MEET THE HOMIES

DATED: WAY BACK IN 2005

So Adithi Mathews and I just walk in to C-24B, after settling the pending scores from our previous birth with the hostel warden (Mr. Kulwant Singh), hoping that's the end of it. Little did we know what awaited us at the hostel department in the MIT campus for the next two years. But that's many stories flattened together, and not at all fair to mix one with the other.

So coming back to the present...Adithi, mum...dad... me, mum... dad... and 20 odd bits of luggage later, land at the doorstep of our home to be. It's locked. So now we have to run around searching for some invisible person, in an unfamiliar campus, to get the keys.

No sweat there. After a few wrong turns in the scorching heat, we find the caretakers office. Surprise.. no waiting. We get our house keys immediately (so unlike what we've been used to at Bangalore), and a welcoming smile.

I warmed up to the place immediately.

Trotting back to the quarters, I eyed the lazy cows lying down in the small patches of shade. They weren't in the least bothered. But I was. The cows in Manipal are minuscule! They're such dwarfs, that our Bangalore cows can sneeze them down in a second.

We're back at C-24B now...enter to see a government hospital like 1BHK, with 4 pencil-sized beds that look like they have not been touched for years, floors carpeted with 6" of fungus, windows that cannot be opened because of the rusted fungus, cupboards that creak if you even so much as look at them, and a back door that seems to open only from the outside. The loo however, is the best part...airy, spacious and with a mini tub (tank)!

We grab the inner room, leaving the hall to the other girls who will join us as housemates. Adithi's efficient dad swings into action by buying us a big lock, and seals our room with it, accompanied by a sweet little note, 'BOOKED BY ADITHI AND SUSHMITA'. :)

We return the next day, to see that our other 3 housemates, Prarthana, a teddy bear she keeps referring to as teddu and Arathi, have already settled in, quite comfortably. They got the hall, thanks to our note. ;)

After an awkward 'hi' and 'how was the night', we scurried into our room. And so the scrubbing started. I looked like a class 'A' monkey, up on the window...holding on to the grills for dear life, as mum squeezed the cloth after every wipe 'n' handed it over to me. Adithi on the other hand, as daintily as the word can get, wiped her side clean, pulled out a set of new sheets, pink in color, 2 large as life pillows and a BLANKET.

At my quizzical stares, she said, "O i'll feel cold...i feel cold at the drop of a hat". BELIEVE ME, there hasn't been a day, in the summer, winter or rainy seasons when she has not used that blanket.

I'm so sorry, but i forgot to introduce two other very important people here - Namita liz Koshy and Elizabeth Abraham.

So there sat the giant spoilt blonde from Abudhabi, moping all morning because the a/c room she was promised wasn't available. She dumped her bags at our place and marched off to the warden's office. She promptly returned in a bit, with Nam and a set of keys. They were to stay in quarter C-36A, a small distance from ours by night, and a really long one while monitored by the sun. Off they went, baggage and all. The only thing that kept Lia going was that her best friend from Abudhabi was to be their third housemate. Nam however dint look too pleased to be stuck with these two glue sticks.

I couldn't help but crack up after she left...this was going to be a riot. Me and five mallus. 

A spicy coconutty bond that little did I know, was to last forever. 

The rest of the day goes in sprucing the place up and hearing Adi swoon at every movement of Paapu's saying...awww.....she's so round and cute!!

The clammy air gave way to a morose night, where sad goodbyes met teary eyes, and leaky noses met reluctant shoulders. I settled into my space, grinned sadly at a picture where mum, dad and granny grinned right back, and said a soft goodnight to my mallus. 

The tired arms and legs accelarated sound sleep...the sadness within soon melted into a nervous uncertainty that awaited tomorrow - our first day at college.