All my bags were packed, I was ready to go, all set to start the longest journey of my life. Ranchi's drowsy and usually deserted station seemed awake. Many other packed bags and young warriors of life were standing like rockets on the launch pad ,parents ready with torches to set the tale ablaze and make the rocket fly. Do and don'ts coming from all direction, making cacophony of interference patterns. The heart thumping sound of train horn dominated them all, it seemed like a trumpet of freedom , here comes my liberator, I am going to break free, the reins of my life's horse suddenly seemed to come in my hand. Paid holidays were just going to start. I embraced my childhood friend Rajiv and he concluded the short meeting by saying' Never forget, every Indian, including me and you have double standard' This man is a genius, thinking of his last words I entered the train . Well it was a lesson for me, if you really want to mark your footprints on someone's thought process say some strange quote, which even you find difficult to understand, and your footprints get cemented, even the number of your shoe will be visible. Sitting in a train destinated to Delhi, I started my journey with dreams and desires and my father's cash to make them real.I set my foot on old Delhi Railway Station. It was the year of my lord, 2001. The air had fragrance of freedom. One of my school senior was standing on the platform, of course, to receive me. </div><div>Coming out of the station, first thing I did was to buy a packet of cigarette. I blew all the Do and Don'ts with the puff of my fag. First time in my life I really understood the importance of celebrating 15th August . Freedom is something like an inbuilt feeling, it unceasingly makes you happy, a cigarette in your hand and you cant stop the waves of smiles deforming your face. Too much of anything is bad, thinking this I stooped smiling.They say life is in the fast lane in Delhi. For me the traffic seemed like the painted ship of the Ancient mariner, stagnant in the painted sea. Dam it, will the auto move, I felt like shouting.. Entering my friend's room in a place called Mukerjee Nagar , I suddenly felt that something is missing, what was that was a headache to find , but still I felt something was missing in the room.' God, don’t you have a window or ventilator''Long back they vanished with the dinosaur, with this rent you only get a room, which is just a room, idiot , Delhi have much more to offer than a well ventilated room , you small town chaps, you guys are never going to change'This guy was my next door neighbor in Ranchi , one year changed quite a lot of him, winds of changes in Delhi seems to blow as fast as the tornados of pacific.
Admission process started from the next day. I was lucky, got admission in a college . Were to live now, was a million dollar question. I was a bit too late, all places were preoccupied , students from all over this country come one month before admission process and start living here , nice way of adaptation, winds blow fast here, you need time to adjust . Only place left was Patel chest, right in the heart of the university.Christian colony seemed to me like a scene from a Rickey Martin's video. Fans moving that slow that it gives impression that they are taking their last breath, everyone is standing in their balcony (that was strange, sight of a girl in that area was the rarest of the rare case, anyway, who cares. The wall paints and plasters were just ready to jump on me and commit suicide. You cant see the colour of the wall(no body gives a dam to get them painted, students can live anywere, dam you delhi landlords ( they are worse than the feudal ones), anway the only thing you will find on the walls are posters. Walking on those narrow streets you get the feeling of closeness, you will brush with the other passer by, those twists and turns will make u feel like Keanu Reeves in Matrix. It was the love at first sight, between me and the place. Well I am normal , Love is platonic, and after all I have to spend three years over here. Nobody knows you, still you don’t feel lonely, what a nice feeling, this place have all the moves and shakes of students life, but ventilators, a hard fact, I quite adjusted with.
College started, people say they are the best days of one's life. I started having the feel good factor. ' My best was yet to come'. Well I am a graduate now , I am still feeling good............. best yet to come. This university is like a cheap whiskey, you are in and you are high, you are out you have hangover, I dont know when I will come out of it.</div><div>'Delhi girls are easy' were the words of Rajiv."You get down on the station and you will have that license to kill' My license seemed like coming from Jharkhand, postal delays were destroying the better half of my graduation, Rajiv, bloody you could have couriered it to me. I have to wait for a long time........well to start the kill..............</div><div>Now the question was how to set a girl.Some guys are lucky , they come on this earth with their destiny written by Chitragupta himself, and that also by may be marker or sthing.Whenever we use to see a pair, a famous underwear add punch line used to strike all of us' Mujhse bhadake usme hai kya … Dang Dang Dang' </div><div>NO ding dong this is the time of fang shui (fire and water together),Ying and yang (black and white),and beautiful lass with ugly male, Chinese culture intruding with the cheap Chinese electronic goods. </div><div>This govt is inefficient, how can I have a girlfriend in these circumstances. Sometimes I have a secret feeling that ISI must also be having a hand in it, your country's govt is inefficient and a neighboring state is after u, success becomes raretst of rare case now.
Against all these odds , the cupid struck one day. Yes, I got a date. Suddenly you start feeling that man you really have something in you. You are suddenly important in your circle. ' Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend' guys I hate this cheap word, bloody cant you people ever understand that we are just good friends, you people will never understand that there can be some other relation as well. I felt always explaining these things to my friends. Suddenly I found myself mature enough to understand relationship. Still five days were remaining for my first date. A girl can change the hell out of you.Yes this was my first love .Finally the auspicious day arrived. I cant believe myself I was sitting besides her ,well of course not with her hand in mine, but that day will also come, I was confident. She was carefully examining the menu, these girls are really sophisticated, and kind of specific about their choices, they choose the best out of the restaurant menu and pick the best out of the boys, thank you girlfriend for picking me. hay girlfriend my life would have been meaningless without you. Hay girlfriend i am in love with you....i kept on thanking her. ........</div><div>I gave a glance to all the sitters by, well it was a glare of arrogance." Hay ppl do you have this girl with you, she is mine, just watch our happy life and feel jealous, nd get lost....... coming back to my girlfriends, face. I said in my heart do u know girlfriend, you are special.
My first date. I was thinking, what will come out of it, will it be a good night or a good morning, well you never know exactly. Idiot, have patience, try to show you are quite normal to these type of situations. Time is less you have to impress the girl. I said strange quotes, which even I don’t understand. I talked about everything, kind of projected myself like a superman, even he would have started thinking about his resignation after listening to me.My friends were right, these girls are foolish creatures, you can fool them quite easily. And here comes the bill, 400.. a bit too much, but what did it meant before your first date, it only meant more debt.'If debt is less than 200 its your other wise its your dad's, thank you dad , books are realy costly now a days, inflation you know.'</div><div>Coming back to the date she said 'Good bye, see you later', I heard 'get lost I don’t want to see you again'. you keep on wondering what went wrong, but questions of this life are like examination papers, kitna bhi padh lo, you cant answer all of them.
You lost the girl ,you lost your money and then you realized that your college friends are more important than these silly girls, Only a boy can be a boys best friend, Bonds don’t have a girlfriend, I repeat bonds dont have a girlfriend'. With boys its always celebration , no compulsion to bath daily, no expense on deodorants and no extra top up to your mobile phone, life is smooth .I suddenly discovered my new passion for music. Those seductive lyrics of Pink Floyd , Bob marleys Rastafarianism . life will have no meaning without those Bruce sprinsteen inspirational lyrics, you really starts repenting for not being born in the USA, John Denevers leaving on a jet plane, nd u remember her, Eric Clapton's cocaine is always ready to take away your pain . Billy Joels she is always a woman to me gives me her memories, you took my heart, you took my money but the memories will remain you cant steal them., I felt like telling these things to her. Anyway who cares.
What else do you want from your graduation, booze, cigarettes, music and one broken heart for sale. Doing all these things time passed like anything, three years passed like three months, they were right life is quite fast , out here in Delhi. Finally I graduated with hons. in Physics. Again the headache grabbed me , something is missing , what is that, well like the missing ventilator in my friends room ,physics was missing from my graduation, I am a graduate with physics hons, from delhi university…………. does it make any difference. I am standing were I was three years back……still feeling good.</div>
