27 Roomies Old

At the age of fifteen when my parents where leaving me, my brother and my granny alone at home to get my sister treated at some hospital in a different city, I was full of tears. I still remember that day when I was about to leave for school and my parents had to rush to catch the train in an hour. This was the first time that I had to stay without my parents. I was really sad and cursing God for bringing such  a moment in my life. Having grown in a small city with few colleges nearby, I always knew I had to move out after school for graduation. But at fifteen I was not prepared. Come eighteen and it was as if I was waiting for it. After getting through the admission process for the college, when I was finally leaving home for the first time I was more than happy to place my foot in the world of freedom without any restrictions. 

However within a month I saw myself crying alone and talking to myself. The reason being I was missing home viz missing giving the daily recap of school to my siblings, missing the delicious food, missing the evening snacks with my dad, missing the walks to the nearby stores with mom, and many many more things. The things I missed increased exponentially till the time I realized that those days are never going to come back. Fortunately I wasn't the only missing home, infact it was many of us  having the same feeling, all those who came from different cities. Probably this feeling of being alone brought us all together and within months I found a new family. A family where there were no parents, no siblings, but there were rommates, mates who not only shared the room but also with whom I shared  stories,  gave and took advices, got scolded together, literally LOLed and ROFLed and mutually cared for.  

Since then and till now every couple of years room changed, roommates changed, city changed, but one thing remained unchanged. There was always a roommate to give you company and advice when you needed it most. With time when laugh become LOL, roommates become roomies and flatmates became flammies. Personally I prefer calling them roomies (sounds chic ;)). All these roomies have taught me something or the other. While one taught me to cook, another one to paint the nails; one took me for the first threading experience, there was another one who taught me how to apply lipstick; with one I learnt how to handle myself and with other how to handle others, and the list goes on and on.

The journey started with sharing a four bedded hostel room with bunks. The room where all four of us managed to squeeze in one bed post one of the exam. The room where we were smiling and shaking and pretending to be in sleep under our sheets one late night while the warden was on rounds. The room where we carefully listened to the detailed story of a bollywood movie from one of us. The room where we studied together a day before exam. The room where we decided to go and have a chocolate sundae(yes, 'A'  chocolate sundae shared by 4 of us, considering we were not earning then) at the canteen.

While hostel life was fun, moving to a a new city for work was challenging. It started with sharing a shady room in a hotel (as me and a friend of mine were unaware of the big city tantrums) to a PG (paying guest) and finally to an apartment in the mid of the city. This was the time when it was me, my college friend, a school friend of mine and her college friend who started living together and  eventualy turned into roomies. We all had great time together from setting up the kitchen to cooking food together, from having house parties and preparing for the entrances to the arguments on silly matters. That apartment still brings a nostalgic feeling whenever I am anywhere close to it. I still remember the day when I left that apartment and the roommates to move to another city. I was anxious if I would get similar friendly people to accompany me and if I would be able to adjust with the unknown people in the new city. 

Fortunately I found some really nice people with whom the journey in the new city became smooth. These were the people with whom I discovered my interest in cooking and traveling. With them and many other roommates in future, the journey has been so far so good. They have been a critic when I was wrong, advisor when I was in dilemma, encourager who pushed me towards my dreams, care-taker when I was sick, and a listener when I wanted to speak out my heart. With them I have learnt to be patient and how not to panic in situations. With them I have enjoyed everything from bargaining at street shopping to buying an expensive outfit, from eating the junk to trying out new recipes, from bitching to praising, from being pure vegetarian to a non vegetarian, from reading all night to chatting all night, from clicking to getting clicked, from cola to shots and what not.

Sharing space with 27 roommates(no surety on the number's authenticity) in past 11 years at 5 different cities has been an experience. An experience full of numerous gossips and few quarrels. An experience to live with people belonging to different regions with different languages and different cuisines. An experience which has made me an individual who can adjust with anyone and at any place. An experience that has taught me that  no matter how much a person is liked or disliked by others, every individual has something good in them and there is always a scope of getting to learn something from them.  I have been fortunate to find many of such people and I have  had a great time with each of them.

Cheers to all my roomies!!!

The Poet inside me :P

From the archives:

YOU and ME!!!

A sweet November

Is a popular movie

And as far as I remember

That season it was not so chilly

With all my packed suitcases

I was ready to visit home

And then in those staircases

We came closer and close

A couple of weeks of confusion

Few chats and some discussions

I found that I was in love

This made me feel like a flying dove

I finally got a rose with red petals

On this very day of mine

Once again you made me feel special

With a surprise Thai dinner and a glass of wine

With those walks in the Bos park

And the movies in the dark

Those meals at Peking City

The trips to different European cities

Our bonding became stronger and stronger

And I could not think of life without you any longer

Red was my dress

The dinner was to raise

A toast to the time

That cannot be measured in dollars or dime

Never will I forget

Your gift for me, to celebrate

A year of togetherness

That video clip treated me like a princess

The year just flew by

You were always my standby

With maggie and the soup

Whether I was alone or in a group

There have been many fights

And few tearful nights

But I am happy I am with you

Who always motivates me to be true

There are many golden moments

And loads of special ones

With you every day has been golden

Just forget about the broken ones.

You always bring me a smile

That’s the reason I want to go with you for miles

Don’t forget that it was you

Who encouraged me to pursue my interest in

Writing, in which I had interest

But seriously I had no clue

That this one will be so long, it might not be the best!!! 

-Priyanka

The Journey to Half

It all started with a very childish desire of a small town young lady moving to a high-profile Metropolitan. The desire was nothing but to just have one glance of her teenage crush. Moving to Mumbai was like halfway through the fulfillment of the wish. However, even after two years and a half in the city when this girl failed to feel the man with the naked eyes she decided to just track him down. This is how I ran the first run of my life, dream run 6 Km and yes the motto this time was just to have a look at the very handsome John Abraham for whom I had fallen for ever since he was a model and I a studious school kid.

A view of him from a far off distance of almost half a kilometer and I was recharged totally which made me jostle and run in the midst of the huge crowd. There were people flagging their banners, people in different costumes and themes, some dancing away to glory, lot of entertainment on both sides of the road, loud music, etc etc. By the way, believe me this was almost ages after I was running as I always stood last in sprints during the school sports day selections. With people mostly enjoying the walk and few even the tea on the way, I decided to run throughout. This was the day when I felt the excitement post run. The day when for the first time I saw the excitement and spirit on the face of the marathoners. 

Another 6 Km run, a fortnight later for a charity event for the visually impaired kids and I decided not to stop. I started going for regular jogs sometimes with friends and mostly alone. Alone as the solitude gave me time to not be judgmental about anything and just enjoy the moment. Although I used to be shit load scared of the street dogs, being surrounded by them on few occasions and screaming the hell out, I did not stop. From 6 Km to 8 Km and one medal to my bag, I started pushing myself towards better timings. 

Before every run I used to set my target time and be happy or disappointed based on the result. Irrespective of the result, I already used to have a new goal again for the next run. At one occasion during the initial days, when my target was 45 mins for 8 Km run and I achieved the target by a second completing the run in 44 minutes 59 seconds I was thrilled. Few of my acquaintances and friends had started doing the 21 Km by this time. I used to be in awe of them wishing somewhere in my mind to be among them at some time in my life. But considering my frequent collapses because of low blood pressure and dehydration I used to take a step back. 

It took a couple of years for me to realize that I have the potential to do anything and the best way to move ahead is to challenge yourself. One day I finally decided to participate in a half marathon and told some of my friends. While some of them genuinely told me its unachievable there were many to encourage. I started checking out websites that gave tips and schedule for half marathon training and made a plan in my mind. Being a regular to gym, I decided to practice only on Sundays, increasing the distance by a kilometer or two every weekend and do this for at least three months before the run. By this time I had already registered for SCMM(Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon) Half marathon on the very first day the registration window had opened. My target for the final run was 2 hrs 30 minutes. Within a month of practice I was confident that I will be able to achieve my target. But as Uncle Murphy has to always come in between, I injured my feet one day while practice. I was suggested by the physiotherapist to stop running for few weeks(thankfully it was not 6 weeks like the first time I got the injury a year back) to recover from the pain. 

Three weeks and no run, with only a month to go, I was under enormous mental pressure as completing a half marathon was a dream which I had been chasing for past couple of months. With the encouragement from my friends and gym instructors I decided to hit the road again. 3 fifteen km plus runs before the final day and I was still not confident to finish it on time. A day before the marathon while working for a project release in the office, that also happened to my birthday I decided that whatsoever happens I am going to run the complete 21 Km without thinking of the time, and the result would be a birthday gift to myself.

Couple of weeks before, a friend of mine who had already completed 4 full marathons told “After 10 km, its all in the mind. Just don’t give up and you are already at the finish line.” This is what I had been thinking on the final day and when I saw the last 1000 meter indicator I was overjoyed. 10 minutes later I was at top of the world as I could call myself a marathon runner. The icing on the cake was finishing my first half marathon in 2 hrs 15 minutes much before the personal target and getting another opportunity to see John Abraham. Not only this, but I also got to see my name on top on the display board of the gym.

Thanks to all the encouraging words, few inspirations, many motivating friends plus family, the strangers who cheered during the run, I could reach my dream. A dream just needs self-determination a will to challenge yourself for kick start. The rest just happens. However, one dream should always end with a new dream. I did celebrate the finish but somewhere my mind desires to run a full marathon one day. Once again my mantra for this desire is ‘Dream, Challenge, Chase!!!’

Someone has rightly said,

“If you never chase your dreams, you'll never catch them.”