The latter part of 2010 was really hard on me. As aforesaid in ‘Beginnings’ (dated 11/11/2010), I was forced to stay alone, in a town I hated, and depression and frustration were the only two people who visited me after college. Life was pathetic, and not a single day passed when I did not regret my decision of coming to Poona.
The semester ended on a bad note, with me coming back to my flat in Bibwewadi after writing a hopeless paper, and spending the rest of the evening packing bags while my batchmates were busy partying, celebrating the end of a semester.
After calling a few brokers, and a day full of bike rides from flat to flat, I finally settled on a single room on Law College Road, that I had to share with a 50-something working man, something that felt adjustable at that time. The rent was high, but so was I; as compared to the dump I lived in at Bibwewadi, this place was a 5 Star Hotel.
Yet, on the day of moving my stuff from my old flat to my new room, I realized that I had made a huge blunder. I had a hunch that I should have stayed in Bibwewadi. But, ignoring all the signals I got while moving, I shifted to Law College Road. Hoping that the next semester would bring some joy to me, I went home for a month of vacation.
But even during that time, I couldn’t enjoy my vacation since the thought of making a wrong decision bugged me all the time. And these hunches turned out to be true.
3rd January 2011, the day I went back to Poona for Semester 4, I felt like I’d jumped out of the water into the frying pan. My “roommate” had made a shoe rack out of my study table, he was sleeping on my bed, and the room smelt of vodka. Never before in my life had I felt so alone, so stupid, and so close to tears.
I spent the evening regretting my decision even more, walking aimlessly on the road, even called my friend Vibhas who took me to Fergusson College Road, but this wrong decision never left my conscience. The area that once felt like a hoard of festivities seemed like the darkest alley ever. Yes, I officially hated Poona now.
That night, when my room-mate came back, he let all his office anger on me, not caring that he also had a son who was as old as me. And soon, as he slept, I had the most sleepless night ever. He snored like an ox throughout the night, and I set the wheels of my mind in motion, deciding to go back to Bibwewadi. Those inconsistent snores gave me some time to think over a plan of action.
I contacted my friend Sangit that night, who had a vacant bed in his room at Bibwewadi. The next day, without telling my parents, I told the owner of Sangit’s apartment about my interest in her flat, and though jealous I was of the “first day of college happiness” that my batch mates were enjoying and I couldn’t, I knew I had more important things to do.
That evening I told my parents about my decision, and after some expected angry
words, they supported me fully. That night I went to bed peacefully, although the ox’s snores made sure I didn’t have a sound sleep.
An innocent suggestion by my mother planted an idea in my mind – if I had to be lonely anyway, why not live alone in a “happening” area at least? I had a bike, and honestly, the weekends in Bibwewadi were as happening as a silent movie for a four year old. I decided to get a single room for me in a supposedly “amazing” area called Prabhat Road.
The semester ended on a bad note, with me coming back to my flat in Bibwewadi after writing a hopeless paper, and spending the rest of the evening packing bags while my batchmates were busy partying, celebrating the end of a semester.
After calling a few brokers, and a day full of bike rides from flat to flat, I finally settled on a single room on Law College Road, that I had to share with a 50-something working man, something that felt adjustable at that time. The rent was high, but so was I; as compared to the dump I lived in at Bibwewadi, this place was a 5 Star Hotel.
Yet, on the day of moving my stuff from my old flat to my new room, I realized that I had made a huge blunder. I had a hunch that I should have stayed in Bibwewadi. But, ignoring all the signals I got while moving, I shifted to Law College Road. Hoping that the next semester would bring some joy to me, I went home for a month of vacation.
But even during that time, I couldn’t enjoy my vacation since the thought of making a wrong decision bugged me all the time. And these hunches turned out to be true.
3rd January 2011, the day I went back to Poona for Semester 4, I felt like I’d jumped out of the water into the frying pan. My “roommate” had made a shoe rack out of my study table, he was sleeping on my bed, and the room smelt of vodka. Never before in my life had I felt so alone, so stupid, and so close to tears.
I spent the evening regretting my decision even more, walking aimlessly on the road, even called my friend Vibhas who took me to Fergusson College Road, but this wrong decision never left my conscience. The area that once felt like a hoard of festivities seemed like the darkest alley ever. Yes, I officially hated Poona now.
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| Law College Road |
That night, when my room-mate came back, he let all his office anger on me, not caring that he also had a son who was as old as me. And soon, as he slept, I had the most sleepless night ever. He snored like an ox throughout the night, and I set the wheels of my mind in motion, deciding to go back to Bibwewadi. Those inconsistent snores gave me some time to think over a plan of action.
I contacted my friend Sangit that night, who had a vacant bed in his room at Bibwewadi. The next day, without telling my parents, I told the owner of Sangit’s apartment about my interest in her flat, and though jealous I was of the “first day of college happiness” that my batch mates were enjoying and I couldn’t, I knew I had more important things to do.
That evening I told my parents about my decision, and after some expected angry
words, they supported me fully. That night I went to bed peacefully, although the ox’s snores made sure I didn’t have a sound sleep.
The next day was the busiest, I had to arrange a tempo for the shifting. En route to college, I memorised the phone numbers of the tempos I saw on the road, and finally got a guy to come the next day. My "pristine" friend Pranav also said he would come to help me with the moving.
That evening I packed all my stuff in 20 minutes, a task that had taken 5 hours at the end of first year, and 3 hours at the end of Semester 3. And again, after the snoring that left me sleepless, I woke up to darkness the next day.
For a minute I thought I’d gone blind. I couldn’t see anything around me; but then my phone blinked and I realised that it was a power failure, and I hadn't gone blind after all. I finished all my chores in darkness, and waited patiently for the tempo-guy to arrive.
As I left the confines of that vodka-smeared room, I felt like the freest bird in the sky, I never turned around to look at that room. I was away now, free from what could have been the worst two years ever, had I decided to go with that impulsive decision. True, Bibwewadi à Law College Road àBibwewadi was a reverse somersault for me, but those three days of torture taught me a lesson for a lifetime.
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| That's Bibwewadi |
It’s okay to go wrong, we all do, but then, very few of us are lucky enough to get a chance to rectify those errors. And if you’ve got parents like mine to support your stupid decisions, you’re the luckiest guy ever! So go ahead, make mistakes, rectify them on your own, and you’ll find yourself as grown up as you’ve never felt before; I did!
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