fell. They also insisted on moving around constantly to take photographs leaving me terrified for most of the trip.
Our trip to Mount Faber on Independence Day was so much fun. It was a beautiful sight to watch the fireworks from that height. After the fireworks were over we ate Cornetto ice creams and just stood there enjoying the breeze. Somehow I always associate that night with a certain sense of peace, our first sem exams were over, there was nothing to worry about, we were leaving for Batam on a holiday the next day and my mum was coming to Singapore in two days time. It really was one of the best times ever!
Batam, what can I say?! The best holiday ever! From romantic walks on the beach, to jet skiis, to getting completely drunk and falling down the stairs, it was one hell of a holiday! Please note that I fell down the stairs even before any alcohol was consumed and it had more to do with my complete lack of balance and less to do with any external factors. This led to many nights spent nursing a hot water bottle and many new friendships with kind souls who were nice enough to give me a back massage and make my life more bearable!
Falling sick in hostel was a unique experience and made me realise that it’s often the people who we least expect who come and take care of us in our time of need. From a friend who fed me baked beans and bread when I was sick with high fever (because in some misguided way he felt that, that is what sick people should be eating), to others who gave me medicines to still others who lent me hot water bottles, I’m grateful to all, for without them I don’t think I would have survived.
I remember the sleepless nights I spent when my friends were sick, I would sit in their rooms and worry trying to be of any help possible. I once slept in a chair for most of the night just because a friend was feeling ill and wanted company. How we all bonded and tried to make each other feel loved and cared for especially when we were sick as we were all so far away from home.
The whole Singapore Experience would not be complete if I did not mention the Tiger Airways flight back to India which nearly 50 of us took irrespective of our final destinations. I would like to believe that the folks from “Chinnai” conned us into visiting their city by telling us that it was way cheaper and would be fun. I won’t refute the fun part but it was not cheap at all, since we all ended up paying for excess baggage and some of us had to take domestic flights to our final destinations during which we had to pay for the excess baggage again!
The whole episode was a fiasco from start to finish. The Tiger Airways flight was horribly delayed due to technical problems and so there we were at the airport, half- MBA’s, most of us still groggy after the final SGP submissions with nothing to do. So like typical MBA’s we pulled out our laptops and got busy. Some folks checked email, others watched movies, played games, read e-books and still others like myself stuck to conventional things like a hardcopy book and an i-pod to entertain myself during the long wait. Due to the delay in the flight they fed us sandwiches and juice, and I remember sitting with friends and consuming a nice bar of dark lindt chocolate at the airport for dessert. Then finally our flight was called for boarding and we all ambled towards the plane, half asleep and tired. I don’t recall much of what happened on the flight except that there was really bad turbulence and it was awfully cold, till some kind soul gave me his jacket and then I promptly fell asleep. Before I fell asleep I was smart enough to scare a friend who was sitting next to me into promising that I would not be disturbed. I remember mentioning that I would be most annoyed if woken up and so to avoid my wrath, he protected me from over enthusiastic airhostesses and anyone else who felt inclined to wake me from my slumber. And then finally we were back on Indian soil after five months of having lived in Singapore!
Singapore! Ah, what sweet memories, I’ll never forget those days! I fell in love with Singapore in my first visit and now time can only make my feelings stronger. They say the further you go the more you remember, maybe that’s why things are clearer now. So sometimes when things are quiet and peaceful, I withdraw into silence, where moments of life past and forgotten, moments lost and hidden away, are all waiting to be recovered and enjoyed once again….
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Empathy
There are few things more consoling to men than finding that other men have felt as they feel.
-Unknown
-Unknown
Friday, May 09, 2008
Phases
The pain of the moment though deadening in its intensity is but one blip when viewed in the larger canvas of an entire life time.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Adventures in Kerala
After completing a stressful, exciting and exhilarating one year MBA from SP Jain Dubai –Singapore, I decided to take a refreshing holiday in Kerala to recover, so Mum and I packed our bags and headed to Calicut.
On my first day at my ancestral house, I awoke to hysterical screams from mum who was clearly distraught. On further probing, I was able to find out that she had ventured into the bathroom only to be greeted by a flying frog. No idea how the frog managed to get into the bathroom but there it was, merry as ever, jumping on the buckets and generally having a gala time, while mum was clearly troubled. Mum asked whether I had become braver after going to B school and once it was established that I was still as frightened as ever of frogs, let alone the flying variety, we locked the bathroom door and went in search of someone who was braver than the both of us.
The first person we chanced upon was our maid, Anna Kutty who on hearing about our predicament was genuinely concerned and accompanied us to the bathroom to help get rid of the creature who had dared to invade our home and our peace of mind. She bravely marched into the bathroom and searched high and low for the frog but the frog had done the vanishing act and was nowhere to be found. She declared the bathroom a safe zone and emerged. Mum decided to be brave and went for a bath, she finished her bath without any excitement.
Then it was my turn, I gingerly entered the bathroom and looked around, somehow I was not convinced that the frog had left, call it the sixth sense or whatever but I could feel those little beady eyes looking at me, I just couldn’t figure out from where. I then decided to fill water in one of the buckets so I turned on the hot water tap and just as I was going to touch the cold water tap, I saw a pair of bulging beady eyes staring at me! There was the frog happily sitting on the cold water tap. I don’t think I’ve ever screamed so loudly in my entire life!
The good part was, that it galvanised the entire household into action, my mum came running, closely followed by my saviour, Anna Kutty and my grand aunt who is deaf in one ear. I had exited the bathroom in record speed and was sitting shivering on the bed, I’m sure I could have qualified for a Guinness record! Then Anna Kutty bravely entered the bathroom and tried to catch the frog, mum decided to help her by giving her a bucket to catch the frog in, but just as she opened the door to help Anna Kutty, the terrified frog jumped on the bucket. Mum threw the bucket and ran for her life in the process falling and bruising her self. So those of you, who thought I was disgracefully accident prone, please note that it’s hereditary!
Anyway the frog was finally caught and disposed off after about half an hour. I was weak with fright by then and had to take a small nap before I was able to proceed for a bath again. And even then I kept looking around the whole time that I was having a bath expecting flying frogs to come leaping out of no where! So much for a relaxing holiday in Kerala !
On my first day at my ancestral house, I awoke to hysterical screams from mum who was clearly distraught. On further probing, I was able to find out that she had ventured into the bathroom only to be greeted by a flying frog. No idea how the frog managed to get into the bathroom but there it was, merry as ever, jumping on the buckets and generally having a gala time, while mum was clearly troubled. Mum asked whether I had become braver after going to B school and once it was established that I was still as frightened as ever of frogs, let alone the flying variety, we locked the bathroom door and went in search of someone who was braver than the both of us.
The first person we chanced upon was our maid, Anna Kutty who on hearing about our predicament was genuinely concerned and accompanied us to the bathroom to help get rid of the creature who had dared to invade our home and our peace of mind. She bravely marched into the bathroom and searched high and low for the frog but the frog had done the vanishing act and was nowhere to be found. She declared the bathroom a safe zone and emerged. Mum decided to be brave and went for a bath, she finished her bath without any excitement.
Then it was my turn, I gingerly entered the bathroom and looked around, somehow I was not convinced that the frog had left, call it the sixth sense or whatever but I could feel those little beady eyes looking at me, I just couldn’t figure out from where. I then decided to fill water in one of the buckets so I turned on the hot water tap and just as I was going to touch the cold water tap, I saw a pair of bulging beady eyes staring at me! There was the frog happily sitting on the cold water tap. I don’t think I’ve ever screamed so loudly in my entire life!
The good part was, that it galvanised the entire household into action, my mum came running, closely followed by my saviour, Anna Kutty and my grand aunt who is deaf in one ear. I had exited the bathroom in record speed and was sitting shivering on the bed, I’m sure I could have qualified for a Guinness record! Then Anna Kutty bravely entered the bathroom and tried to catch the frog, mum decided to help her by giving her a bucket to catch the frog in, but just as she opened the door to help Anna Kutty, the terrified frog jumped on the bucket. Mum threw the bucket and ran for her life in the process falling and bruising her self. So those of you, who thought I was disgracefully accident prone, please note that it’s hereditary!
Anyway the frog was finally caught and disposed off after about half an hour. I was weak with fright by then and had to take a small nap before I was able to proceed for a bath again. And even then I kept looking around the whole time that I was having a bath expecting flying frogs to come leaping out of no where! So much for a relaxing holiday in Kerala !
Strength
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.
-Jawaharlal Nehru
-Jawaharlal Nehru
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Top Ten Favorite Songs for the Month of April
- Rockstar –Nickelback
- You –Switchfoot
- Cry –Mandy Moore
- Crush – Jennifer Paige
- With or Without you –U2
- Blurry –Puddle of Mudd
- How to save a life –The Fray
- Wicked Games – Chris Isaac
- 9 PM till I come –Atb
- Here with me -Atb
Thought for the day !
It is a great misery that some people do not have enough wit to speak well, nor enough judgement to keep quiet.
-Unknown
-Unknown
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