Note: I just cannot help thinking what she will think when I do something. So, I have added her brain twigs to it too.


My darling little sister ,

Darling? Don't you have a boyfriend to do all this. Oh you don't. Sorry, go on.

You are like that snooze alarm of the early morning which just won't let me roll down and sleep with my inhibitions and fears on a wintery morning but push me over the edge and make me go swimming. 

You are the constant buzz-wizz-zuzz that comes along with the radio songs because you just won't stop blabbering, even when I have distinguishably nodded my head that yes I am sleeping.

You are my old school Doordarshan advertisement and the "Vicco turmeric, Nahi cosmetic " jingle that holds me steady to the ground and you are my "Banno with a swagger" which keeps me flying high.

You are my chatpata pani of pani puri and the vanilla scoop on my hot sizzling brownie.

Okay, so I am walking-talking-singing edible food entity. Interesting.

You have spoilt me so much that I don't even dream vividly, I just skip few parts which I know you will fill up for me. You complete me.

 
Never I have even imagined a life where I can go to a mall with a 'friend' and come back without standing in a McD queue to get you a burger. Neither have I ever imagined that I will twirl around in my so-very-lovely-rainbow-sunshine clothes and you won't drown me in an ocean of  Ouch-try-googling-à la mode looks. Nor I have imagined that someday. Someday. My clothes and novels will only be Mine.

Yes. That's right. Such dreams will be edited by me in black and white.

You are my blog editor. Personal shopping assistant. Relationship coach. Model for my DSLR experiments. Painting instructor. Savior of my world from sappy mushy bollywoody songs. Free supplier of what's-wrong-with-you looks. Constant reminder of the fact that I-am-so-chatak.

Oh yeah. I should get paid you know!

As many times as the number of dresses they changed in The Sex and

The City,  the number of stilettos we are gonna own and to all the 'graph' studies we plan. To all those late nights heart pouring and stalking people. To our very own world. To you and me. To us.

A Very Happy Birthday Little Sister.!!

I am supposed to go "Awwww" right?!

PS: I have just bought you an Archies card because that oh-you-will-just-draw-balloons comment of yours was so not cool. 

Okay. Sorry about that. But seriously,  balloons?!

A rambling homesick heart can be one of the most excruciating instrument to inflict on someone, better than any instrument Ramsay used on Theon Greyjoy and can make you act dumber than Sansa when she fell for Joffrey. Your happy nest of the last few months which you have gladly accepted as your 'here' now seems like the King's Landing and you would gladly undertake a journey like Arya Stark against all odds to make it 'there'. The 'there' that was always your 'here'.

I was so desperate to get back home. I packed all my stuff and when I ran out of patience, I just took a huge box and stuffed it with all that was left to be packed. I reached the airport an hour early. And when I finally saw mom, I realized I was finally 'here' . This has been the 'here'. Always. 

Oh what a place! You can sleep where you want, when you want, how you want. The rumbled clothes you leave at night, get laundered and ironed and reach your wardrobe themselves. No longer are your days planned according to the mess menu. There is an exotic multi-cuisine food service available through out the house 24/7. There is family, extended family. family you didn't know existed family and family which is not family but treated as family. All coming over and exclaiming "Kitni patli ho gayi". But something keeps lingering and whining like Cersei Lannister in the background.

And you keep wondering what is it. And some more wondering. And then FINALLY it hits you. It hits you like that large chunk of paneer floating in your dinner bowl and the melting butter on your bread. It hits you like that arrow Ygritte shot at Jon Snow, only this time it hits you right at heart. You miss the other 'here'. Its no longer the other. Its a part of your here too.

And then you realize that all the while you are here, a part of you is in the other 'here'. And that's what keep blowing fire in your rambled heart like Daenerys Targaryen's dragons. Maybe that's the price you pay for staying in more than one place by giving away a part of you like Jamie Lannister. You are never a whole again!

Getting high on Game of Throne TV Series,
Chhavi :)

DISCLAIMER: The following blog is just a segment of a few intricately woven thought processes of the author. Read at your own risk.

3:45 PM
Room No 3102, IIT Guwahati
End Semester Examination 2015
BT 101: Modern Biology

Question 9a. The bunch of nerves that connect the right cerebral hemisphere and the left cerebral hemisphere are called...... Oh yes. Oh no. Oh damn. How can I possibly forget it. How can both of my cerebral hemispheres abandon me at this time. Maybe its their vengeance for putting them through these end semester exams. End semesters are like dementors. They suck out the joy and hopes out of our magical lives here between the green forests and blue lakes. My Patronus Charm must be a book or a 6-inches stiletto I guess. I should find ways to deal with this, else I ll be merely dead hopes and dead spirits in a dead corpse.WAIT. corpse. corpse. Haaan corpus!!!

Yes it was definitely corpus something. I memorized it as C2. I just have to figure out what the other C is. Oh this will be easy. I like the letter C. C for Chhavi. C for Capricon. C for Chanel.
Oh all those Grey's Anatomy late night marathons must be a help here. That reminds me they killed our Derek. Our ( mine and Meredith's ) McDreamy. How could they.?!  Oh my Mccy. And my McSpicy with extra cheese. So long since I gorged on you. It's okay I will be home very soon. Aah, home :). Now that is a good feeling. But how will I pack my single room one year household in a few suitcases. Should I take all my clothes? No I guess not, just a few will do. Might as well give me a fair excuse to shop more. Aaah shopping. An altogether different heavenly feeling.

Same as walking down an aisle of a giant library. Or might be the same as sitting on the moon with a mojito and see the earth roll by. Or same as Da Vinci coming down to explain what he had in mind when he painted Mona Lisa while you are in Louvre. Aah Louvre, Paris. And then Rome. Dan Brown had me fall in love with it. But then he should have taken a detour from his Path of Illumination and stopped at the Colloseum. Aaah the Colloseum. Oh wait Colloseum? Callosum. CORPUS CALLOSUM!!!

My inner goddess of medicine jots it down on the answer sheet, pushes up her specs, straightens the creases of her apron and walks out of the examination hall. Like a boss. :D

Go straight from the main gate. Take the second left. Then again one left. No?
Aah Ok. Go straight from the guest house. Take a left. No again?!

Chuck. Just ask any damn person walking around where is Dhansiri Girls Hostel.
They will not only smile and tell you the way but might also be happy enough to accompany you till there. :D

Though only a year old, we have become an indeed significant area on the 703.95 acres scaled to 15 inches map of the campus. With an astounding view (I mean the lake and lush green playgrounds, you are free to interpret any other) , we stand right next to the glassy New SAC and cricket field. The main gate is one of the busiest places in the campus till 12 (yes , that's because our Cindrella gate closes on us every night) and the canteen Maggi one of the favorite dishes on the campus (though might not really be because of its taste).

Some of the obvious facts about a girls hostel are as follows. The washrooms will be full even at 7am in the morning be it summer or winters (Like, seriously?!). There is a line to do laundry. The mess-wala gets detailed description of what's wrong with the food "Bhaiya, aaj daal main kali mirch kam hai aur kuch zyada hi tez patta hai". There is always some cheesy love song playing from some room. You get to hear random snippets of gossip when you pass by people and mellifluous singing from the showers. The notices on the notice board have a longer board-life and are less filled with cartoons and caricatures. Our brand new library has more Nora Roberts and Jane Austen than coursebooks.

Now we had our Hostel day this weekend. Now an obvious question we got asked from most of the people on campus is what is the use of it in your hostel?! (Now I know you all can guess why they think we don't need it!) Well to your surprise, the present HMC (Hostel Management Committee) and the incoming HMC (which would include me) was onto it for days and the boarders had an amazing day with games, good food and great music (which may not match the 'traditional' hostel days, but still was fun! :D ) We are sorry for not inviting you. You may send your wishes and like our facebook pictures.

Go Dhanno!

Loving my stay in this white box,

Chhavi :)

The season of finely powdered happiness Gulal, those syringes filled with mischievous coloured water - pichkaris and mouth watering gujiyas is back. The full moon day in the month of Phalgun. The end of winter gloom and the beginning of colourful spring.  A day where you can soak yourself in the sun kissed yellow, the tangy orange, the blushing pink, the calm blue, the alive green and the seducing red. Holi.  :D

However Holi takes a different meaning while in hostels, away from home. Its the season of grease paints and gulal paste, buckets overflowing with god knows what kind of water or is it even water, mud pits and parceled food from home having the magical ability to vanish as soon it is opened. Its the day we get off from that painfully long classes. Its the end of mid sems exam and beginning of another half season of freedom. Oh yeah its Holi. :D

The trick of surviving mass massacre of colour shots and  people high on whatever is to give them the satisfaction of colouring you like you just got out of the shower. Like even though you have layers of colour on you already, and you know one more really wnt matter, but if you act unruffled, they will find even more creative ways to ruffle you and trust me you wont like it.

The colouring and the pseudo rain dancing part are all fun. The real feel starts creeping in when you have to get back to your original colour skin. And it dosent get simpler when the water in the taps run out due to obvious reasons.

After a long day of rang and mud, you are wrapped up in your blanket and talking to your family. It is then you realize how much have you missed them. This is the price you pay for living at more than one place, you are never a whole again. Some part of you is always somewhere else. Mine was at my home today. I could smell the bright orange tasu flowers on a nearby tree which usually blooms a week before Holi. I was sitting around the bonfire and eating the best gujiyas which can only be made by my Nani. I was telling my mom "bas inna sa colour lagaugi" and clearing the way for my dad to attack from behind. I was throwing water balloons at strangers with my sister. I was missing them big time.

But then suddenly Kirthi comes with a hose and does this deepika padukone sequence from that song and I am completely drenched and screaming. And then running after her to take revenge. Yes, revenge was well taken with her rolling in mud very soon.

A very happy Holi to all of you who read till here. :)

Soaking in colours of my choice,
Chhavi :)

"I am not getting out of this bed today. even if Hugh Jackman comes knocking at my door to take me out or it starts raining chocolates outside"
"I second."
"I third."
*a minion message tune plays.*
"sale. 50% off."
"I think we can catch a ferry and be there in half an hour!"
"I second"
"I NO third!!!!!!! I NO third!!!!!!" *gets dragged out of the bed!*

And just like that a 25 words text message can beat Hugh Jackman. Now after the mid sems, this day out was much needed and much deserved too, usually the two "much"s do not sync with each other but this time they were singing in perfect harmony "Mann jaa ve…mainu shopping kara de"

 Few things that are obvious when there are only girls going out together. Loads of  pictures. Picture on ferry, picture in front of ferry. Picture waiting for the bus, on the bus. The traditional looking out of the window pose. Picture in the trial room wearing that crazy dress you will never buy. Picture in front of the hand bags and shoe section, an indication that very soon you will have a similar thing in your walk in wardrobe. oh damn, no more pictures, the mall security came to stop us.

Alizarin crimson, auburn, fuchsia and vermillion are not shades of red, they are four different colours. And trust me choosing between the four is the real task. The best section is where they let you try nailpaints and lip gloss and other stuff for free. The amount you can spend here is inversely proportional to how less efficient you were in choosing which red earlier.

Now after we managed to escape the *Lotus Casino called Pantaloons, and "I NO third" has ordered food to satisfy all her gustatory perceptions we realise that there must be a last bus to the campus and we must be on it. And noooo, the bus leaves in half an hour. But we possibly couldn't have left without hogging the sizzling chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. So yes we grab the food, hog that brownie at godspeed and run to catch the bus. Like literally run run through the crowded roads.

Only to reach there and realize the bus is still empty. oh yes "I second" checked the wrong bus schedule. The bus departs only an hour later. But it wasn't that bad as we sat there in an empty bus eating our well earned   pizza and drinking that extra coke. (yes, the waiter got confused and handed us coke twice). In fact it was one of the most awesome-est memories i have made here.

We ended the day with a Harry Potter movie marathon with nail art session which ran into early morning. The pictures of which are too crazy to upload. :)

Loving my girlfriends-for-eternity,
Chhavi. :)

*Lotus Casino- Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. In Greek Mythology, the lotus-eaters, also referred to as the lotophagi or lotophaguses, were a race of people living on an island near North America dominated by lotus plants. The lotus fruits and flowers caused timelessness and forgetfullness.
 

“I can hear your whisper and distant mutter. I can smell your damp on the breeze and in the sky I see the halo of your violence. Storm I know you are coming.”
―Robert Fanny


Yes. I , sorry, we can feel it too. Yes. Its the mid semester week. And this might be the calm before the storm. Or maybe not. India-SA world cup match is also on you see.

 

Some serious posing was done for this one!

Its that time of the semester again. The playgrounds and New Sac are deserted (except the Subway there seems to be doing quite okay! ) and the library is wearing its crown of all time glory! That obviously means you don't get your favorite corner of the library and you are just forced to get that coffee and go back to your room, sweet room. 

And somehow the entire lobby knows where to find the most comfortable bed and enough food to survive the lecture slides. And somehow that room happens to be mine this time. The rate at which your room fills up for the group 'studies' is how loud the music is playing in it. Amongst the tangled LAN wires, mobile and laptop chargers and the floor strewn with Coke cans and empty Lays, you are sure to find that one moment of clarity to study. The royal moment of enlightenment loudly says "Aapse nahi hona!". Or maybe not.




These group study sessions are the 
best time to catch up on everything ( mostly gossip I mean ) which you have missed because all of you were too busy running around and now you are just forced to stay in with few couple of PDFs and Powerpoint presentations. You get to come across the lawyer in your friend while debating which part isn't important from the point of view of exam and should be left. And yes did I mention, this is also the time bulk orders from Jabong and Myntra are placed.


You become aware of the professor's name and sometimes profile when you finally go to their web page links to download study material. The rate of profile pictures and status updates on Facebook is quite noticeable. Even the Facebook "agle sem pakka padege" memes loses its charm. The best time to delete the embarrassing reminders of your pre -college day would be now or they are sure to resurface. You have been warned. 

After all this, when you finnnaaally gather every ounce of motivation and self control to start nibbling the mountain of course left to do, a Kellogg's Chocos fight breaks out. 3 points for getting right into the mouth and 5 points for on the face. Like seriously.

“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
 
Yes we will walk out with a slightly moderated CPI. That's it!

Going back to join the chocos fight.
Chhavi :)

PS: aahhhhh, All the best for the storm?! :p

For all those who are wondering what the hell I am talking about, I am talking about the ball room dance session I recently took

Twirl around. Let your partner sweep you off your feet (literally). And then go for the perfect hollywood-y dip. 

Behind the scenes its just plain, on this beat: Rotate. Fly. Dip. (and wish your partner doesn't drop you!)

When the music was playing during the final showcase, and we were all flying, rotating and dipping on perfect beats, I couldn't help but remember all those ooouch from foot stamps and aaaaaaah from the almost dropped down on the floor people during the rehearsals!!

If you really want to know a person inside out, go to ball room dance sessions with them. Not the final dance, there obviously it will all be filmy and perfect. After a few wrong stamps with your 6 inches of heels and almost kissing floor experiences, I am pretty sure you will get a fair idea what you're heading for!!

Few things to remember if you actually make it to the final dance day with the same dancing partner you started with can be to forget all the dance moves and actually enjoy the dance. All  the leading and following of past few dance sessions will smoothly sail you through the song. Smile or rather have a good laugh when you mess up the steps or miss a dip. Click crazy enough pictures (the more the angle of dip in them, the better). Dare your date to snatch somebody else's date and pretend to act all shocked when he actually does it. Dance till the very last song and then request for the Last Dance too.

And make sure your shoe doesn't bite. Even if it doesn't matches your dress.

Tending to my sore feet,

Chhavi. :)

Him: i can play guitar, drums, tabla , harmonium blah blah.
Me: *rolling eyes and thinking to myself* shadi main band bajane wala hai kya! 
Goes up on the stage. 
Him: I can even sing.
Me: Seriously dude?!
Starts playing guitar and singing. Quite awesome-ly.
Me: Haila! yeh toh sahi main band wala nikala!

A few months later.

At 8 'o clock on a freaking cold January morning, I call a number from my home screen.

Me: Can u like just come here in 10 for this EI Labs workshop thing.?
Him: What workshop?
Me: Just some workshop I am interested in. I think you ll be too.
Him: Okay. give me 5.

Even though I am pretty sure he might ditch, he reaches there in 15 and stays throughout the day. We (me him and Shubhangi) not only had a great day but also won that thing.

Now I dont know how our relationship metamorphosed like this so very quickly. (maybe it was because he was present at every event with his DSLR clicking pictures) . But I do know that I am lucky to have him around (not just as a photographer, that part is just a small one.! )

Apoorv, thank you for all those few amazing pictures and many not so amazing pictures that you post on Facebook without my consent, for always being ready with the background music and for being the only guy who can take a shower at 8 am and come on just a call.

You are an amazing person.

Happy Birthday. :D

PS: I am still waiting for my DSLR lessons.

PPS: Oh I almost forgot YOLO. :p

Hello. Lets start writing Chhavi. Again.

Extremely long dragging classes. Frustrating test series and even more frustrating their results. Almost daily night outs. Juggling school and coaching. Zero social life.

SNAP.

Lectures, a time where you can make up for the sleep last last night and Quora updates. Daily night outs but definitely not for studies. Lake side coffee. Fest meetings. a heaven called DC++. 

SNAP!!

Just like that our worlds changed after coming to Guwahati.

Well all those rumors about life after you clear JEE and become an IITian were true afterall. Well, most of them. (the part where they say you don’t have to study at all, were not.)

Before coming here I had all the ‘normal’ expectations one has before entering college life. A big happening campus. A big hearty friend circle. Freedom of being away from home. Bad mess food. Last night studies before exams. Etc etc.

Well little did I know that I will get more than what I gambled for. The campus is bigger than I expected, friends crazier than I could have hoped for and mess food yuckier than I imagined.

It struck me. Oh my good. It has been 124 days here. Here, between the lakes and the trees and the mountains. Here, on the other side of the Brahmaputra and away from KFC and Dominos. Here,  beside the cricket field in the white box building in my room. 124 days. Went by in a jiffy, here.

What I have I learned during my few days here. Apart from that rigid body dynamics wasn’t the end to deadly physics and you don’t get part marks in EE101.

I have learned that it takes 4 minutes from my hostel to reach lecture halls. And 45 minutes to return from there to my room. Library is not a place only for studies. Effective studies can only be done on the night before the exam. You can Google on Facebook for people.  The other hostels food and coffee is always better.

Well, I have learned the whole new meaning of ‘Jugad’. Leaving in a newly established hostel catalyzed that process. Iron, hair dryers, sticky notes are much more complex devices we give them credit for. The rate at which home made food disappears is proportional to how often you leave your room door open. Also you never lend brooms, buckets, umbrellas and your new Levis jeans to anybody.

You also realize very soon, that its okay to make a fool out of yourself trying to do something new out here. You are not spared the mockery but are given credit for at least daring to attempt. Here, your idea can be small, but it has to be all yours. And you will definitely find a ‘Bond' senior, a ‘techie’ for the technical work, a ‘kalakar’ for the posters and a few ‘velle’ log for going to city to help you out in executing your idea. Also it just takes a post on IIT current junta FB group to bring in likes and comments and RTI if you even think of a scam.

It has only been one semester here. Yet, it feels like home. I am quite sure that even after four years, I will be equally amazed at how much this campus has to offer and how talented and jugadu the people are here. 

Busy making memories for a lifetime.

Chhavi :)