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!!!