27 Sep 2001: It was the day I was supposed to leave for engg college. I had just turned 18 and going away from home was giving me both thrills and chills.
I had never been away from home for longer than few days. I was a moody, go to hell attitude kid who was sure of herself. In hindsight may be to sure.
Though I never told mom I was scared out of my with that day. What the hell was I going to do in a place i knew nobody? I hated making adjustment. I was short tempered. No one at hostel would tolerate me, I knew that.
We were taking the semi luxury to devrukh. I hadnt even heard of the place before. It was a small village off the national highway in Konkan. I had never even been to Konkan before.
I didnt sleep a wink through the whole journey. Mom was not well. She had an eye infection which made her see dark spots in front of her eyes. Dad was in nepal. Mom came to drop me off to college leaving anoo alone with Aaji.
I remember the first time I saw my college. It was 6:30 am. And the college ground was wet with dew. it was a beautiful sight. And I hated it. There was a small shabily created entrance as the college construction was still underway. The entrance led to a long dusty road which curved towards the college building. Another road darted along the way toward some buildings and a large ground.
The watchman at the gate directed us towards the girls hostel. I looked at the white building which symbolized my home for next four years. I hadn't had a very good look at the college as it was boarded up with boards to support some kind of dome like structure. Truly speaking I was dissapointed. I had expected something resembling a building and all I got was an under construction lot with dilapidated buildings.
We took our rickshaw towards the girls hostel. As we entered I could here sounds of people stirring and going about their chores. Sounds of a tape recorder, water running, some one shouting to someone. I was a bit intimated by the cacophony of sounds. I was not used to noise.
A girl we had been given reference of helped us into her room. We freshened up and got ready to go to the college. Lots of things were waiting for us. We were directed towards the office where we filled out the admission form and completed other formalities. I was assigned a room which already had a senior girl staying there. We were told to go and wait in a room for the SBI people. We had to open a bank account for payment of fees. That was when I realized that all this was true and I was going to stay back alone tonight with no one I knew near me.
The feeling was terrifying. Sitting besides my mom i felt my eyes well up.
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