DU Lesson #2

Do not, I repeat, do not buy your reference books on the first day. People will think you're a nerd.

Plus, you'll have to lug the bloody package along when your friends decide to scope out the Delhi School of Economics ki Canteen [which is bloody awesome, by the way]. This will almost give you a hernia.

DU Lesson #1

Invest in an umbrella. You do NOT want to go to your college orientation looking like you took a shower with your clothes on.

Also, don't bother washing your hair. Atleast three cars will splash dirty pothole water all over you when you (intelligently) take a rickshaw while it's raining.

Planes and Bombay Rains

Ever been woken up in the dead of the night (crack of dawn, whatever) by a rumbling sound that makes you think the alien mothership is landing? I have.

The place I've been staying at for the last three weeks in Santa Cruz, Mumbai is so close to the airport, I can hear the people on the international flights (because only those fly at such odd times) being given the "Aagey do dwaar, peechhey do dwaar" speech by the stewardesses.

Bombay, I've realised, is a peculiar city. One moment it's a perfectly sunny day; I have my aviators on. The very next second, there's a crack of thunder and I'm totally drenched. People here don't have the same tendency to, well, show-off as North-Indians (us Punjabis leading the lot!) do. Coincidentally, this is one of the major complaints Mumbaikars have against Delhi.

Roads here seem to be meant for vehicles as well as pedestrians. First, you honk and clear your way. Then, you get stuck in traffic.

But, there is no road-rage. This is a laidback city with patient, easygoing people. Where Delhi drivers would've honked their horns and hurled abuses at the other drivers till their throats were sore, Mumbai drivers wait patiently for the car in front of them to move. Quite the culture shock, considering I've grown up with the notion firmly implanted in my brain that red lights are meant to be ignored, speed limits destined to be broken and vehicles meant to be overtaken!

I tried waxing my legs myself yesterday and failed miserably. Bloody hair wouldn't come out. Thanks to the scalding hot wax, I have a new scar to add to my collection, now!

Note to self: Leave it to the professionals.

I was born in Chandigarh. Lived almost all my life there. I remember crying my eyes out on the car ride to Delhi when we shifted in 2003. I hated this place, then.

But, I grew to love it in the 5 years I lived here. I made friends here who I know will stick by me in the toughest of times - and vice versa. I love that everything can be delivered home - from pizzas to groceries. I love that going for a drive here never means only having to listen to half a song. Hell, I even like the pollution and the noise!

Blame my innate Capricorn-ness or whatever, but I just can't live in quaint towns where everybody knows everybody. I like the fast-paced life of a city where I can be alone even in a crowd.

Home is where the heart is. And Delhi is home.

P.S. : This time when I got my eyebrows and upper lip done, I didn't sneeze even once. It's an amazing feat for me.

I'm going to DU!

I should be in the gym right now but, I can't be bothered enough to get up and walk [Yeah, walk. Chandigarh, remember?] to the Club.

What I'm doing instead is flipping through my journal. Now, I've been writing in this one since the 6th of January, 2007 and most of it is filled with rants and general teenage angst. Some of the earlier entries are so cringeworthy, I feel like picking up a marker and editing stuff. And by editing I mean striking the whole thing off.

Some phases of my life that will make your eyes fall out from all the eye-rolling :-

Period: January, 2007
Description: Documenting every insignificant detail of my mundane 8th grade life a lá Mia Thermopolis
Example: 1.5 pages long entry about an aquarium in some airport
Eye-roll rating: 2/5

Period: February, 2007 - November 2008
Description: Unhealthy obsession with Crush-To-End-All-Crushes
Example: 3 pages long entry about how He hugged me on New Year's
Eye-role rating: 4.5/5

Period: January, 2009 - March, 2009
Description: Hindi translation of every entry to help with Hindi Board Exam
Example: Mera apne aap se vayda hai ki main ab se apne vichaar angrezi ke saath-saath Hindi mein bhi likha karoongi. Isse na keval bhasha ki shudhata evam manakta par dhyan diya jaayega...need more?
Eye-roll rating: 3/5


Now that we've succesfully established that I was a loser, I'll head to the gym! Not that it's making much of a difference. 3 weeks of gymming and all I've managed to lose is 60 grams. Seriously. -_-

Anyway. I'm off!


PS: Why is CBSE hell-bent on fucking with our lives? It hasn't even declared the date for the results, yet! Result nikalna to door ki baat hai.