You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2005.
It's not a holiday today. I had a test on Indian Polity and I cant say I did well. The test got over early so I found some free time.
Things are fine in New Delhi. Classes are going well. The winter is coming, slowly but surely. It'll start getting stronger once we're past Diwali.
Two people from AP moved into the two bedder beside my room. One is Mr. Chinni Krishna, ADE, Irrigation Department, alumni of IIT Kharagpur, took leave to prepare for civils! The other is Mr. Raju, also a government employee, took leave to prepare for civils! I'm in really safe company. There are a lot of idiots here in Delhi.
We have holidays from 31st to 3rd in Direction and 1st to 4th in Sriram's. That must leave three full holidays. But I dont think I'll be going to Hyderabad. The journey itself will consume two full days.
Midnight Horror – No Respite
It is no better here except that there are no pigeons and no cats. It's all dogs. But their sheer numbers and the intensity with which they maul and quarrel with each other can more than compensate for the absence of cats and pigeons.
My room is right off the lane and on the ground floor. I keep the windows open, the only sources of fresh air to my room. So with no barriers, the barking noise is still fresh and intense when it reaches my ear. Imagine six to eight dogs barking in the lane!
New Computer
I'm going to buy a new computer soon. Must be a Compaq Presario or an IBM Thinkpad. Hihaha! 
And guess what! I'm going to have Chicken Fried Rice now. I found a good take away restaurant. The last time I had CFR there, it was awesome.
October 2
I didnt know this was such a big holiday in New Delhi. Almost all shops were closed. Mr. Ravi, whose shop "Ravi Property Dealers" was open, told me that, after August 15 and January 26, October 2 is the most important holiday in New Delhi.
Anyway, we got down to business immmediately. After seeing a room on the terrace of a three storeyed building in an obscure 'galli', we went to see another room. I wanted a room where I'd be independant and without owners instructing me on what to do and what not. We came to 35/13, Old Rajinder Nagar.
The room was decent. It was a residential area. There was a public park in front. It was okay but my only concern was security. There was no compound wall as such. Mr. Ravi kept telling me that security is no problem in that area. After he assured me of all that, I went back to the hotel room, talked to Dad and got the approval. I went back in the evening and paid Rs. 4000 as first month rent and Rs. 2000 towards brokerage charge. I was to move into the room the next morning.
October 3
I had to go with my luggage and meet Mr. Ravi at 8.30 AM. But as always, I was late, easily by an hour. Fortunately, he wasnt angry. I got the heavier suitcase with me and finally moved into the room. Stayed in it for sometime and went back to the hotel.
I had to shop for basic things like bucket, mug, broom etc. and check out of the hotel. I finished shopping, had lunch and checked out of the hotel and started for the room. After going to the room, I took rest because it was going to be a tough next day.
10 PM., Oct. 3 to 1 PM., Oct. 4
Getting admission into Vajiram and Ravi Institute is very difficult as the procedure is different. They give admission on first come first serve basis. They issue tokens, with which you can get admission, on one single day. The actual date for admission was 5th. But people started standing in the queue on the night of 3rd itself.
I came out of my room for dinner and was walking past the institute at about 10 PM. in the night when I saw that people had turned up already. Immediately, I joined the queue too. I quit dinner.
The institute management didnt start issuing tokens until 11 AM the next day! I got my turn at about 1 PM. and I was shocked when we were told that the tokens got finished! This… this, after standing in the queue for that long, braving sleep, pain in the legs and repeated pushing and shoving. No pee, no poo. Fortunately, I could get out of the queue for a while and get a pack of Lays and two water bottles.
This was easily the most frustrating, physically and mentally challenging event in my recent life. You dont expect to miss it after doing so much.
There was absolutely no logic and reason involved in the whole ordeal. Actually, there was no queue at all. The queue was not a queue. It was far far worse than the first day first show booking for a Chiranjeevi movie in Hyderabad. If the scene were witnessed, one would wonder if these people would become IAS and IPS officers one day. There was absolutely no justice involved. People who came at 6 AM got tokens. But I didnt get it.
In short, it was a great display of selfishness, injustice and chaos.
Post 1 PM, Oct. 4
What followed was a barrage of telephone calls between my Dad, my grandpa and myself, discussing everything from shock and grave disappointment to some solidarity and the next plan of action.
The next best insitute was Sriram's and we were all discussing about it. I had lunch at 4 PM. and slept tight after that. And guess what I had for lunch – egg fried rice. There was egg and there was rice and there was nothing else, no vegetables, nothing. And it was a Chinese restaurant! Atleast the board outside said so.
October 5
I submitted the application at Sriram's first thing in the morning. I spent the rest of the day taking rest. This time too, it was egg fried rice for lunch albeit in a different restaurant. And this time, the vegetables were there. But the egg was missing!
I asked the waiter about it, who I guess doesnt really understand Hindi, and he replied with an innocent smile! I didnt know if that was to say sorry or express raw ignorance of what I was speaking. I smiled back, rolled my eyes and got eating. Aargh! Food sucks in Delhi!
October 6
At last I found a good restaurant, 'Friend's Restaurant'. I had Jeera rice here for dinner last night. Rice isnt great. It comes with a significant cover of oil over each rice grain. So I thought I'd try roti and sabji next time. I had Butter Naan with Shahi Panneer. Oh boy! For the first time in three days, I had a good meal.
After lunch, I started for Direction Institute. Ms. Neetu Singh speaks extremely fast and if you go about daydreaming for even a minute, it's difficult to understand the rest of the lecture. It took some time to adjust to her pace.
After the tea break, things got more interesting. I learnt about the Geological Time Scale i.e., Precambrian, Cambrian epochs and all. For the first time in a few days, I was mentally comfortable and my heart was feeling lighter.
October 7 and October 8
It was a pleasant surprise to meet three Telugu speaking people in my batch at Direction. One of them is Ashok Kumar from Nalgonda, my native place! The other is Shiva from Vijayawada and I forgot the name of the third one. He's from Visakhapatnam. Shiva lives close to where I stay.
There are quite a few Telugu speaking people around here. One of them is Shyam Sunder, a senior from MGIT. The other day, in the queue, I met a girl, Deepthi from Visakhapatnam and another person from Nellore.
October 9
It feels a little better now. I feel the sickness going away and emotion giving way to logic. I'm beginning to recall all the goals I set for myself before coming here. I hope things go on well from now.
The train journey wasnt one of my most enjoyable journeys. I was alone, I was cramped and the train shook so much that it felt like sitting in a giant vibrator. Anyway, the journey went off smoothly without any hassles.
When I reached New Delhi, Mr. Surendranath, a friend of my grand father received me at the railway station. We went along well. He came with me till the hotel. Hotel Southern in Karol Bagh is where I'm staying now. I'll stay there until I find a room somewhere.
My first job was to go to Direction Insititute and pay the fees off. The search was quite difficult. I had to make two phone calls and enquire six people before I finally reached there. But when I went there, Ms. Neetu Singh, director of that institute wasnt there. The guy who was in the office asked me to come after 5 PM.
Disappointed, I started for Old Rajinder Nagar, to Vajiram and Ravi Institute. This was a touch easier but the walk was long. After I went there, the guys asked me to come on 4th to take the token. Fees and application form are to be submitted on 6th.
I was down to the most important thing – finding a room. I checked out two rooms but wasnt satisfied. This was the most tiring part. I was accompanied by a Nepali kid, who 'knew' the rooms but forgot the route. By the time I said, "I gotta go now. I'll come back to you after I discuss with my parents", to the property dealer, it was 5 PM.
I went back to Karol Bagh and this time I was able to meet Ms. Neetu Singh. I paid the fees, which means I secured my admission, and had a chat with Ms. Singh. She asked me to come to a seminar she's giving on 4th (classes start on 6th).
I came back to the hotel, freshened up, ate some cake Mom made and it was 6 PM then. I went back out. I bought a Nokia charger, took a new AirTel number (9818060628) and made some calls home.
I didnt see much of New Delhi but I had a taste of Karol Bagh. I can say it's quite like Abids in Hyderabad. In fact, lookswise, Abids looks better. But Karol Bagh is big and the traffic is crazy. One thing I've noticed is Delhiites are friendly and helpful.
So far so good. End of first day. I'm going back to the hotel to have dinner and get some nice sleep.
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