Last return

I was returning back home, it was the end of my journey. I had been to places and seen the sights i could have never thought of travelling. I was feeling relieved along with a sense of nostalgia, i do not know why but i was feeling a void. It was as if something great was coming to an end. Although my body was tired my brain wanted to carry on, somehow i liked the whole travel. I started off at noon, one thing i must set straight at this point is that the people of Guwahati are really very warm and helping i shall continue this in other posts, i reached the airport quite early had lunch and was waiting for my flight. All sort of thoughts were filling up my mind, i was feeling excited at the thought of reaching home and also was happy that i had my first admission after such a long journey. I relaxed on the airport for 2 hours and then my flight came in, i must admit the atmosphere at the airport is magnetic, light breeze with drizzle and mountains in the distance with orange coloured clouds is very scenic. Boarded the flight and had a window seat, it was a time to reflect upon what all i had been through. The time passed on very smoothly with several thought cluttering up the top space. Reached Delhi and moved to terminal 1-d for last time in my journey, the place was upbeat with lots of activity. I made my way to the counter only to find that my stay at the terminal was extended due to delay in the flight but it was not painful given the fact that it was my last leg of the journey. I passed the time on the terminal just resting and killing the time. Finally i boarded the flight and what i noticed was really shocking. The sits were very uncomfortable and not even reclining, they were like the seats that we have in our state transport buses. To my luck i again was endowed with a window seat and this time the sight i was going to see was really enchanting. The flight took off and i slept because of extreme wear out that i had been through but the hostess woke me up for having my dinner, i resisted cause i did not feel like eating and just wanted water but she forcefully feed me. Somehow i gulped the food and watched outside the window and saw some shimmering lights down beneath, as we were passing above various cities it was really worth it to see the beautifully lit cities down beneath. The horizon was dotted with several such jewels, it was dark and you can clearly see the boundaries of the city and how it slowly merged into the wilderness. Their was a small streak of light connecting two cities, it was the highway which passed from one city to another. Small vehicles were also visible with their lights. It was really enchanting to see those jewels embedded over the black fabric of night. Reached my destination at 01:00 in the night and it was too late to find any public transit systems to reach home. I decided to go for a cab, hired a cab and we started off at 1:15 a.m. It was already 12 hours or more since i was travelling but i was not at all tired as i knew this was last hour of my great journey, the cab driver turned on his music, it was a typical driver's music (those who have travelled in buses or have been to any of the highway restaurant might know this for sure). The cab was going swiftly through the night. I cannot exactly describe the feeling that i was going through at that point of time but it was a mixture of nostalgia, relief and achievement. This feeling cannot be categorically put into words but it can only be felt. Reached home at 2:30 in the morning and went to sleep directly, it was one of the most peaceful sleep i had in long time. All the things i had seen and felt during my journey were in my heart but still it felt light. My long cherished dream had been completed. Finally i was an IITian.

"One man's disgust is other man's food"

The title shall be justified as i go along. Boarded the cab and i was moving towards the campus, i passed through the settlements which were overwhelmed by greenery. The place is having a constant war with nature, the greenery as if trying to take over every bit of land it finds, even the building's seems to be taken over by them. I must admit, here nature rules. You cannot fight with it, you have to learn to live with it, either you live with it or you leave(this statement shall be understood in more depth as we move along). The place is very close to nature, untamed vegetation everywhere, planned and controlled vegetation is very less. After few kilometers i reached Brahmaputra bridge, the river is the largest flowing water body i have seen. Somewhere in distance two branches mixing and making one large body. It makes everything else look small, its so huge that it takes few minutes to cross it in a car. Whosoever sees it for the first time is surely going to fall in love and be terrified at the same time. This was my second grand encounter in a single day. After few minutes i crossed across and reached the campus. I must admit the campus is one of the best guarded i have seen. As always my search for my hostel started, good thing was that we were already informed about the hostel we had to go. I reached my hostel and straight to my room. Tired as i was, i slept for few hours. Slowly night came in and i decided to go around but there stood my first surprise, i wont call it a pleasant surprise by any means, it was an insect (if you can call a 3 or 4 inch long fleshy roach as insect), so big that it could swallow lizards. It was something similar to roach, it was really annoying, it could fly and would go down the doors and get into rooms. It was something i had never seen in my life and may be thats the reason i was frightened at first sight. Although i managed to get accustomed of its presence around me, i was still not comfortable with one of those things getting into my room. For first night none of those came in and my night went peacefully. Second day i went around the campus, its really nice, as i just mentioned about the vegetation, similarly here too the vegetation is wild, actually it cannot be tamed given the area of the campus. The area is so large that it hits you directly in the face. The architecture of the campus is really nice. Its designed in a beautiful way. Second day passed by and then came the most horrifying night i had, i was sleeping and the "insects" i was talking about came into my room, total 4 of them. I was sleeping peacefully and suddenly i heard something near my ear and to my disbelief it was sitting next to me. I was so much horrified that i felt like leaving the room and running away, but in middle of this unkown place you have but one choice and that is to fight. I somehow managed to get one after another every single one of them out and then stuffed my door with polythene bags so as to restrict their entry. It was one bad experience i would not like to have again. That night itself during dinner time when i was going around i saw one person carrying few of them in a polythene, i thought he was carrying them so that he can dispose off them somewhere else. I inquired and then i got one of the most unusual answers i can get. He said they eat it. It was really startling to know that one man's disgust is other man's food. But that was true. Next day i took a flight to home.

Terminal 1-D

Well as i have already said this was on of the most painful experiences of my life. After getting down at Delhi we took a cab and reached this place called as terminal 1-D. By now i had been here at least a few times to know its layout quite well, but this time things were different. It was 00:00 in the night, i had 5 hours to go for my flight and i am not accustomed to late night outs or any late night parties so it was like an acid test for me to pass these 5 hours. To our advantage we reached early enough to find few benches unoccupied also as my friend and me were not feeling well we had to find place to rest else . . . So we managed to get seats on bench. The benches, i must admit, are really not as comfortable as they look. I have sat on these benches before for hours but sleeping on them is not my cup of tea. I tried every single position you can imagine in a chair, i tried my legs up on the front chair, on my bag, even on the seat next to me. I tried sleeping upright and sinked in also tried to sleep with the bag in my lap but all tries failed. I was feeling like Mr.Bean, trying all the silly moves that i can. All the veils of shame or disgrace had fallen amidst the primitive urge to sleep. Finally i decided lets not sleep, this being a bold decision as i never ever had a sleepless night. Even during my college days i never slept later than 00:30 p.m. But my friend who was already sick and in a dire condition took a rather unimaginable decision. He was going to sleep on the floor. Here on India's most swanky airport my friend pulled out his sheet, laid it down kept his bag as pillow and slept. I was shocked, not as much by what he did but by the irony that when in condition like this nothing seems inept, i was comparing the situation with the condition of poor people who have to sleep on platforms, its not as if they like it, its because they do not have any other option(we shall come to this soul searching in separate posts as this itself is quite a large topic to discuss here). So as i had already decided not to sleep i went in search of tea so as to fool my natural cycle that i already have had enough sleep and lets start a new day. I had my tea went around the terminal so as to freshen up. It was 3 o'clock in the morning when one of the staffer came so as to guide us towards the check-in. She woke up my friend and was insisting him to move, i compared it with what the guards do with those poor people who have taken refuge in the crevices in the platforms. So finally at 3:30 we moved towards the check-in and we were inside. Rested for few hours and decided to have tea and snacks (breakfast if you may call it so) at 4:30 in the morning as my flight was scheduled at 5:25. Looking over the beautiful air stirps with atleast a few dozen aircrafts waiting for the next day to began i was sipping over my coffee and having my sandwich. It was time i left for my next and preferably last frontier it was Guwahati. I parted from my friend and moved towards flight. I was drowsy but still managed to board the flight and like all other times i was terrified by the thought of not having a seat or sharing the same seat number with someone else, well it did not happen this time. The flight took off early in the morning with the sun not completly out and the early morning haze still settling down. I was really tired. I slept as soon as the flight took off and the hostess started her daily chores. Somewhere middle in the flight i don't remember where i woke up suddenly, to my luck i had been endowed with a window seat, the white clouds were beneath us and somewhere in distance i saw one of the most beautiful view i ever held in my eyes. I was looking at Himalaya's (if i have not mistaken!), the Grandeur of those mountains is so magnanimous that it fills you with aw alongwith a sense of being trivial. Trust me i have never seen such a thing in my life, i doubt i will see something like that again. It was as if my jaw dropped to my feet. I was trying all i can to keep on looking at them, its just magnificent. Somehow coming out of the lure i reached Guwahati, the place is a heaven truely, although i did not realize it at that time but today thinking of that place i feel its really so. I landed amidst fog and drizzle, it was quite soothing to enter this atmosphere. I felt a light breeze across my face which was both cold and wet. Its really one of experience, lush green fields around the airport. I came out of the airport and boarded a cab to my destination.

Return from Roorkee

Returning from roorkee me and my friend both were utterly exhausted to the extent of being worn-out. As both of us were not to the best of our health's it was really tough going through the journey. This was the lowest point of our tour i must admit that. And from here we were going to directly move to Guwahati. That too, after passing through one of the greatest pains of my life which i shall describe in my next post. Me and my friend are kind of well built and the only means of transportation to the station is cycle rickshaw. Its really painful to ask someone to tow us till there. But one brave hearted person took the challenge and dropped us till the station. On station my friend's health deteriorated even further and he was at a point where he could no longer carry on. So finally he decided to reschedule his journey and leave back home without coming to Guwahati. Although an audacious decision it was one of the most apt decision given the condition he was in. So on the station the flight was rescheduled and we were moving in different direction from Delhi. Here came the train and we boarded it. An utter disbelief awaited us to the booking that we had done for the return train. It was the best coach one can travel in India. We were served mineral water and our luggage was taken care of. Snacks, soups and dinner came progressively and it was such an irony to travel in this compartment when only 2 days back we had been through the worst of the journey's that could be possibly undertaken. So the turn of event was really hilarious. Still in the train but our conditions were not at all proper. Somehow gathering all the strengths that we could we managed to reach Delhi Airport terminal 1-D. By now the Terminal 1-D had stuck in my mind like a leech. I had already been there so many times it started to feel like the backyard of my house. But this time it was going to be different. . . .

In a class of its own.

Truely the campus of this place is one which has to be seen atleast one. Although not upto the standards that we expect after seeing kanpur, i think i was a bit prejudiced after seeing kanpur. For me nothing is as good as Kanpur. Although, i have not visited IISC but in IIT's that i have visited for me Kanpur is superlative. I might be wrong so please do not take it personally. Roorkee is closest to what you may have an image of an ideal college or university. White archaic buildings with an atmosphere which is seemingly pleasant because of its location. Every care has been taken regarding the infrastructure and its nice to move around. The central building sits atop a hill and looks nice. For the part that we have roamed its nicely planned and maintained. Also, there is no hustle and bustle. Life here is quite tranquil. The only problem me and my friend were facing was that non of us was feeling well. We were not at the best of our health so it was not possible to enjoy it to the fullest, else its a great place to be. I can't write much about this place cause my encounter to this place was quite short. But for the time i passed i had all the feelings to settle down there, but life is about moving and here we go once again.