It was only yesterday, when I stepped out of my comfort zone called
home. With dreams in my eyes, ready to struggle in the big big world, my
first step outside Assam to Delhi after my 12th exams gave me a bundle
of memories to cherish through out my life. My heartfelt thanks to Amlan
Chaturvedi for helping me get a seat in Ramjas College, in times, when
no one was around. 18th May, 1999 when I landed in Delhi after fourteen
years. My first trip to Delhi was in 1985, with my parents and our stay
in Hotel Ashok too had some connections. The American tourist with whom I
roamed happily as a child, oblivious of the fact that I would be living
in the US and helplessly looking for her, but in vain. My daily bus
trip from Modinagar, UP to Delhi with Monu Bhaiya to apply to Colleges
was scary sometimes then for Delhi is huge and so were the roads; broad
and crowded for a small townee like me. My Destiny landed me in Ramjas
College, North Campus.
My first Paying Guest Accommodation in Model Town I, reminds me of the richshaw puller, who was as as thin as a twig but had immense strength and would always offer me a ride, whenever needed. On one wintery night, he was my night in shining armour too, when a bunch of hooligans chased his rickshaw from Vijaynagar to Model town and he made sure, I reached home safe. My nasty landlady and her cute dog Suzie and not to mention the domestic help Pokhila, always extended her help in getting our threading done, giving us the extra serving of vegetables and let us watch tv, whenever, the owners were away. My Mauritian flat mate Ryna Ramersand, who became a dear friend of mine and made me promise, I will never take to smoking like her and get lost in the glitz and glamour of Delhi. Meena Guria, another flat mate, who faked her identity and duped us in a big way, still makes my heart beat faster, thinking how a small townee can get into the road towards doom.
My first day in College, made me meet Ruchi Gargesh (Prabhakar), and we became Juno's swans. Our search for Fundoo chocolate, which never existed in the departmental stores, bother the bookshop owner with the names of the books that never existed, try different cheap food stalls, located at the most unhygienic locations and yet hog to our heart's content. Our visit to St. Stephan's College Church, without displaying our ID Cards and play the piano at the loudest, still makes me laugh at our pranks. Ruchi and I had the best of the best and the worst of the worst times together. Where on one hand we were the closest, we also had our share of differences, where we always gave enough space to each other and come back again. Love and heartbreaks brought in a big gap, but we never forgot each other despite all odds. I remember my daddy calling her up once and asking her about how she puts me with me, to which Ruchi replied that She is equally crazy like me. You have a special place in my heart Ruchi. It was kind of funny, how we both would fall for same guys and I would end up negotiating with her to stay away from some for I looked at him first. Our group also consisted of Tashneen, who was ever hungry for Momos like all of us; Thakur Rajlok Singh Metha, who joined us in second year with whom I was always at loggerheads; Anupam Alam Shah, the simple guy from Ghaziabad; Diana Sharma, whose abuses literally blew my mind; Gita Rughoobur from Mauritius, who was my flat mate from Second year onwards, at Tyagi Niwas in Outram Lines; Anuradha Handique, who too joined us in second year; Surya Ramamurthy, our junior; and many more. Rishi Bora's vocals followed by The Nepalese Bikash Gurung's guitar skills, Siddhartha Baruah's Intelligence; Rubi Borgohain (Sharma)'s simplicity and Rahul Datta's innocence and his never ending achievements in Antakshri everywhere from College to Dubai. Nalini's funny habit to memorise english, lol to Satyam Pukhrem's sense of humor, Adhishta's bossiness, to Charu's docile behavior; Himanshu's soft corner towards all the girls to Pratyush's funny ways and Jaitley's big talks; Mayukh's wealth stories to Amrita's American boyfriend and Cosmetics; Swati's silky long hair to Shikha and Parul's friendship; Deepali's sincerity to the back benchers' and Lipika Ray's negligible presence. The glorious blast from the past, leaving all the beautiful imprints in our hearts, as we continue to live our lives somewhere on Earth. We all were unique in our own ways and how came together under one roof of Ramja's english classroom which brought out the best in us. We remain indebted to our teachers Sir. Debraj Mukerji, Ma'am Chandra, Ma'am Bhalla, Ma'am Shalin Sharma, Ma'am Saraf, Guha Sir, Ahuja Ma'am Sharada Ma'am, Ma'am Lal ,Sir. Jacob and our respected lecherous Professor who is no more in this world. I don't recall his name but he was funny indeed. I also have great respect for all the college canteens of Delhi University, Kamla Nagar Restaurants esp. Momo's point, Biryani Junction, Chahcha's Our bunta walas, Imli walas, Tom Uncle, Bhel puri walas, Rickshaw walas, the security guards of colleges, whom we troubled like hell, the ince cream vendors, the buses, Gopalji of Delhi School of Economics Canteen and the ever unpleasant Owner there who is still alive with his grumpy face scaring the students.
In the Crossroads of college life and amidst various seminars, college festivals, paper readings, lectures, workshops, competitions and trips, many people came and went; some touched our lives, some left the world, some made us cry and many made ur life, some broke our hearts and a few are with us like families. What remained constant was the change and learning and they both are definitely always changing and change is the only constant thing in life. I wish like some Bollywood flick, we all can plan a day and venue, which obviously will be Delhi and meet up outside Ramjas College. Fine for absence will be the missed moments.
Although I have not spoken about our seniors and juniors like Shikhar Mohan, Akhilesh, Sujit Sir, who stole Deepali away; Ruhi, Miss Verma's journey to Mrs. Mukherji, Poulomi, Sudipto Mukherji, Alfared and many more, they all have been pictured and framed somewhere in the album of our hearts. This is an unedited version of my thoughts. Will add more to it.
My first Paying Guest Accommodation in Model Town I, reminds me of the richshaw puller, who was as as thin as a twig but had immense strength and would always offer me a ride, whenever needed. On one wintery night, he was my night in shining armour too, when a bunch of hooligans chased his rickshaw from Vijaynagar to Model town and he made sure, I reached home safe. My nasty landlady and her cute dog Suzie and not to mention the domestic help Pokhila, always extended her help in getting our threading done, giving us the extra serving of vegetables and let us watch tv, whenever, the owners were away. My Mauritian flat mate Ryna Ramersand, who became a dear friend of mine and made me promise, I will never take to smoking like her and get lost in the glitz and glamour of Delhi. Meena Guria, another flat mate, who faked her identity and duped us in a big way, still makes my heart beat faster, thinking how a small townee can get into the road towards doom.
My first day in College, made me meet Ruchi Gargesh (Prabhakar), and we became Juno's swans. Our search for Fundoo chocolate, which never existed in the departmental stores, bother the bookshop owner with the names of the books that never existed, try different cheap food stalls, located at the most unhygienic locations and yet hog to our heart's content. Our visit to St. Stephan's College Church, without displaying our ID Cards and play the piano at the loudest, still makes me laugh at our pranks. Ruchi and I had the best of the best and the worst of the worst times together. Where on one hand we were the closest, we also had our share of differences, where we always gave enough space to each other and come back again. Love and heartbreaks brought in a big gap, but we never forgot each other despite all odds. I remember my daddy calling her up once and asking her about how she puts me with me, to which Ruchi replied that She is equally crazy like me. You have a special place in my heart Ruchi. It was kind of funny, how we both would fall for same guys and I would end up negotiating with her to stay away from some for I looked at him first. Our group also consisted of Tashneen, who was ever hungry for Momos like all of us; Thakur Rajlok Singh Metha, who joined us in second year with whom I was always at loggerheads; Anupam Alam Shah, the simple guy from Ghaziabad; Diana Sharma, whose abuses literally blew my mind; Gita Rughoobur from Mauritius, who was my flat mate from Second year onwards, at Tyagi Niwas in Outram Lines; Anuradha Handique, who too joined us in second year; Surya Ramamurthy, our junior; and many more. Rishi Bora's vocals followed by The Nepalese Bikash Gurung's guitar skills, Siddhartha Baruah's Intelligence; Rubi Borgohain (Sharma)'s simplicity and Rahul Datta's innocence and his never ending achievements in Antakshri everywhere from College to Dubai. Nalini's funny habit to memorise english, lol to Satyam Pukhrem's sense of humor, Adhishta's bossiness, to Charu's docile behavior; Himanshu's soft corner towards all the girls to Pratyush's funny ways and Jaitley's big talks; Mayukh's wealth stories to Amrita's American boyfriend and Cosmetics; Swati's silky long hair to Shikha and Parul's friendship; Deepali's sincerity to the back benchers' and Lipika Ray's negligible presence. The glorious blast from the past, leaving all the beautiful imprints in our hearts, as we continue to live our lives somewhere on Earth. We all were unique in our own ways and how came together under one roof of Ramja's english classroom which brought out the best in us. We remain indebted to our teachers Sir. Debraj Mukerji, Ma'am Chandra, Ma'am Bhalla, Ma'am Shalin Sharma, Ma'am Saraf, Guha Sir, Ahuja Ma'am Sharada Ma'am, Ma'am Lal ,Sir. Jacob and our respected lecherous Professor who is no more in this world. I don't recall his name but he was funny indeed. I also have great respect for all the college canteens of Delhi University, Kamla Nagar Restaurants esp. Momo's point, Biryani Junction, Chahcha's Our bunta walas, Imli walas, Tom Uncle, Bhel puri walas, Rickshaw walas, the security guards of colleges, whom we troubled like hell, the ince cream vendors, the buses, Gopalji of Delhi School of Economics Canteen and the ever unpleasant Owner there who is still alive with his grumpy face scaring the students.
In the Crossroads of college life and amidst various seminars, college festivals, paper readings, lectures, workshops, competitions and trips, many people came and went; some touched our lives, some left the world, some made us cry and many made ur life, some broke our hearts and a few are with us like families. What remained constant was the change and learning and they both are definitely always changing and change is the only constant thing in life. I wish like some Bollywood flick, we all can plan a day and venue, which obviously will be Delhi and meet up outside Ramjas College. Fine for absence will be the missed moments.
Although I have not spoken about our seniors and juniors like Shikhar Mohan, Akhilesh, Sujit Sir, who stole Deepali away; Ruhi, Miss Verma's journey to Mrs. Mukherji, Poulomi, Sudipto Mukherji, Alfared and many more, they all have been pictured and framed somewhere in the album of our hearts. This is an unedited version of my thoughts. Will add more to it.
