il commincio

On the 25th of March 2008, a small, bespectacled, nerdy girl from Chennai, South India cracked the interview to what is now officially India's fifth best B-School.
And Then There Was Pandemonium.
The very next morning, next door aunty throttled in at high speed and attempted to dislocate my cheekbones. "I always knew you would make it. Such a studious child! Where to, IIM Ahemddaaabad?"
Vaguely wondering how my mother had managed to trumpet the news by the unholy hour of six-thirty in the morning, I massaged my cheeks, convinced I would have to go in for cosmetic surgery.
"Er, no- XLRI."
"Oh." A pause. Then, brightening, "That thing in Jam-shed-poor?"
"Yes, aunty."
"Exs-sellent place", she pronounced. "Our Sandhya's husband went there. Such an intelligent boy... You don't go visiting the men's hostels, you hear? The boys will come from North India"- a shudder- "one never knows what they may do."

Evening, seven-fifteen or so. By this time, around seven million calls had come in, with callers alternately congratulating me, wanting to know if it was "the XLRI in Nungambakkam, Chennai" and expressing severe disappointment at the disclosure of Jamshedpur as my destination, warning me against cultivating 'bad habits', advising me to eat only the purest of vegetarian food, and expressing disappointment that I had not made it to the nearest local college offering an MBA.

"Very good college, SIET", my uncle mourned. "Cheap, too. Very close by. I can drop you in the morning and pick you up also."
"Uncle, it is a residential programme..."
"So what? Reside at home and complete it, no? Why should you travel all the way to Bihar"-
"Jharkhand.", I interposed meekly.
He glared -"Jharkhand and study? God knows how the climate will be! And you have to stay all alone. Who will take care of you? By the way, it is an all-girls college, no?"

And then, in the middle of all the hullabaloo, there was the task of Packing. Packing was mother's domain. A tentative list was made:
1. Soap, shampoo, comb, talcum powder and other personal care items.
2. Meera Shikakai and Parachute coconut Oil- for traditional haircare.
3. Lots of clothes.
4. Priya Pickle bottles.
5. Wristwatch, mp3 player, a few books and the mobile phone.
6. One thousand seventy three other items, with about twenty-six being added every day.

My mother packed and re-packed, and re-re-packed, ably assisted by my sister who made lists and ticked off items and fetched and carried, while my father got the loan documents together and I supervised. My role consisting of chewing masala papad and saying "Yes, I need that" or "No, I don't". All in all, a fair and just distribution of work, you could say.

As the D Day grew close, the entire family rallied together- formidble aunts and harried-looking uncles. It was the first 'big thing' in ages since the marriage of a distant cousin three years ago, and besides, it was 'Ex-Yel-AAr-Ai'. Even if most of them were a little hazy as to where exactly it was and what I was going to study, it didn't matter. It was supposed to be "top" and anything "top" associated with the family was a matter of pride. A parade of faces inspected me and pronounced that they had "known all along that I would go Somewhere."
Where exactly, I wondered. Besides, atleast 70% of them had never clapped eyes on me before.

Finally the Packing drew to a close, mainly because there was no more space for an extra suitcase, handbag or backpack. On the night of the 11th of June, I boarded the Alleppey-dhanbad Express, accompanied by Sesha who advised me to Meditate. It adds peace to life. Never mind about studying, he said, with an airy wave of his hand.

One day and two nights later, I got down, groggy, filthy, and badly in need of a hair-bath at the Tatanagar Station. And some thirty minutes later, reached the gates of XLRI, Jamshedpur.

It's been about forty-one days since I got here. My hair is now washed (at regular intervals). I haven't cultivated anything that I suppose one could call a bad habit.

And, So far, the 'North Indian' boys haven't done anything yet.

One can only hope.
:D