I was randomly scrolling down my Facebook timeline and opened the 2007 -2011 tabs. I laughed and cried at the same time. Statuses giving out detailed descriptions of food consumed followed by string of comments demanding treats further followed by comments claiming inadequacy of funds. Multiple posts reading “I love you bitch” with triple doses of the black hearts. Sharing the lamest lines of the crappiest Hindi songs ever made and making plans to dance on it soon. Pictures with bushy eyebrows, weird expressions and psychedelic clothes. Sms language all over the place. Atrocious captions. Vindictive tagging. Then I stumbled upon the note I had written on our lives in Pune and why I loved it. It was like a gust of wind on a hot sultry day. Sharing it here:
1. Sharda Niketan Girls
Hostel. It gave me the best 5 years of my life with some of the most amazing
people ever.
2. Symbiosis law School. Loved it. Loathed it. Laughed at it. Now longing for it :(
3. Lohegaon Airport. The varied and wide emotions that I felt while arriving and departing from it.
4. Mess food. The everyday anticipation, guesses and prayers as we walked down the stairs.
5. Sunny Side up & Cold Bournvita. Cafeteria rules. Period! And of course the bhaiya’s unique pronunciation.
6. Hostel benches near the gate. A concoction of gossip, rumors, time pass and the wait for food to be delivered.
7. Fluorescent light bulbs. Cursing the hostel when it got fused. Blessing the hostel while stealing one from the corridor.
8. Maru shop/ Baniya shop. Never returning change and giving chocolate instead. And never ever giving stuff on udhari!
9. Liquid Hand wash. Lifebuoy. Dettol. And the best, Oriflame. Thank you Neha for pampering us: D
10. Internet. Trying to make own dongle work. Failure. Waiting in line for someone else's. Then chatting with a person sitting across the room: P
11. Electricity wala dabba. Prayer while putting in plug. Abusing when it fuses. The chair. The danda which always got stolen by Room 311. Keys or scissors. A tall person (read Rutujadi!). Mobile torch. One person keeping watch. And voila!
12. Bharadwaj bird. Vidya singing out its name while looking for one. Sonakshi witnessing some of its obscene moments.
13. Auto. Nupur saying Karve Nagar to the auto while standing in Karve Nagar! Meter faster that P.T Usha. Attempting to fight depending on size of autowallah. Getting abused in Marathi in return. Throwing money and running away for life.
14. Miami. Convincing President Bhushan to come along. Dressing up and giving the rectors a heart attack. Mesmerizing music. And of course lots of liquid, laughter and a love story.
15. Creepy texts and creepier stalkers. Tension and discussion. I think Rutujadi takes the cake here.
16. Make up. Hours spent in trial, teaching, application, removal, alteration, drying and asking opinions. And yes, Rucha & Neha. My potential victims!
17. Hot Water at 8.30. Filling bucket while half asleep on college days. Rest of the days, Rutujadi coming to the rescue!
18. Earthquake. Pandemonium. Girls screeching either due to fear or for forgetting to put their favorite lipstick in their runaway survival kit.
19. Walks. Literally dragged into going by one or the other. Always ended in Big Bazaar window shopping or rum ball at Copperchocs!
20. Zara. *big dreamy gleeful smile*. I think that says it all.
21. ATM Centers. Going in for the AC. Making faces at CCTV camera. Tension whether friend's card will be eaten by machine.
22. The Balcony. Spying on neighbors’ activities. Being closely attacked by bats. Talking on phone. Random staring at Girija Shankar Society.
23. Roll Call. Am laughing while writing this. Hiding the food while going to rectors. Making lame excuses. Showing teeth when blasted. Walking away giggling. Repeating the same the next day. Oh yes, almost dying if the bell rings while you’re standing under it!
24. Soup, maggi, munchies. Desire post 1.30 am. All making puppy dog faces so that the other goes and makes it. Searching out and washing bowls and spoons. Totally joyous overlooking the fact that it’s undercooked or has clumps of masala everywhere.
25. Stuti Bansal. You feature in almost every reason. Roomie. Best Friend. Sister. Shoulder to sulk on. Pillow to punch. Hoarder of my secrets. OCD partner. And much more.
26. Crossing Senapati Bapat Road. The cycles dying to run over your foot. Drivers staring and taking it slow. Seeing others cross over smoothly. Getting dragged across by Alekhya amidst prayers and screams.
27. ESquare. Never being able to decide what to eat in the food court. Seeing Harry Potter, the final part. For giving me the most restless minutes of waiting followed by happiness beyond explanation.
28. Monsoon. Dreaded going out. Loved sitting on the bed and looking out the balcony. Shared umbrellas. Cursed the college for being downhill. Only season I had chai.
29. M.G. Road. Marzorin sandwiches and coolers :). Bombay Store. The pet shop. Discovering Body Shop for the first time. Clover Centre's pocket friendliness.
30. Ganesh chaturthi & Visarjan. For doing the ethnic style. Modak. Mithai. Aarti. Fervour. Crazy dancing during visarjan and returning at 10.30 pm.
31. Wednesday. Non veg day. 2 pieces of chicken to unlimited chicken. Stealing eggs in pocket. Taking cold drinks on udhaari. A happy happy day for me and rutujadi specially.
32. Charles & Keith. For my two pairs of killer heels. Devyani for picking out the same for me.
33. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. For becoming a part of us in every way. Saying the dialogues before they were actually delivered. Mood up lifter. Boredom killer for me and neha in the room. Ross playing the piano. Unagi. Apartment Switch. the weddings. How you doin. The list will never end.
34. Sheesha. Girls evening out. Heart to heart conversations. Bladder bursting with Vidya and Sonakshi.
35. Sale. Jumping up just at the word of it. Planning it more seriously than our study schedules. Waiting for Chemistry to go 70% flat and Accessorize to put up the 1/2 sign! Total bliss. Anki can totally relate to this.
36. Neha's scooty. 9700. Fights and negotiations to sit at the back. Going tripsy!
37. Goodluck Cafe. Crammed with people. Best biryani in Pune. Constant prices.
38. Marathi. Kantala. Aalas. Mulgi. My favorite words. Constantly trying to learn. Courtesy Neha and Rutujadi. Getting teased for my R pronunciation.
39. Photographs. In autos. In the middle of malls. On the road. While sleeping. Taking the same photograph a million times when a person’s eyes are closed. Cropping. Uploading. Tagging. Untagging if you look weird. Me being the DP clicker :)
40. Koregaon Park. Kalyani Nagar. Nagar Road. The first parts of the city I fell in love with for its beauty and the happy buzz it gave me.
41. Rice and Curry Flavors of Bengal. Awesome bangla food. Innumerable home deliveries :). Best khichudi. Separating mutton from its bones for Sonakshi. Alekhya having only a glass of lassi. :P
42. Lectures. Taking notes at breakneck speed. Staring blankly. Making weird noises while suppressing laughter. Taking case of the professor. Shouting to give attendance. Hologram sticker incident. Nupur knows best.
43. Hot Pie. Our den. Spotting people we hate or gossip about. Looking out for number 7. Dirty tables. On the rocks thums up. Egg Chicken roll (*sigh*). Loud laughter. High fives on realizing we crossed the in-time.
44. Packing/Unpacking. Being obsessed about exceeding allowed baggage weight. Once exceeding it by 80 kilos and not paying a single penny for it.
45. Sunday. Getting up straight for lunch. Ordering from Faasos. Watching movie on laptop. Going to sleep after lunch. Waking up and just lolling around. Cribbing about Monday.
46. Sartaj Tailor. For being such a genius and giving my clothes the perfect 10 fit. Allowing me the liberty to buy even an XXL!
47. Library. Fights over getting the charging points. Watching movies on headphones. Giggling loudly. Getting rude glares of those studying.
48. Face pack. Mass multani mitti sessions. Making the other laugh. Checking if it’s dry. Taking random videos.
49. Discussions. Ranging from clothes, life, men, relations, food, movies, family, law, marriage, fears, childhood memories, goa, future, shoes, gadgets, beauty tips. And the list goes on.
50. ABC Farm. Hard Rock Cafe. Stone Water Grill. Firangipani. For giving me the loveliest times ever.
51. Rectors. For all having that patent cackling voice. Banging our doors in the middle of the night. Refusing to open the gates when there was an earthquake as she wasn’t looking her prettiest in her nightgown. Checking if we have smoked or boozed. Never ending sermons in the roll call. And further blah.
52. Winters. Freezing to death in the auto at 7.30 in the morning. Hands becoming numb while writing. Dropping jaws at hostel girls who still managed to wear hot pants.
53. F.C. Road. Oshos. Bags. Earrings. Peppinos Pasta and iced tea. Wadeshwar idlis and dosas. Sagar Arcade.
54. Exam time. Pattern on the dull curtain becomes interesting. Roomie becomes your human alarm. Deathly silence. Girls marching the corridor. Packed library. No time to eat. Counting days. Looking like a mess. Dreading writing till your hand drops off. Sleep becomes the alluring mistress.
55. Haircut/style Sessions. Delighted with the blow dry effect. Horrified the next morning. Almost cutting rutujadi's hair in the parlor. Looking at all Loreal bottles and planning to buy them. Going back to good old Sunsilk the next day. Straightening sessions by neha. Curling sessions by Sonakshi. You name it we have it.
56. City Pride. All the 9 am shows. Checking out new movie posters. Looking at the clips in the rude aunty's shop. Not finding a single wearable item in the Dress Circle. Time pass in Crossword.
57. Arya Akash. Poha. Sabudana Khichdi. Double chai. Matar sandwich. Never finding enough stools. Cigarette smoke being blown into your face. Never figuring out the relation of the aunty with that bhaiya :P
58. Dress trial. After buying new clothes. Deciding for an occasion. Or just for heck's sake. Accompanied by the "Ooohs" and "Wows" from your audience. And vidya swearing that she needs to get the same :D
59. Phases. Of yellow. Of the owl. Of high waist pants. Of bling. Of nailpaint. Of anklets.
60. Inorbit Mall & Phoenix market city. My happy places. MOD. La Senza. Aldo accessories. Cinemax.
61. Cupid. Never coming out without buying anything. Asking for extra discount. letting friends know when there is something that will suit them!
62. Birthdays. Cake Smearing. Candles melting into the cake. Planning gifts. Treats. Unlimited food at jazz by the bay. Yummy Italian at Darios. Indeed the best time of the year.
63. Dance. Munni badnaam hui by Nupur. Vidya's pelvic steps. Lots of jumping, shouting and laughing. Ending with hiding or running once the rector comes knocking.
64. The marathons. Of Gossip Girl. Of 90210. Of How I met your mother. And running to Rucha for the latest episodes.
65. Books/Magazines. Fighting over Vogue. Reading the trashy novels. Crying after the Kite Runner. Biting nails during The Third Twin. Sulking over Transfer of Property Act.
66. Missed calls/Messages. If there is gulab Jamun for sweetdish. To get Hippo chips. On reaching the gate. Or just to irritate!
67. For showing me the good, bad, and worst times but helping me recover always.
68. For helping me make the most important decision of my life.
69. For playing a huge role in making me what I am today.
70. For giving me a second home and family.
2. Symbiosis law School. Loved it. Loathed it. Laughed at it. Now longing for it :(
3. Lohegaon Airport. The varied and wide emotions that I felt while arriving and departing from it.
4. Mess food. The everyday anticipation, guesses and prayers as we walked down the stairs.
5. Sunny Side up & Cold Bournvita. Cafeteria rules. Period! And of course the bhaiya’s unique pronunciation.
6. Hostel benches near the gate. A concoction of gossip, rumors, time pass and the wait for food to be delivered.
7. Fluorescent light bulbs. Cursing the hostel when it got fused. Blessing the hostel while stealing one from the corridor.
8. Maru shop/ Baniya shop. Never returning change and giving chocolate instead. And never ever giving stuff on udhari!
9. Liquid Hand wash. Lifebuoy. Dettol. And the best, Oriflame. Thank you Neha for pampering us: D
10. Internet. Trying to make own dongle work. Failure. Waiting in line for someone else's. Then chatting with a person sitting across the room: P
11. Electricity wala dabba. Prayer while putting in plug. Abusing when it fuses. The chair. The danda which always got stolen by Room 311. Keys or scissors. A tall person (read Rutujadi!). Mobile torch. One person keeping watch. And voila!
12. Bharadwaj bird. Vidya singing out its name while looking for one. Sonakshi witnessing some of its obscene moments.
13. Auto. Nupur saying Karve Nagar to the auto while standing in Karve Nagar! Meter faster that P.T Usha. Attempting to fight depending on size of autowallah. Getting abused in Marathi in return. Throwing money and running away for life.
14. Miami. Convincing President Bhushan to come along. Dressing up and giving the rectors a heart attack. Mesmerizing music. And of course lots of liquid, laughter and a love story.
15. Creepy texts and creepier stalkers. Tension and discussion. I think Rutujadi takes the cake here.
16. Make up. Hours spent in trial, teaching, application, removal, alteration, drying and asking opinions. And yes, Rucha & Neha. My potential victims!
17. Hot Water at 8.30. Filling bucket while half asleep on college days. Rest of the days, Rutujadi coming to the rescue!
18. Earthquake. Pandemonium. Girls screeching either due to fear or for forgetting to put their favorite lipstick in their runaway survival kit.
19. Walks. Literally dragged into going by one or the other. Always ended in Big Bazaar window shopping or rum ball at Copperchocs!
20. Zara. *big dreamy gleeful smile*. I think that says it all.
21. ATM Centers. Going in for the AC. Making faces at CCTV camera. Tension whether friend's card will be eaten by machine.
22. The Balcony. Spying on neighbors’ activities. Being closely attacked by bats. Talking on phone. Random staring at Girija Shankar Society.
23. Roll Call. Am laughing while writing this. Hiding the food while going to rectors. Making lame excuses. Showing teeth when blasted. Walking away giggling. Repeating the same the next day. Oh yes, almost dying if the bell rings while you’re standing under it!
24. Soup, maggi, munchies. Desire post 1.30 am. All making puppy dog faces so that the other goes and makes it. Searching out and washing bowls and spoons. Totally joyous overlooking the fact that it’s undercooked or has clumps of masala everywhere.
25. Stuti Bansal. You feature in almost every reason. Roomie. Best Friend. Sister. Shoulder to sulk on. Pillow to punch. Hoarder of my secrets. OCD partner. And much more.
26. Crossing Senapati Bapat Road. The cycles dying to run over your foot. Drivers staring and taking it slow. Seeing others cross over smoothly. Getting dragged across by Alekhya amidst prayers and screams.
27. ESquare. Never being able to decide what to eat in the food court. Seeing Harry Potter, the final part. For giving me the most restless minutes of waiting followed by happiness beyond explanation.
28. Monsoon. Dreaded going out. Loved sitting on the bed and looking out the balcony. Shared umbrellas. Cursed the college for being downhill. Only season I had chai.
29. M.G. Road. Marzorin sandwiches and coolers :). Bombay Store. The pet shop. Discovering Body Shop for the first time. Clover Centre's pocket friendliness.
30. Ganesh chaturthi & Visarjan. For doing the ethnic style. Modak. Mithai. Aarti. Fervour. Crazy dancing during visarjan and returning at 10.30 pm.
31. Wednesday. Non veg day. 2 pieces of chicken to unlimited chicken. Stealing eggs in pocket. Taking cold drinks on udhaari. A happy happy day for me and rutujadi specially.
32. Charles & Keith. For my two pairs of killer heels. Devyani for picking out the same for me.
33. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. For becoming a part of us in every way. Saying the dialogues before they were actually delivered. Mood up lifter. Boredom killer for me and neha in the room. Ross playing the piano. Unagi. Apartment Switch. the weddings. How you doin. The list will never end.
34. Sheesha. Girls evening out. Heart to heart conversations. Bladder bursting with Vidya and Sonakshi.
35. Sale. Jumping up just at the word of it. Planning it more seriously than our study schedules. Waiting for Chemistry to go 70% flat and Accessorize to put up the 1/2 sign! Total bliss. Anki can totally relate to this.
36. Neha's scooty. 9700. Fights and negotiations to sit at the back. Going tripsy!
37. Goodluck Cafe. Crammed with people. Best biryani in Pune. Constant prices.
38. Marathi. Kantala. Aalas. Mulgi. My favorite words. Constantly trying to learn. Courtesy Neha and Rutujadi. Getting teased for my R pronunciation.
39. Photographs. In autos. In the middle of malls. On the road. While sleeping. Taking the same photograph a million times when a person’s eyes are closed. Cropping. Uploading. Tagging. Untagging if you look weird. Me being the DP clicker :)
40. Koregaon Park. Kalyani Nagar. Nagar Road. The first parts of the city I fell in love with for its beauty and the happy buzz it gave me.
41. Rice and Curry Flavors of Bengal. Awesome bangla food. Innumerable home deliveries :). Best khichudi. Separating mutton from its bones for Sonakshi. Alekhya having only a glass of lassi. :P
42. Lectures. Taking notes at breakneck speed. Staring blankly. Making weird noises while suppressing laughter. Taking case of the professor. Shouting to give attendance. Hologram sticker incident. Nupur knows best.
43. Hot Pie. Our den. Spotting people we hate or gossip about. Looking out for number 7. Dirty tables. On the rocks thums up. Egg Chicken roll (*sigh*). Loud laughter. High fives on realizing we crossed the in-time.
44. Packing/Unpacking. Being obsessed about exceeding allowed baggage weight. Once exceeding it by 80 kilos and not paying a single penny for it.
45. Sunday. Getting up straight for lunch. Ordering from Faasos. Watching movie on laptop. Going to sleep after lunch. Waking up and just lolling around. Cribbing about Monday.
46. Sartaj Tailor. For being such a genius and giving my clothes the perfect 10 fit. Allowing me the liberty to buy even an XXL!
47. Library. Fights over getting the charging points. Watching movies on headphones. Giggling loudly. Getting rude glares of those studying.
48. Face pack. Mass multani mitti sessions. Making the other laugh. Checking if it’s dry. Taking random videos.
49. Discussions. Ranging from clothes, life, men, relations, food, movies, family, law, marriage, fears, childhood memories, goa, future, shoes, gadgets, beauty tips. And the list goes on.
50. ABC Farm. Hard Rock Cafe. Stone Water Grill. Firangipani. For giving me the loveliest times ever.
51. Rectors. For all having that patent cackling voice. Banging our doors in the middle of the night. Refusing to open the gates when there was an earthquake as she wasn’t looking her prettiest in her nightgown. Checking if we have smoked or boozed. Never ending sermons in the roll call. And further blah.
52. Winters. Freezing to death in the auto at 7.30 in the morning. Hands becoming numb while writing. Dropping jaws at hostel girls who still managed to wear hot pants.
53. F.C. Road. Oshos. Bags. Earrings. Peppinos Pasta and iced tea. Wadeshwar idlis and dosas. Sagar Arcade.
54. Exam time. Pattern on the dull curtain becomes interesting. Roomie becomes your human alarm. Deathly silence. Girls marching the corridor. Packed library. No time to eat. Counting days. Looking like a mess. Dreading writing till your hand drops off. Sleep becomes the alluring mistress.
55. Haircut/style Sessions. Delighted with the blow dry effect. Horrified the next morning. Almost cutting rutujadi's hair in the parlor. Looking at all Loreal bottles and planning to buy them. Going back to good old Sunsilk the next day. Straightening sessions by neha. Curling sessions by Sonakshi. You name it we have it.
56. City Pride. All the 9 am shows. Checking out new movie posters. Looking at the clips in the rude aunty's shop. Not finding a single wearable item in the Dress Circle. Time pass in Crossword.
57. Arya Akash. Poha. Sabudana Khichdi. Double chai. Matar sandwich. Never finding enough stools. Cigarette smoke being blown into your face. Never figuring out the relation of the aunty with that bhaiya :P
58. Dress trial. After buying new clothes. Deciding for an occasion. Or just for heck's sake. Accompanied by the "Ooohs" and "Wows" from your audience. And vidya swearing that she needs to get the same :D
59. Phases. Of yellow. Of the owl. Of high waist pants. Of bling. Of nailpaint. Of anklets.
60. Inorbit Mall & Phoenix market city. My happy places. MOD. La Senza. Aldo accessories. Cinemax.
61. Cupid. Never coming out without buying anything. Asking for extra discount. letting friends know when there is something that will suit them!
62. Birthdays. Cake Smearing. Candles melting into the cake. Planning gifts. Treats. Unlimited food at jazz by the bay. Yummy Italian at Darios. Indeed the best time of the year.
63. Dance. Munni badnaam hui by Nupur. Vidya's pelvic steps. Lots of jumping, shouting and laughing. Ending with hiding or running once the rector comes knocking.
64. The marathons. Of Gossip Girl. Of 90210. Of How I met your mother. And running to Rucha for the latest episodes.
65. Books/Magazines. Fighting over Vogue. Reading the trashy novels. Crying after the Kite Runner. Biting nails during The Third Twin. Sulking over Transfer of Property Act.
66. Missed calls/Messages. If there is gulab Jamun for sweetdish. To get Hippo chips. On reaching the gate. Or just to irritate!
67. For showing me the good, bad, and worst times but helping me recover always.
68. For helping me make the most important decision of my life.
69. For playing a huge role in making me what I am today.
70. For giving me a second home and family.
I really did not ever think
I would be writing this. Maybe its nostalgia. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s
that time of the year when I am usually in Pune. Or maybe, sometimes, some
things just grow on you and you don’t even realize when you have hopelessly
fallen in love with it. So here it is. My journey from 16th June 2007 to 16th
April 2012. :)
Two years have passed since the time I wrote this note. Priorities have changed. We’ve grown up. It’s been years that we went for a morning show. There are no more violent cake smearing midnight birthday celebrations. Sometimes, we even forget birthdays. Let’s just say that time and money have interchanged their positions. And not to forget, even geography does its own little bit. One of us is now a mommy and a very hot mommy, that is! It’s ironical that we haven’t even seen the little bundle of joy when we were there with each other in “I don’t have any good clothes” or “I feel sad without reason, get me chocolate” moments. Oh well, I guess we have more to worry about, more to plan, more that we are responsible for and we do have our own sets of friends near us to giggle about random things, discuss the ifs and buts of daily life or go out for lunch with. So be it. But it doesn’t change the fact that in moments like these everything comes back to you in a flash and you want to barge into a crowded 309 or 311 and bear hug the entire lot. Nostalgia is like an old perfume bottle that you suddenly chance upon, tucked away in the most unexpected of places. Take a whiff. It smells heavenly. I love you guys.
Two years have passed since the time I wrote this note. Priorities have changed. We’ve grown up. It’s been years that we went for a morning show. There are no more violent cake smearing midnight birthday celebrations. Sometimes, we even forget birthdays. Let’s just say that time and money have interchanged their positions. And not to forget, even geography does its own little bit. One of us is now a mommy and a very hot mommy, that is! It’s ironical that we haven’t even seen the little bundle of joy when we were there with each other in “I don’t have any good clothes” or “I feel sad without reason, get me chocolate” moments. Oh well, I guess we have more to worry about, more to plan, more that we are responsible for and we do have our own sets of friends near us to giggle about random things, discuss the ifs and buts of daily life or go out for lunch with. So be it. But it doesn’t change the fact that in moments like these everything comes back to you in a flash and you want to barge into a crowded 309 or 311 and bear hug the entire lot. Nostalgia is like an old perfume bottle that you suddenly chance upon, tucked away in the most unexpected of places. Take a whiff. It smells heavenly. I love you guys.
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