B-72; The Seventh Floor Heaven!

'LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, WELCOME TO PUNE. OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE IS 38DEGREES AND HUMIDITY SKY HIGH! THANK YOU FOR TRAVELIN WITH JET AIRWAYS. HOPE YOU HAVE A PLEASANT STAY IN PUNE. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SERVING YOU AGAIN.'

38degrees! Yes, that is how we were welcomed in Pune. We, me & dad and my newbie roommate, along with her father. Pune is known for its crazy student crowd and maximum of youngsters, college freshers. We took a cab and got the college/ hostel. I remember asking my dad that please make sure that there is no system of one common loo for the girls, on one floor. My ‘to-be’ roommate, the one with khaki pants and black shirt and the vibe of ‘I do not give a F**k’, kept giving me the look which I could decode so well ‘’ god!  She is so fat! I can barely see her collar bone. Damn! I am stuck with a wannabe behenji”.

Yes! That is what I could sense and I can say it with conviction because she told me once, later in life, after 2-3 drinks down. And I am sure she would be laughing her ass off right now reading this. Ankita my friend, I love you so much!

Moving forward. So here we were, in the City of confusing road names and rude auto drivers. Ok. Maharashtrian came across as a very rude language to me in the beginning. We, Punjabi’s were assumed to be loud and brash but I was wrong. The auto drivers in Pune were nothing less than rude and brash. And somehow, when you go to a new city, the residents start looking at you as aliens and so think you are fools from the third world and start mistreating you by merely charging extra tariff. Like what? Somehow we managed to hire a cab and reached the campus.

Pimpri, the name of the urban town (read TOWN). The name gave me giggles. Even Ankita had that smug on her face. Gosh! That was a relief. We sort of had similar kind of sense of humor. I sighed and got off the taxi after it finally stopped in front of the hostel. I could see a lot of taxis and auto rickshaws parked outside the hostel. It was moving in day for the class of 2006. And guess what? You turn around and there it was, my College! yes! Right outside the hostel. I mean we barely had to walk 20 steps to be in the college premises. Nice! No worries of low attendance now.

A Maharashtrian woman,  clad in sort of a silk saree seemed of age 40+ welcomed us

at the gate. She was the warden. And she did give away the crooked warden vibes. I and Ankita exchanged that look ‘dude, we got to stay clear of her’. Agreed. We had to. She had a co-warden, junior to her, another silk saree clad lady stepped in and she was nothing like her. Short and stout she was and had the most welcoming smile. I was happy seeing her. ‘’ the seventh floor is where all the first years will be staying for this year’’, the ‘not so friendly’ warden said and pointed us towards the lift. The hostel had 7 floors and two wings, A & B.

B 72. This was going to be our ‘address’ for the next year. We saw the room, chose our beds next to each other and started unpacking. Meanwhile, our parents went shopping for things we required in the room. The was room to be shared by 3 girls. So I had another judgemental character to deal with. Oh yes, I thought Ankita was judgemental and high headed and thought I was from some low life city until next morning came and my myths about her were crashed!

The next morning, we had an orientation for the new M.B.B.S batch @ 9 am. I woke up early and took a shower before she woke up. I had to pray before I stepped out that day, my first day in med school. I was making my bed when Ankita woke up, she looked at me and gave me a wide-eyed look once she saw I had bathed and was praying and making my bed. She gave me a very empathetic smile (like oh!  So you do this also types). God, I hated her guts. She started humming some Nirvana song and went into the shower. And the next thing I hear is a scream! She screamed her lungs out! I was like what the hell! The bathroom door opened and she came running outside, saying there was a ‘tiddi’ (the weird insect that springs at you/hops actually) and she was scared of such insects. Oh my lord! I rolled on the floor holding my stomach. This girl walked in singing Nirvana and came out screaming over an insect! Hahaha. Well even I was scared of such weird creatures, still am. And so is she, right Ankita? I did nothing but hugged her first. I was so happy to know that she was nothing but like me. My joy knew no limits. Then we both went in and crushed that insect. Can never forget the sigh of relief on her face. It was like some serial killer was stalking her and we put him to death.

This was my roommate. Crazy, funny, hard rock and heavy metal music lover, who dreaded insects, just like me! I was dancing in my head. But wait, we were not the only crazy ones.

Our door knocked and there she was. A pretty, suit-clad girl, with hair straight as a pin, neatly held by that pink band. She was our girly girl third roommate. Well, we definitely took her by surprise by all those screams and laughter. She smiled and introduced herself, ‘’Ruben. Ruben Bhasin, from Chandigarh’’. Wow! I was jumping with joy. One crazy and the other from my hometown!! Wow! M.B.B.S was going to be fun.

B 72 was to become The Home of the CRAZY'S! 

 

 

 

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 [Nk1]