A Beginning...

Some things are very close to your heart, no matter how many years go by....

It was 10.30 P.M and my bags were packed. My train was scheduled for 2.00 P.M the next day. I was still not sure where things were heading. All i knew was that i was going to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) for ‘further studies’.

Around 34 hours later, we (my dad and me) reached 'Majestic' (Bangalore Station) at around 7.00 A.M and as soon as i stepped out of the train, chill morning breeze enveloped me in its arms. It seemed to me like it was saying, "Welcome to Bangalore!". The month was August and it had rained in the morning. Weather was cold and nice. People were drinking 'Garam Chaya' in the station. 

Dad's colleague came and helped us around the city.

Bangalore being true to itself, had awesome weather. It would have been nice to just sit, relax and enjoy for a while, but we had work to do. After getting inputs from various 'experts' about the colleges in the city, we set about looking for colleges and courses that they offered. Finally, we zeroed in on a college called 'Garden City College'. "Weird name", i thought, but was taken in by their vast green campus and Labomed microscopes!

Next stop was the hostel. I climbed up the stairs not knowing what to expect. Was i nervous? Was i scared? Or was it excitement? I don't know. It was a weird mixture of feelings. 

I was introduced to a girl wearing a pink top and brown pajama with beautiful curly hair and big expressive eyes. She smiled looking at me. I felt better. (A smile can do wonders!) This is how i remember my first meeting with A. Later that night we chatted like we had known each other forever! We also managed to make a plans to study but ended up talking about ghosts and other paranormal activities. (And as expected we could not sleep that night!)

Next evening 2 of my other room-mates joined me. One who spoke relentlessly to my dad, and the other who cried incessantly. A and I were wondering how were we going to manage to be friends with the new roommates? Little did we know that the bond that we would make subsequently will last a life time.

After settling in the hostel, dad decided to leave the next day and despite the fact that i had company and new friends, loneliness set in. New place with new people. We were all staying out for the first time and we took turns to miss home and sulk or cry for sometime. 

But before we knew, we had so many things to talk about and share (some of you might call this gossiping!) that we forgot to miss home after that. Hostel was fun. 

From hostel to flat. We were together through it all. 

This was the place where we spread our wings and learnt to fly together.

Recently i spoke to one of my friends, she said, "Life was so much easier, only we did not realize it then!"

This post is dedicated to my "Kundal Ratnam" mates: Anila, Anusha, Nikhil, Siddharth, Sumi and Swati. Love you all a lot and miss you! Wish we could turn back time and live there once more!