Reminiscences re-lived

Life at hostel and at home can be drastically different, especially when it comes to preparing for exams. For the past year an a half, while staying in the hostel, exam time would mean, night outs, irregular eating patterns, cramming with books in one corner of a dungeon that you call room and whining about exam papers amongst friends. Its the time your tongue craves for the most unusual food. Its difficult to tell if the brain is cajoling the tongue to control its sudden temptation or if the tongue pleads with the brain to focus on studies. All that the brain can think of, is to google and atleast take a look at those sumptuous delights. But all that the tongue would get is the bland canteen food. Only the tummy is happy about the whole series of events - atleast you didn't let it starve. Damn, life sucks during exams!


After nearly two years, now i can completely feel the difference that it makes to sit at home and prepare for exams. The last time i did this was when i was preparing for board exams and the umpteen college entrance exams. Now, as i prepare for mid-sem exams at home, its like re-living those days (nightmarish though). In a way, it does seem really nice. You wake up at 9 in the morning (which may be too early if u were in hostel). Then even before your eyes could fully open, the first thing you wish to see is the day's menu! :D Later, you are greeted with a hot cup of bournvita even before you finish brushing. Appa is just then getting ready to leave for office and you can hear him murmur some advice to you, while you are still enjoying your steaming cup of milk with the newspaper. In between her puja slokas, amma urges you to shower and get along with your studies. Finally, after an hour of wandering around the house and stealthily sneaking small cubes of roasted potato curry, you realise that food would be offered only after a shower. Phew!


After a nice early lunch, amma is off for her afternoon nap. You sit with your lecture notes only to be feeling drowsy. The only activity that can keep you from falling asleep is to sms friends who are sleeping in college and you begin to nag them! :D Even before half the previous meal has been digested, amma wakes up and sincerely serves curd rice and potato curry. So once again after eating you try to get into the groove and start studying. Exactly an hour later, its tea time! Its accompanied by nice hot bajjis! :D Now, the sun has gone down a bit and you decide to move to the terrace and study. Cool breeze blows on your face and lets your hair fall on the forehead. Terrace is a wonderful place to study and so is it to get distracted. Aunties come and go to remove the dried clothes from clothes line, some enquire about your life abroad, uncles walk in to check the water tank, boys come to play, occasionally giving silent glances at you. You begin to watch aeroplanes and start guessing the airlines and where they might be flying to. You see the birds getting back to their nest. For a moment you wish you could be that crow, flying and flying, with no exams or assignments to worry about. Then you begin to admire the beauty of sunset. Slowly, as night creeps in and mosquitoes begin to attack you, its time to get back into the house. Dinner would be awesome rotis with delicious subji. Then its chat time with appa. As people at home retire to bed, you realise that you havn't done productive work for the day. But then who cares. Atleast you ate well! :D


Well, its not often that one experiences the term - 'History repeats itself'. That's exactly what i am going through now and i cant refrain from describing this feeling. Life has been so different for the past year and half. It feels so special to re-live those moments of the past, that you never thought you would. As ironic as it may sound, university and education have the capability to surprise you and show to you those qualities that you never thought you possessed. But its kinda cute.

The Story of Sugar and Spice

Its not unusual that you find yourself piled up with so much work that it wouldn't be a surprise if your middle name were 'procrastination'. The tasks in hand would literally overflow out of control, that you might even wonder if your grocery bill is as long as your to-do list. Come-what-may, you may be the type who is obsessed about keeping your working ambience clean, but now you can do nothing about the dungeon you are working in. You might have to just walk on the rubble, helpless. Time can be such a killer. Just when you are done with one job and would like to take a break, you notice that the break is only haunted by the next task that you are going to undertake. In the middle of all this mess, when you thought that you have had enough for the day, the closest of friends might surprise you with an unexpected bad news. Probably your friend just thought that it would be fun to humour you when you least expected it and make your day complete. So sweet!


Now, if there was this friend to whom you turned to at such times, it might just happen that this person is also held up with something. You very well know that this is the opportunity to cheer up your friend, but the otherwise-hyperactive brain of yours is now devoid of any ideas. In a futile attempt to bring a smile across the friend's face, you might only be found fooling around with the emoticons while chatting. In spite of all this, you might manage to get yourself into those moments of sweet nothings, so that you could just relieve yourself out of the stress. But when it all ends, you are back to square one, trying to get the 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle together. Its like this unbreakable vow - there is no escape and no choice. That's when you begin to feel all cheesy about yourself. After a long hard day, you finally, think its time to crash and pull the blanket over yourself, only to realise that you are hungry. Its endless and its routine!




Though its true that somethings are bound to be what they are, its a great thing when you realise that you still have the ability to give yourself those bouts of sweet surprises. So long, you might have been reluctant to get out of your comfort zone. But now, that uncomfortable zone, might not have seemed all that bad after all. The maze wasn't all that difficult to get though. You might feel like a phoenix out of its ashes. When at last you reap the results, you realise that the rewards were worth your sacrifice. Its a deep warm feeling of self-satisfaction. You feel happy that you took the risk. You feel grateful that you managed to give yourself that push and begin to wish that your hands were a bit longer to conveniently give yourself that pat on your back. At the end of it all, you might have just heaved a sigh of relief, but inside you, there would be one spark that would be all set to take on the next ordeal. That's when after a really long time, your mind is calm and free to enjoy the sounds of your favourite music and you would be waiting to spend a quiet moment by the seaside, with the people you love. Its also that time when you experience the eternal bliss of the obnoxious odour of your unkempt room and the taste of the horrible food you have been surviving on for the past few days! Puke!


P.S.: I will be extremely glad if someone can completely relate to whatever i have written. It would just give me the comfort of having company :)