13 Reasons Why..

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, witches and wizards, you are about to read the last blog I post from NIFTEM's awesome internet facility.
Yes, this is finally happening. Today is my last night in this college as its student. I have been having mixed feelings for the past 6 months, but after yesterday's mass extinction of my batch, there's just pure sadness. No no no I'm not a gloomy kind of person. But as John Green says, some pains demand to be felt. It is also necessary to feel the heat of tears when it is required.

I am not too good at controlling emotions. It has been very tough for me to part ways with a bunch of people who had become a part of my family.
I know it's not the end. I know it's a small world. I know we will meet again. But I am human only. Bound to feel things. There is a reason and purpose these feelings emerge and I don't see anything bad in it.

All said and done, this post is not at all about me. Or my college experiences. It's too boring and who would want to read too much about a person?
Rather, this is about  all the people I met here who touched my life. Quoting my friend, these people have taught me more than the curriculum could. So this post is all about the people I love. Since I am short of time, and need to pack and go house hunting, I am going to keep it in bullet points. Please identify yourselves. No order is followed, everything is random including the pictures.
Hence the name:- 13 Reasons Why leaving NIFTEM is hard.

• 3 idiots:

I cannot write about them separately, as we consider us three as a single unit. I could write an entire book about them. But I won't. Since the beginning of time, I had always wanted to be a part of an exclusive group, have my "gang"
Not only did I find my "gang", it also got named as 3 Idiots by our professor. They carry two-thirds of me wherever they go. My openness with them changed from 30% to 100% in a matter of months.
The most accelerated response ever.

• The Poetic Heart

He who has been caring like a parent at times. I can always turn to him for completely honest advice.
He's ready to help without a second thought. So much that he is ready to spend his birthday house-hunting with me. We have a secret blog together. Some day it shall see the light of the day. I have had uncountable skype dancing sessions with this person. He has been the unbeatable person in wishing me for birthday before anyone else since November 28, 2013
He has made me start my tradition of giving surprise visits to home :D

• Flash

He is the person you see only glimpses of, vanishes like flash. However, our bond remains the same regardless of how much we talk. First two years have been very beautiful with him. He is also the person who irritates me the most. But I like getting irritated by him.
He always mystically appears only when I am low and gloomy and flips it, and then disappears again.

• Girl group

Being the misogynist that I am, it is hard to imagine me being the part of a girl group, but I had few girls I could gossip with at times, do mawkish girlish things with.
Hug bear-
You probably know the feeling you get at the end of the day when you're tired,  or angry, or hungry and you just long for to bone-crushingly hugging someone. I have a friend I do that to a lot of times. Reason or no reason, I simply like to cling to her stomach. She has been there since the start (plus or minus a fight or two :P ) She has the homely feeling in her.
Pleasant Talker-
She has been a pleasant person to be around. Most importantly, she has taught me topics of a subject a day before the exams. She gives sensible advise. She is the person I love watching Shakira the most with.
The girl with endless stories-
Another buddy, we have been inseparable for an entire year. Time and circumstances changed us, but somehow the hearts still remained connected through all these years. This girl had lots of stories to tell and I totally loved listening to each and every one of them. She was the girl I saw the first movie in my college with, which was Dil toh Pagal Hai, by the way.
Miss Fairy Dust-
Then there's another who has been a new acquaintance, but is a very talented and positive person, spreading fun sparkle wherever she walks.
I have enjoyed cribbing about people and things the most with them.

• Incessant Talker

Here is a person who can talk endlessly about anything, and I mean ANYTHING.
Soft-hearted and extremely ticklish, this guy will be missed.

• The illegitimate ex

There are no ex, y or z about this person. Unlike these variables, he has been a constant since first year. Been my partner in embarrassing dance on stage, we have a pact of marrying each other if both of us are single by the time we are 35! Kind of like Monica and Chandler.

• Chhote Meow

A handful of juniors who have been so loving all this time. Well, since I'll be working near my college I can see them a lot. I love the "elder sister" feeling. Loved being with each of them, whether it is Himachal Trips, VAP outings, or celebrating little little happiness together.

• Bade Meow :P

These people ceased to be a part of the college an year ago, but had the most significant effect on my learning curve. Each of them has given me wonderful life lessons and free-flowing love. We had less time together. But what can we say, time together is just never quite enough! I saw myself change the most during the time I was with them.

• Kaem cho Buddies

A girl who appears mostly when my day is not good and never fails to make me happy, and who gently strokes my head like a puppy because I like it a lot.
And another guy  whom I misjudged a lot of times, but is quite good at heart. In the end I feel guilty for hating him so much in the beginning. Please don't hate me too. I am not that bad :D
Both of them have been sukh-dukh ke saathi for 4 months.

• The Red Velvet Ladoo Makers

This group is the BEST example of the situation where six bright minds come together, and still nothing gets done :P
Jokes apart, had fun each and every of the five days we worked for our semester project. :P I think all of us are going to cook Ragi Ladoo for our kids some day or the other.

• 17th October 2014

This is another adorably irritating and fun person I have had in my life. Enjoyed the limited time spent with him, he has grown to be a dear friend. Fro Ganesh Chowkdi, to Rawalwas, to Sending ugly voice messages before exams, he has always been there. Golden at heart, though sometimes not so golden in words :P
I have written an entire blog about him :P

• Gem 

She is the gem in my life because the love that she offers me is unconditional. I love her. My brother loves her. My whole family loves her. She's that good. She is brutally honest most of the times, which can sometimes put her as rude to people. But this is the quality about her that I admire the most.
She never says anything just because! We both love the same people and our hatred is concentrated on the same kinds of people.

• The perfect girl

She is the one I have interacted the least with out of all these. despite going on 2 trips together. But she personified the image of the perfect girl I had in mind. The qualities I like in her are many. She's a no-drama, no-nonsense girl, an avid reader, a good person at heart. Stays cool in tough times, unlike me. There's so much I have secretly learned from her while secretly admiring her.

• The longest live-in partner

Before getting the luxury called the single room, we used to have room partners, She is the non-family person I have lived the longest with. I really think I couldn't have lived with anyone else. Seeing her on the first day of college, my mother had a sigh of relief. My buddhu ladki is going to live with a nice girl. There are many things that my mother wanted me to learn from her. But I was too lazy to do it.

The night is young and so are we
Time to pack bags, it's almost three
Here are few photos, going to update more soon as I am short of photos and time right now.:D

I am going to miss your presence a lot. But this post is being written by a girl who is going to shamelessly prick you all for the rest of your lives. So yeeehaw:P
This is Agent Tikki FINALLY signing off. Keep the love going.
Ending one more post with Mohammad Rafi:

Ehsaan mere dil pe tumhara hai doston,
Yeh dil tumhaare pyaar ka maara hai doston! :')

Light From One Lamp!

I remember once when me and Modita were discussing (over twitter :P) about how unexpected this jeevan is! And how great it feels to experience something nice when you are least expecting it!
My fifth semester had started with 'An Unexpected Sojourn' and interestingly it is now ending with another surprise.
The story starts thus:
It was a foggy day in December. And sitting somewhere inside the mighty campus of my college, as I was mustering all the broken pieces of courage to study for the LAST exam of the semester, somebody asked me to come over. While I was walking over, I had this turmoil of winter-plus-headache-plus-eye irritation-plus-exam-hatred going on, and I was trying to sort them one at a time.
This is what I saw upon going there, after which all this turmoil momentarily gave way:



















Okay. So I saw a beautifully made paper lamp. And by the time I'm done with admiring it, I notice a scroll (tied by jugaad :P) kept on it. I observed it from every angle like a child who sees something new for the very first time and then I hear, "It is for you, you can read it!"

"Here is a lamp with one light. Consider it as my symbolic wishes to light up your upcoming year with joy and happiness."

(This is in relation to a book we are trying to read a little at the moment, "Light From Many Lamps")
 So after reading all of the letter I realized it was my birthday gift.
I have had many surprises on my birthday already. This one took it to the next level.
The lamp was made so nicely, that I don't think I have the right words to express my gratitude. I mean why would someone make such a nice thing for me when tomorrow is a very dangerous exam! :O
Deadly mode apart, this is  how I got my lovely first lamp.
Moral of the story:
With this, the person has given a good reason that justifies the closing note in the letter. I don't simply go into raptures about everyone. I do have a bunch of really nice people around me to make me do that all the time.
Baaki baat baad mein
Happy Exams! I have to start a fight with five deadly units now. Meat. Lovely to eat. Nasty to study.

P.S. My birthday was 11 days ago. :D

Yet Another :D

My laziness can be explained by the fact that I still have 3 incomplete posts in drafts, which will probably never see the light of the dawn :P

But today I'll write only this one.

There are scores of people and things I want to be grateful to today. Let me see if I can do this or not.. Let me start

*Everything is mentioned in chronological order*

Few times in a year I feel so fortunate and blessed that I'm moved beyond words. (And since a picture is worth thousand words, I've used more of those this time rather than writing long stories like last year.. 14.25 wishes :D ) God has been very kind on me to give me so many good people around me all the time, and always showering me with things more than I deserve.

Here I've tried to include all the "Arre waah" moments of the day.

• 

  You people were fortunate
  enough to find something
  my size :P

  How fortunate I am to have my birthday celebrations started a day earlier :D 
  Kavya didi and Harpreet Mam .. The intricately done, immaculately designed card made me very emotional. I am really out of words and don't know how to thank you people for all the love. And thanks Arpit, Amarendra, Arun bhaiya, Praveer and Himanshu sir for your lovely wishes. 
  What you people did was plain unexpected! Not to mention the cake being cut in a hurry at midnight on a stone platform under a tree :P

• "O teri" waali party... more lovely time full of dance and masti :D 
  Corridor mates Huddi, Anantaa, Sharma jih, Nikita, Reesa Roomie :* Sonakshi, Deepti, Priyanka, Shaista, Vidushi, Naema, Sera, :D 
  Special mention for Hari and Harpreet di's dance :D
  
  

BLINGGG!

• My midnight postman Aarushi, bringing me Vedangi di's gift was completely out of the blue. Lovely bangles and rings, and anklet and bling. :') I am seriously waiting for you all to come back and have more great time together.
• Skype (LATE) wishers Adarsh, Atmajith and Pulkit and their Chanda mama wala song  :')  :P The Skype call was very entertaining :P

  

  LATE WISHERS :P

• Joshi ke suspense ki koshish flop due to her whatsapp DP (laughing more than I should here)
  Also the unexplained circumstances under which she called me over where everyone was waiting with yet another cake, and also her excitement, "Hua ki nahi?" :P 
  
  
• This day will be permanently engraved in the books of history as it is today that I got the tightest bone-crushing hug in my life.It took me so much time to straighten my bones again.
  
  
• And now for the biggest surprise of my life - rather shock! 
  There's a girl who has been my friend since the time I started talking. Unfortunately we had not been able to meet and talk properly since 2 years. To get a call from her saying "I've reached your college gate" gave me a minor HEART ATTACK. Crazy girl drove for 3 hours to come and hug me and went back in 5 minutes because she had important college work to do. 
  My dear Ashna, you more than made up for missing all those birthdays after your 10th grade :')
  After you drove away I cried. :'(
  Thanks Ashna and Kunal
  
  

• 

  Peacock surprise

  A lovely purple  Kurti, which I saw in Joshi's DP - Packed. :P ... Jisko cake se kharab karne mein Pulkit ne koi kasar nahi chhodi -_-
  I'm not even finished admiring this lovely gift and out of nowhere.. a LOVELY peacock pendant appears in my neck. Thanks a lot Adhithiyan for this horcrux! 
  Thanks to my batchmates for coming and making my evening memorable..
  Joshi, Sharma, Dhingra, Hrudya, Urvashi, Tiwari, Ishita, Adhithiyan, Atma, Anurag Golu, Adarsh
  And of course, Pulkit was there to click nice pictures with his new HAIRCUT WALA CAMERA. Also clicking another picture similar to our first photo together taken a year back :D

KAHANI GHAR GHAR KI 

Peacock

• And if all of this was not enough, I got handmade THEKUA along with a magical mysterious powder to sprinkle on it, jiska composition unhone clearly nahi bataya. Now what's very interesting about this is that this consignment has been transferred by him illegally to me so I cannot reveal his name at the moment :P And I cannot imagine this gentleman entering the kitchen to boil water. To understand that this man made thekuas himself painstakingly took few seconds.. and that he saved some of it for me despite its demand made it a very prized possession of mine.
  
  
• My lovely family :'(  Celebrating my birthday akele akele and sending me pictures :'(
  Chandigarh friends : Divya, Smriti, Kanupriya, Aur tum dono ke saath conference call pe national importance ke issues discuss kiye jaana.
  School friends: Manal, Aanchal, Heena, Prerna, Vidisha, Modita, SWATIKA DEVI JEE :P (Jinhone mujhe wish karne se pehle kisi korean TV show ke English subtitles mail karne ko kaha :P)
  A really LONG and lovely wish by an old friend movie man :P 
  Juniors, Seniors, friends, romans, countrymen!
• 
  

  

• Anshul Agarwal... Aapko maafi punishment ke baad milegi 
• And Anurag. Sab khoon maaf. Tumhare kandho pe bahot badi responsibilities aa gayi hain ab. Tumhe bahot important kaam ki zimmedari di hai ab.

All this makes me wonder what I have EVER done to get all this - love and kindness and such nice friendships!

Many beautiful moments were experienced. Hard to explain.

And after all this love.. some sad things.. I have turned 21 today. I'm getting old... but have not grown up yet :P

As this semester and subsequently, college is coming to an end, I am only realizing that I am not ready for the real world yet.

Oh I'm just a girl.. Trying to find a place in this world!

PS- I'm currently writing a letter to 30-year old Apoorva Tikku: COMING SOON, Stay tuned for more :D
Sorry for this uninteresting piece of information :P

Filhaal I have semester exams coming up. I'll see you all after December 10. YO! :D

 Signing off, with more pictures

ANGRY FACES :P

 

Yeh photo ulti hai, ghoom nahi rahi 

Mental Note: Never get clicked with Pulkit again 

An Unexpected Sojourn: Check!

The reason I am so fond of surprises is that they give you happiness when you are least expecting it.
Same goes for the bad ones. Just one blow and it's all over. No anticipations, no maatha-pacchi
Speaking of surprises, I had always wished for at least one such day in my life when someone would just pop out and say, "Hurry, pack your bags, we're going somewhere".

So my story starts thus:
One fine day I was waiting for a kick start to this semester, any clever or stupid thing, any kind of inspiration, but all in vain.
Just about when I was sure that seasons will change, but my life will stay the same; and confident that nothing interesting can happen this semester, I got a call from my brother, "Me and Maa-Papa will be with you in some time".
"Ha ha sure! What else?"
"Also pack up your things, we're taking you somewhere"
At that moment, it was easier for me to believe that my brother was getting a blue whale for me this Rakshabandhan than this.
And the mind wandered for the two hours, as I packed my things. Where would we go? Are they really coming, just like that? The heart started pumping.

Fast forward, and we were en route to a destination where I had the loveliest two days I had spent in a long time.
It was even more special because in between the love and laughter and togetherness, I realized that my whole family went out together after SIX LONG YEARS.
Of course we have been going to places in between also, but there was always a time when either my brother had his exams, or I couldn't come from college. So it has been either the three of them, Papa and my brother, and most of the times, it has been just me!
This very fact made the trip all the more special.

And here I am now. Back to college, with good memories to cherish, a war scar from another sibling war, and few happy pictures.
But there's a flaw that goes hand in hand with every good experience. It sometimes makes you feel  hollow when you remember it later on. Too bad! Now  it feels like this never happened. The sojourn now appears to be a distant dream...

So, this is how I checked another wish off my list. It was not much of a 'thrill and excitement' type experience, as I had expected it to be when I wrote it on my list, but doesn't matter. It was much better than that because it was family. Now who can beat THAT! :D
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. :D

Take a break!

I'm really grateful to being lazy. Not very commonly, but in cases you do miss out on stuff when you are NOT lazy.
I would have felt like a minion who just slipped a banana in a gorge had I missed the most beautiful rain I had seen this season.
It was like recalling all the splatter, splash and boat races in the childhood with my brother.
And even better because I had great company too :D
Together we crossed Nile, and [accidentally] slipped down while walking through one of its tributaries :P
Together we lost my chappals in the river :'D
Together we witnessed bhootiya things. Sparks flying in the rain.
Together we sang a rainy Kishore Kumar song, while we splashed through the water like bigfoot. :D
I don't remember laughing this much in a long time! Had been waiting to kick back and relax for a little while.

Then there was one moment when all the lights went out. and it was DARK. It was so amazing to feel the sound of the rain, it was like music to the ears, the gentle touch of the drops when you turn your face up as you swirl around the empty road. Not a worry, not a care. The moment couldn't have been any better :D
Everything looked so shiny and new

Sheh! In the excitement I forgot to mention what help did being lazy do in this case?
So I was waiting for NKC to mail me and remind me that "Your issued book will be overdue soon, kindly return."
Today I saw the mail in the spam folder and the book was overdue 2 days ago already! And it was when I went to return it after dinner that the skies started showering.
So, it's a stupid logic but nevertheless, had I returned the book on time, I would have been sitting in my room, probably sleeping and unaware of it all, and would have fallen prey to the college monotony.
Hoping not to get sick again!
Bye bye :D

P.S. Next mission. Turn Dhingra to pluviophile 

Nemo- Part 2

My hostel makes sure that whenever I'm having a bad day, a dinner worse than my day should be served to me.Today we had baingan for dinner. The word is derived from 'begun' (बेगुणं ) which means without any qualities, because earlier it was thought to have no nutritive value. It is one of the few things I wish, should cease to exist. If I had to make a list of 10 things I hate the most, brinjal would occupy the list from number 3 to 10.

My father had once asked me very forcefully to eat it. And I did. And I vomited after that. Even my stomach doesn't accept this nasty specie.

Sulky mode apart, let's talk about Nemo Part 2!! :D
I just realized that today is the first monthly anniversary of the  adventure, so what better day than today to remember the amazing surprise!

Recap:
So, me and Joshi had planned a surprise home visit, and we were actually quite scared, worried that it would join the long list of misadventures that we did.
Nevertheless, Dhingru also joined our mission.
The day came. We were mentally preparing ourselves, to be scolded, and thrown away from our homes. 

Spoiler Alert: I did NOT transform into a beautiful ice cream. In fact, I enjoyed the cool weather instead.

The rest of the story:
Well, well. I would cut this story real short. Because everyone complains that I don't get to the point soon enough!
As expected, we left from college - late than we planned.
And that is where our story started- late than we planned
The metro stopped working for sometime. Everything was late than what we planned.
Interestingly, Joshi's mother, who never calls her at this time, had to call her today, because... (obviously!!)
And just when she told her mother that she's just going down for dinner, the train started shouting, "Next station: Adarsh Nagar."
"This is Adarsh Nagar Station. The doors will open to the right. Please mind the gap"
They talked  till Vishwavidyalaya. It was very interesting to see the way she was talking, and how her expressions changed, every time the announcement was made.. we laughed till tears came out of our eyes. :'D
They left me at ISBT at 8pm. I had 2 hours to kill. So I found a place in the waiting area. Too much crowded because of the Diwali rush. I started reading Danielle Steel. Five Days in Paris. I met another lady going to my town. and I played with her little baby. She was extremely
bothered as to why I was studying in Delhi, too far from home, and not in Mandi!!! :'P

My journey partner :D

This, and many other unimportant doubts. Actually, answering her questions was more interesting than reading, at the moment, so I saved the rest of the book for the journey.
My bus had to arrive at 9:30pm and leave at 9:50!
And my wrist watch stopped working precisely at 8:54pm because... (obviously!!)
It was 9:45pm (the bus was about to leave), and I was sad, that time was passing slowwwwly!!! counting that I still had more than an hour to go, when suddenly... (and I thank the Gods for this) Joshi called me. It was THEN that I realized that I better run.
Thankfully I didn't miss it.

(But I had already thought of alternatives had I missed the bus, which was highly expected.)
Plan B: I would wait till the morning and come back to college, and stay there. And since my family didn't know that I was coming,
Number of hearts broken = 0 (Woohoo!)

I had a very interesting co-passenger with me, who reminded me of Cinderella's stepmother. I went back to Danielle Steel. hoping the next 12 hours to pass soon!

I woke up, with neck pain. I had reached familiar territory once again! Yeehaw! I mentally danced around!
Aah!! And when I felt the cool wind in my hair, I decided I would walk till home. Not too far. It took me some 20 minutes.


Now HERE'S when the best part starts:
I walked into the house very normally.. like I had only come back from Aanchal's home.. :P

• My fathers reaction: He stared at me for some 5 seconds, like he had seen a ghost! :D He then hugged me and I told him the entire master plan and the story. I was expecting him to scold me, but he didn't (Phew!) I guess he was too happy to see me!
• My mother's reaction: I generally don't expect anything.. but I had expected her to behave like this. She hugged me and started crying. Tears of happiness :') Huhuhu. She then fed me all my favourite things. And she didn't scold me either!

 Now, supposing, for a moment that the amount of happiness they get from my coming home is X, the happiness I was witnessing that time was X+10. Because they weren't expecting this.
Ha! This is why I love giving surprises to people. Good and bad :P

 I would like to end the story with the thing about this entire experience that I would remember the most, and never forget. It was:

• My brother's reaction: He came back in the evening. Saw me sitting, cutting onions. He said 'Hi!', and continued his work and went away :'O

I was expecting at least a smile. Or a tiniest hint that he's glad to see me. And I got none. Which is a  little sad. But it's okay. I know he loves me the most. And it's not necessary to show it all the time. Is it?