My heart will go on - Flashback - Part I

[The next series of posts is dedicated to one of best periods of my life - the time that I spent away from the people that mean so much to me only to learn that so many more would soon be added to my circle of friends, all in the process of getting an education. And what an education it was! What will follow is a string of episodic emails written to a privileged lot. Backward ho, to 2003!]

Milestones...

The morning of the 28th of Sep 2003 - the beginning of a day when my whole world would change ... literally. I awoke at 4 am from a fitful sleep that lasted less than 4 hrs. Had hardly had time to spend too many precious moments with my family. But I was unusually calm, as if I was preparing to go to work. Had stopped worrying about packing and baggage weight issues, which had hounded me in the previous few weeks.

The cabbie was prompt - arrived at 5 am sharp. We (family and I) left for the Mumbai International Airport at 5.30 am. The drive was peaceful, got some time to finally chat with little sis who had just arrived from Pune, where she studies, the eve before. She always helps keep my spirits up. :)

Arrived at the airport at 6.15 am. The place seemed pretty crowded even at that hour. So whats new for Bombayites?! Found the right queue to check-in my luggage - obviously the longest of all!

By 7.30 am had finished with the checking-in. Felt a little nervous, a little apprehensive, and a little excited all at once! I rushed to see family one last time before leaving. I could see my emotions mirrored in their eyes.

A friend called to say goodbye yet again ... oh, I hate goodbyes ... am going to erase that word from my dictionary!

Saw a familiar face - we'd met at the interview for scholarship! Recognition flickered in his eyes too. We quickly exchanged names and got back to our respective families, with promises to catch up on the plane (we were on the same flight).

Spotted another friend quietly watching from outside the glass enclosure ... bid him come in ... felt the intensity of unspoken homesickness yet again.

Well, itwas time to go ahead on the journey ... alone.The Immigration check took longer than I expected. I was glad for that ... it let me look at those loving pairs of eyes a while longer. A final wave and they were out of sight. ... I let the excitement take over.

After another round of checks, I was finally in the exit lounge. The wait before boarding intensified my awareness of the surroundings. A girl I'd befriended during the wait for baggage-check-in joined me. We exchanged notes on what I could expect on landing.

Soon the flight was announced and the entourage in the lounge moved to Gate 18. My first trip outside the Indian subcontinent was soon about to begin! Being a novice flyer (is there a word like that?!), I was quite impressed by theway the aircraft was so perfectly aligned to the exit as to allow a smooth walk-in to the plane. Realised later that aero-bridges are quite common anyway.

My seat was located in the middle of the plane, between two uncles, one of whom seemed to be asleep even as he took his seat, and the other of whom, a haggard old man, who seemed too desperate to make a conversation when not trying to lean entirely on my side of the seat. I ignored both.

The 0925 hrs AI flight took off at exactly 0949 hrs. I ensured I visited the loo before that so as not to disturb the sleepy uncle on the aisle seat after take-off - my first visit to a loo in a plane! ;)

I hadn't yet located the two guys who were to be my companions on the flight to London. After breakfast I would take a round or two to find them, I thought. Breakfast arrived at 1030. I'm sticking to vegetarian food for sometime ... plus, its Navratri. No comments on the food, of course. International standards are only meant for mention in the brochures... tsk-tsk.

"M?" ... a familiar voice, not a familiar face. Ah! Here was one of those two companions. My quest was half over. We set out on the round to look for the third member of the Oxford party. After four rounds of avoiding stray legs in the aisle, stepping on a few toes, and causing some grief to the air hostesses, we concluded that the elusive character had not boarded the plane at all! Well, who's John Galt?!

It was only 1100 hrs ... we still had another eight hrs to go. No problem - the aircraft, so many thousand feet above the ground, is much more stable in air than our Bombay local trains are on the tracks. We occupied one of the service areas in the plane and exchanged notes on our missing friend, the grievances on weight limits, the content of our baggage, the expected weather, the impending hardwork/ smart work, ways to make money ranging from the sophisticated to the devious methods, and jokes on our false sense of self-dependence. Of course, we caused much more grief to the flight-pursers this time - we had been on their territory for more than three hours! ... almost forgot to mention - we missed the screening of the film Armaan during this small chat! ;)

Caught up with the "scholarship" acquaintance, as I'd promised, on the way back from another trip to the holy place. He will be in London and is more apprehensive than I am about being in a new city ... a new country. So, offered him some moral support and the chance to join our two-member team on the way out of the Heathrow airport. The conversation proved useful as his neighbour happened to be a current student at UChicago GSB's MBA programme. (Btw, the flight was Bangalore-Mumbai-London-Chicago). An enthusiastic software engineer working with Motorola at their HQ.

We broke up (the conversation) because we were expecting to be served lunch. But lunch was apparently an hour away. Attempted to listen to/ watch the TV in the meanwhile. Put on the headphones and voila! Here was one of my favourite songs! Air India's Bollywood Hits - not too bad, I say. Hummed along with Tu hi dil hai (J-beats).

Lunch was worse than breakfast as if there are no better veggies in the market than ladyfinger and brinjal!

Thought I should catch up on some sleep after lunchbut sleep eluded me, so brought out my pad and began writing. It is 1735 hrs IST just now and the latest screen just flashed that we are 57 minutes away from the destination! (Cant believe it'll be over so soon!) So long ... aage ki kahani Oxford pahunchne ke baad! (The story would continue after I get to Oxford.)

30th Sep 2003

The plane touched the ground that afternoon at exactly 1837 hrs IST or 1407 hrs BST. At last I was there! London looks beautiful from up above. Got a wonderful glimpse of the Thames. Almost felt like a scene from the movies!

I was lucky to get a ride in the spacious car of my companion's friend, who had come to receive him at the airport. He was kind enough to drive us all the way to Oxford. The countryside was beautiful.

An hour later we were in Oxford - the place that would be my residence for the coming year. We took some time finding Keble College, to which we are affiliated. The streets are well marked so we were there before long. The person at the reception (the Porter's Lodge, as it is called), Ken, was most helpful in giving us access to our rooms.

My room, in one of the newly-built buildings in the College, was quite a pleasant surprise - a neat skylight letting in sunlight, a wardrobe, a full-length mirror, a huge deskspace with drawers and a swivel chair, a small coffee table with a chair, and a well-equipped bed, mattress, bedsheets, pillows, duvet and all! But that was not all, the bathroom with a shower that can be adjusted to any temperature was fully ready to use with basic toiletries in place. The kitchenette had/has a refrigerator, a microwave, an electric stove and basic utensils, cutlery and crockery. I was happy with the thought of living in 3-star luxury for the year.

2nd Oct 2003

My friend left for London with his friend the day we arrived, while I got myself a phone card to make the first call home. Mom and Dad seemed to have been right beside the phone. Could make out the relief and happiness in their voices.

Spent that first evening getting essentials out of the baggage. Ate something, showered and got ready for bed. I think I went through mixed feelings that night. But I must've slept well as I was fresh for the next day.

Had an appointment at the Bank so got ready quickly and set out to find the place. The best thing about Oxford is that everything is within walking distance! Got myself a map and went about looking for the right direction. The people on the street were rather helpful and I was there in no time. Almost felt as if everybody on the street knew that I was new there. But the that changed when I was asked by a couple of folks for directions!! Can u believe that? Of course, I was just about acquainted with the map to give them the correct information. ;)

Went shopping for edible essentials at the Supermarket on my way back. Forced myself not to convert to INR when it was time to pay the bill. :( I did anyway... INR 690.00 for a loaf for bread, a bottle of sandwich spread, packets of salt & sugar, a jar of milk, tea leaves, a pack of biscuits, and a bowl of fruit.)

The room seemed too quiet when I returned ... not that Oxford is very noisy otherwise. But I was missing the sound, feeling of people around. Wanted to share the day's experience with someone. An impulse directed me to use the phone card again. Felt great speaking to Mom. Spent the evening unpacking, had an early dinner and went to bed. Slept reeeeally well - about twelve hours. The next day looked brighter.

My classmate-to-be, the one from the flight, moved in that day and I was glad for the company. We were happy to be informed that our friend, the third member of the party, had finally arrived. We went to his place, closer to the b-school, and cooked a very elementary meal at the common kitchen (Indian food without any masalas ... :( ...)

The next day i.e. yesterday, was spent on market research for cell-phones and laptops, while we visited the b-school and recognised the many lovely scenes we had seen in the brochures. The biggest achievement of the day - I got my laptop!!! Haven't been able to get off it ever since. ;) My purse is exponentially lighter than it was before the purchase but I'm happy with the buy. You can probably see that from the length of this monologue! ;)

So much for now. Have spent the whole of Gandhi Jayanti exploring my laptop and further researching mobile phone options. The next week will be devoted to induction at the b-school and thenceforth the action promises to be thick. So am enjoying the last few days of vacation!

Will keep in touch as much as possible. Hope to hear from u all too, regularly. Let distances not come between minds and hearts.

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"Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!"