IIMAditi

“All my bags are packed ready to go
I’m standing here outside the door
I hate to wake you up and say goodbye
But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn
The taxi is waiting; he’s blowing its horn
I’m already so lonely I could die…

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go…

‘Cuz I’m leaving on Rajdhani Express…

Confused??? Something wrong with my lyrics??
No Sir! This is exactly how I felt on June 20th evening (I know my lyrics still say morning... but I did not want to change that) when I was to leave for Ahmedabad to pursue my higher studies.
I had packed 3 suitcases full of all imaginable and unimaginable things, after checking and rechecking and re-rechecking and finally checking one last time everything was in.
And then I left my home… with my doggie barking madly behind closed doors… not sure if I would see either ever again, since my parents may shift home while I’m away, and my doggie, who is very old, may just kick the bucket in my gham!!

Anyway so I finally boarded the train after lots of tearful hugs and kisses to my dad and Gaurav. Mom and Rachit accompanied me to Ahmedabad. I had 2 more IIMA bound people going with me, and met 2 more on the journey.

The journey as such was comfortable, though God knows why I had kept hoping wishing and praying the train would not be derailed/blown up since I was traveling for the first time to the state of Gujarat, which is famous for both natural and man made calamities. (read: riots etc.)

Finally on the morning of June 21st we finally reached Amdavad Junction. We left in a taxi for IIMA campus. Reached there, submitted papers, got my dorm room. Wow! What a surprise! Such small rooms! No comforts, leave alone luxury! The fan was too slow, the room was dusty, no dustbin, broken comp chair, power points not working, and the worst: no mirror in the girl’s dorm rooms!!! Nooooooooo….

“Mommy I want to go home…” is what I wanted to screech out. Nevertheless we began to unpack and set the room. Got the repairs done, cleaned it up, made the room habitable.


Finally we got over with it, and left to search for a suitable hotel for my family to stay in. after half an hour in an auto, we zeroed in on a small hotel, and paid the guy 25 bucks. 25 bucks!!! Can you believe that? I sure can’t! The autos here are soooo cheap; it’s not even funny…


Anyway after settling down we shopped for things that I did not carry. And after all the time, energy and money spent, I was all set for the next two years to come. And then came the day when my family had to leave for Delhi. After lots of tips, caveats, blessings and tears my mom and brother left on June 23rd.

And Aditi Varma was left all alone, in a tiny room, all by herself, amongst a sea of strangers, for the next two years.

Well that’s what happened in the past week. Lots of new faces, names, rules, people, surroundings, responsibilities, odd jobs…
Mom dad brother and Gaurav call up everyday to see how I’m doing.
I miss my house, my loved ones, my friends…everything in Delhi.
But I’m well settled now. I have settled down in this hostel life comfortably, and am gearing up for the extremely hectic but hopefully equally enriching and interesting life at IIMA!