day 1: Introductions

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Day 1:

don't panic! i won't really be able to keep the log up everyday... not if the calendar they've provided is to be believed...

the day started with a hard knock on the door... and a steaming thermos of elaichi tea... at 6am!! when i was just falling asleep... had a visitor at 8, a neighbor dropped in for some usual girl-talk... 9:30 the breakfast of corn-flakes/sandwiches/boiled egg... i'm so going the weighty way...

they want us to get used to the sarkari life shtyle as soon as possible... so, we were all filled into the auditorium and requested to fill in a bunch of forms... there were two copies of them required, so four copies of forms were provided... let's not get into the national waste debate coz we'll probably not be siding together anymore... and as a prize for good behaviour we were all given a black leather bag that reeks of 'bureaucrat' ... with pens, pencils, you know the kind that would send a pre-schooler into ecstasy!!! i was measured for height, weight and photo... i was pronounced impeccable at 45/165/slightly drowsy...

what else?? another friend needed a phone sim and i took her out for it... and the guy just handed over a previously activated sim in 5mins...
"any documents required??" she ventured.
"dena hai to de do" he obliged...
so much for national security and they're after the poor Blackberry holding elite!!

not much else has happened... there was a tiny introductory function when we were convinced what a great day it was for us poor sods... how we'd remember it for the rest of eternity and all that... the faculty introduced themselves and the police guy who's going to 'handle' us for PT from tomorrow morning at 6am glowered quietly and said something i didn't really catch...

oh, and there's lots of tea-drinking involved... the bed tea, the breakfast tea, the high tea, the evening tea... i just had one... maybe i'm getting high on so many teas... if that's possible... let me check!!
ciao for now!

day 0 at the academy

it's amazing how many things you can worry about on a journey... none of those will go wrong but others will...
my biggest worry was my big bags... 25kilo each, they weighed more than i do... i was afraid of how i'd transport them and myself to the academy... turned out not such a hassle after all... a newly acquired friend, two of her brothers and one 2-minute taxi ride later, i was deposited at the academy... it is a sprawling place... sort of living in the middle of lalbagh, i described to my folks back home... or back in a denser, jungler, kharagpur... i was hoping to have the FC at Mussorie and landing instead at Bhopal was kinda disappointing... but since a lot of my memorable journeys have started with disappointing outlooks, i am hoping i'll have a grand time here!!

i have a shared room, newly painted(the paint is so fresh i have some on my fingers as i touched the doors!!)... the room mate is missing still since we have till 5pm tomorrow to arrive... there's the bare minimum furniture of two beds, a pair of tables and chairs and two cupboards... a full fledged AC!! (i've still to get over it!! coming from Blore where one rarely needs it!!) but the best part is the dinner!! lip-smacking, finger-licking good!!

though the LAN in my room doesn't work, there's a barely occupied computer lab to fulfil the basic needs of orkut, facebook, gmail and blogging...
more updates later!!
ciao!!

the beginning of another journey...

it's 2am and i have a pickup scheduled for 7... am... i don't feel sleepy... it's not the first time and it won't be the last... my journey into territories i barely know... this time it's bhopal... i still know nothing except the 'gas tragedy' of the yester years... i hope to find out more... firsthand... maybe a bit less tragic...
after landing in the IP&TAFS provisionally*, i've resigned myself to my fate and am heading to bhopal... the next 15weeks are calendared there, even if the months after that are still nebulous... i pack my bags with my new wardrobe... crammed finally into two heavy bags... one weighs 22 kilos... the other's still lying open so i can cram my lappy after the last minute blog...
i have barely any idea of the curriculum... maybe some studies... pub ad kind... maybe something physical... though i've heard we're not into any exciting stuff like horse riding... even swimming seems to have gotten the miss...
i'm still sitting on the IPS fence looking and wondering where i want to be... not that anybody's asking...
i sound unusually pessimistic... maybe coz i'm a little bit anxious, apprehensive, scared...
but there's also the hope, the looking forward to... the scent of adventure that's so intoxicating...