Do Not Read This!!!: fun

This is probably my third article on the rains. There is a reason for the rainy season being one of my favourite seasons (except when I get stranded in some place away from home due to water-logging). Every season can be felt by just one parameter -temperature, the rainy season can be felt in so many other ways. It is one season which we can feel, experience and see too! We feel hot in summer, but summer never gave us any new sort of experience. You can't tell a summer day from a winter day just by looking at a picture of an empty road. But monsoons are different. They come as a relief for the earth from the scorching heat or freezing cold, they make the nature happier when they arrive. Just look around you on a rainy day. Happy children, extra green nature and a sober sky (you do find dark and scary clouds or maybe even lightning. But i guess by now we have made peace with them). You experience a freshness in everything. The beaches, the lakes, the forests or even the cities, nothing remains the same anymore. There is a sudden splash of brightness in everything around you after the very first shower. All this happens only during the rains. So if you are tired of the sun beating down on your face throughout the year in India then this is the right time for you to take a stroll outside. I am sure the water droplets caressing your soft face will be a very welcome change. Even sitting indoors and watching others getting wet is a superb idea now. So enjoy it either way. :)

Well I have two good friends in my neighbourhood. I guess they are the ones who enjoy this season to the best. It all happened yesterday. I had an off as it was a Sunday so I could join them in their celebration of the monsoons. The first rains of the season. It was exactly what they deserved after a long, sultry, uncomfortable and harsh summer. The rains.

The smallest of my friends (pardon me because I only know them by their size. I have no clue about their age or names as they have been here long before me) popularly known as taru or Kochu in Bengali seemed to be the happiest of all. The whole gang flushed with joy as the first raindrops fell on them. They just couldn't get enough of playing with the water droplets! Even you can see the joy in their leaves! :)

the wet leaves

See how green they have become!

This one is just trying to hold as much water as possible!

Its really a wonderful feeling to see your friends so rejuvenated after such a long time!

After them I turned to the baby coconut tree in front of my window. I have always been scared of coconut trees since childhood. So huge and tall! If I were asked "define a mature and strong adult with respect to trees" then my answer without any second thoughts would be the coconut trees. The tall ones looking tired and unhappy for days, burning in the sun yet providing us cool coconut juices. They are the first ones to take in the harsh sun rays so that we can stay cool. As a kid, just as I was scared of my mother, I was scared of the coconut tree. But this one in front of my house is different. It is a livelier and a smaller version. It looks happy enough to play all children's games, happy enough to ignore the fact that many of its good friends were cut down by human beings for their own selfish needs. It was enjoying the droplets falling on its leaves only to slide them down!

can you see the tree feeling the water droplets on it?

It didn't stop its game after the rain ceased. It looked up at the sky and asked for more.

it gathered many friends in its endeavour too!

When it didn't work it started another game. It send the tiny droplets it had preseved during the rains down to the pond beneath. Those tiny droplets created ripples throughout the pond! I guess it had great fun doing that. See for yourself!

ripples in the pond

I am sure others enjoyed the day too. I couldn't catch up with everybody but these new friends sure had some gala time.

I would have liked to think the same about humans but they were busy scampering from one shelter to another with umbrella in hand as if one vicious drop would melt them. :P ;)

So my message to all living things -- Good things shouldn't last long and so Rainy season is a very short season in Kolkata. Enjoy it till it lasts. But of course... Stay safe... :)

Thanks for taking out time to read this :)

I know that I am late in expressing my feelings. But I got a little disoriented in getting myself settled in these new surroundings without the wonderful people I met in Bangalore. Life in small hostel rooms and regular trips to college had begun long before I shifted to room number 149 (as mentioned in my earlier post "One Day In My Life Assignment Style"). But this room has left a significant mark on me. It changed my whole perception of hostel life. It will be truly ungrateful of me to let those wonderful memories fade without even a note. The image of this room will always be fresh and vibrant in my mind.

To begin with I got a super cool roommate. We might not have shared our entire time with each other, but she did share some of the best home made chicken biryani with me. When she had no plan to go home it was generally her treat on Saturday afternoon. I might not have always acknowledged but the egg fried rice and chicken kabab was such a welcome change from the hostel food. All thanks to my room mate for sharing them with me. Without those I would have probably gone hungry every Saturday :P.

Another really cool thing about me and my roommate was that we actually complimented each other in almost all respects. While I loved clicking photographs, my roommate loved getting herself clicked. This probably gave birth to some of the best portraits that this world can come across.

It was not just about pictures... we also had a cool understanding regarding our timings too!!! We never clashed or interfered in each others business. We sort of lived in different time zones. :P ;). Pavani was probably the most suited girl for me as a room mate.

Outside my room too I met some of the coolest people who I hope will continue to be in touch with me throughout my life. They made my life easier and beautiful in that beautiful county. Breakfast... the most important meal of the day was always kept ready for me on the table by my random friends who were always confident about my ability to come late for breakfast. Finding them in the huge dining area was a challenge on its own. :P

Evenings were the most important part of the day as it was the only "we" time that we had throughout the day. We could go out with friends or sit back and relax or make up for the horrible food at hostel at some eatery.

I would really want to mention just one day in this note to represent all our evenings spent that way. If you are a new reader then you would probably need to know that in BMSB girls are allowed to stay out only till 7:30pm while boys are allowed till 8:30pm. My (true) story begins on a cool afternoon at the food court during the lunch time.

12:30pm (at the lunch table)

Me : No rajma in my rajma.... no daal in my daal.

Vandana: Have faith in Anna. Today evening we can do it. Today we shall have both, juice as well as chaat. Just keep in mind that........

And our planning for a successful evening snack had just begun. It was a long wait.

5:00pm (last period)

Me, sleepy eyed and drooling over the chaat that we were going to have after class hours.

I hear background voices from a distance : Friends Please!!! Pay attention in my class. Marketing mix is a very important chapter. When I was an officer at .......

I guess I checked my watched after an hour, but the cruel timepiece said it was just 5:05pm, as if taunting me :'( . I was shocked. The next thing I remember is checking my watch at 5:55pm. :) Even at this point it seemed to be the longest five minutes of my life.

6:00pm (finally over)

Vandana: Lets not leave our share of samosa just like that. Lets grab it before leaving.

We dashed downstairs to claim our rightful share, entered a whirlwind of hungry people dressed in navy blue, pushed people out of our way and got pushed in return too. Finally after a ten minutes struggle we bagged a deformed samosa.

6:15pm (the rush)

After enjoying the not-so-delicious samosa we ran out across the garden to our hostel, up the stairs and on reaching our floor signalled a five to each other. (We meant five minutes) and ran into our respective rooms.

6:25pm (here we go)

We meet up at our predetermined area in our perfect and pre-determined timing(we are never late when it comes to such things), race down the corridor, down the stairwell and finally stop at the security guard's table. Almost the whole hostel was there to authenticate their exit from the golden cage. It took us almost ten minutes to get our story registered.

6:37pm and onwards

We ran down the dark and mysterious county road to the well lit street of Bangalore city. We checked the time and panicked for a while as it was already 6:42pm. We then race up the road straight to Anna's fruit juice corner. Out of breath and out of energy we reach only to find that Anna is too busy preparing fruit juice for all those fast paced known hostel faces who reached before us. Only after about ten minutes we get ourselves heard and place our order. In another five minutes we quench our thirst with the super cool Anna's orange juice. Now it is time for mission aloo paratha.

We now race down back towards our hostel. Laddoowala Anna's shop falls on the way and we know that his aloo paratha is the only palatable thing that we can get in the given time. The dusty road of the city is always more sandy when you are in a hurry. But we overcome all that and reach Anna's shop. We give our order to the familiar and friendly Anna at the shop who is always happy to see us. We then relax our muscles and start discussing about the various hilarious moments of our life that we hope will make us laugh.

We check our watch and it is 7:15pm. It takes us ten minutes to reach hostel from Anna's shop. We give our friendly Anna a not so friendly warning to serve our order in another five minutes. At 7:17pm we cancel our order and race back to the hostel with a packet of biscuits to fill us for the evening. We rush down the busy street to the dark county road taking turns in having biscuits (we do not like to give clarification for the food we buy). Finally we reach the security gates and enter our in time as 7:29pm :) :) :P

Well we did not always have to lose out on one of them. There were certain fortunate days when we got our share of fruit juice as well as aloo parathaa. The seven thirty deadline was a little too early for slow runners like us, but now when i look back at those days i feel that it was the best part of the day... An hour and a half of awesomeness!!!

Awesomeness also includes all the firsts that I experienced in the hostel.

The first time I played bowling with Avantika at Total Mall.

The grandest birthday celebration that I have ever had. (all thanks to my roommate and 8B people)

My first dance at Annubhuti and my second dance at annubhuti... both felt like firsts. Both times I felt equally crazy.

The first time I sat up late and saw a movie with friends in the room till 2:30am in the morning. I will never forget the sweet movie "We bought a Zoo"

It was the first time I was honoured on stage for my achievement in sports with gold. But the second time I received the silver medal it felt awesome with Kranti Dixit.

for table tennis

Will upload the golden medal soon.

It was the first time I went out on a long distance trip with friends to super awesome places like Shivsamudram and Hogenakkal waterfalls

Shivsamudram falls

our way and our vehicle

a mountain view of the stretch of falls at Hogenakkal

the main falls. also known as the Niagra of India

our gang at hogenakkal

hogenakkal falls at its strength

Those late nights before exams when we made sure that we slept after the other person had slept. Probably for the first time I burnt my midnight oil till 3:00am in the morning. Itwould probably have been a Herculean task without you guys.

Overall it was a privilege staying with people like these in the beautiful Manipal County. The different corners earmarked by us as different countries will hardly ever be forgotten.