to the Telangana agitation, my exams were postponed thrice. The exams which were due in March had to be conducted in May. My wedding was on May 26th and the exams were commencing from May 29th. But again they got postponed to 3rd of June. I was not bothered about the papers, I was certain that I'll get through all the papers, though I didn’t pin any hopes for a good percentage. I gave least importance to academic percentage. I showed interest in all other management events and had fun. Getting a job wasn’t a big deal for me. I had adequate communication skills, and I never feared an interview. I got through almost every interview that I attended in my graduation final year and this gave me confidence. After my graduation I worked with Genpact for almost a year, after which I resigned my job, appeared for ICET, got a really good rank and I chose to do my MBA in one of the top colleges. I loved every bit of being a management student (except for Accounting subjects, I was allergic to the subject, to be frank till date I don’t know what exactly do credit and debit mean!!!). First 3 semesters just passed by. Now, we were in final semester. Everyone was busy with their projects, interviews, campus selections etc etc etc. Since I was already engaged and was getting married, all issues like placements, what next things didn’t bother me much.
my flight ticket immediately or wait for viva? Will there be or will there won’t be viva this year? If I left to US without attending the viva-voce, all my efforts(Though I didn’t put much :P) would go waste and the two years of MBA course would be meaningless if I get a fail remark on my memo. Hmmm, these confusions didn’t last long as one fine day, we got to hear that viva was being conducted next week in the college premises. Thank GOD, finally its all clear. My husband confirmed my tickets through British Airways on the night I had my viva. Oops, I had a very little time for packing and shopping. Since viva didn’t need much time to concentrate on, I went on a shopping spree with my elder sis- in law. We didn’t spare a single shop. Dilsukhnagar. Koti. Abids. Secunderabad. We used to shop whole day and reach home for dinner; plan for next day’s shopping. “Shop till you drop”,was what described us best. Thanks to my sis in-law for helping me out with shopping, because I can’t expect my mom to come with me for shopping every day,my sister stays in Bangalore and left a week after my marriage. So there was no one to help me out with shopping. It was then that my sis-in law came in to picture and came to my rescue. She was very similar to me, when it came to shopping. We both had lots and lots of patience. I look at almost each and every thing before finalizing a single thing. I wasn’t tired of trying out fits
in trial rooms, I loved it and my sis in-law showed patience to give me feedback on every single thing that I tried. We continued shopping for next 5days. On the last day of our shopping, my sis-in law went to her place and Iwent to my parent’s place as I had my project report there. I had my viva at 10 in the morning. I was half way to the college when I realized that I forgot my hall ticket at my in law’s place. Oops. It was already 8:50; I can’t go back and come back in an hour. I called my friends and asked them if we need to carry our hall tickets for viva. Everyone had different versions. Some said it was must. Others said it was not compulsion. I made up my mind. I'll tell the externals that I forgot my hall ticket. If they understand and take my viva,well and good. Or if they insist on hall ticket, I'll simply return home without making any fuss. I am very stubborn and firm in some matters. I never feel tensed or nervous whatever the situation may be. Being a huge fan of ChetanBhagath, I believe in his words “Don’t be serious about life, be sincere”.
I always give my 100% and leave the rest to fate. I gave not 100 but 1000% to the project, well prepared for the viva, but gosh, forgot my hall ticket. Be cool Rams(that’s what my friends call me). I told myself. I closed my eyes. I started listening songs in i-pod. I always listen to my favorite numbers when I’m down and miraculously music would heal my pain. Hmmm, finally I reached college. My flight was at 2 am in the morning. I wanted to complete my viva and wanted to reach home as early as possible. I still had so many things to pack.Every minute I was remembering that I forgot something or the other to be packed.I made a list of things to be packed on a piece of paper in the class room when everyone was reading and preparing for viva. I wasn’t among those people who read till the last minute of the exam and make exams sound like a bigggggg deal. I was waiting for my roll number to be called. My number was 3, so I thought I'll be done with viva early. But, no. Cheap politics. Students were called based on their requests or recommendations. I went to the person who was handling all this, told him about my situation and asked him to see to it that my number was called next. He said there were other students who made same request prior to me and after them I'll be called. Usually I don’t argue with anyone. But today was different; I had to reach home early. I said I'll talk to the head of the department about this; he seemed to be shocked by the way I was losing temper, which was very unusual and rare. He said he’ll call me in next
10minutes. I smiled and left. For one last time, I turned pages of my project report and started looking for answers to all questions that might be asked. I was done in 6-7 minutes after which I closed my project report and started observing students who came from the external examiners room after their viva.Some were glad, others looked dull. Meanwhile my number was called. I took a deep breath and left the class. There were three examiners. All of them were men.I gave a smile and greeted them. One of the examiners took my project and exclaimed “You did a freelance project in HR? Are you aware that HR freelance projects are not valid in the Osmania University? Didn’t your project guide tell you about this?” The very first word that I could utter was “F**K OFF”!!!!Slowly though. Then, I managed to give a fake smile and said, “I wasn’t told about this by my project guide. In fact,many of the seniors have done a freelance project in HR. I referred their projects from college library.” He just stared at me. May be he was thinking I was rude or over frank. What I learnt from my project doesn’t include only HR stuff, but I learnt an important thing.Never to be too obedient because professors show their authority on these students who they think are weak enough to argue with them. Being good wasn’t always good, especially to people who don’t deserve that and take advantage of your obedience. That was the reason why I gave a straight but honest answer. The examiners then started asking me questions related to my project. I answered all the questions. But deep within heart I felt they would have thought of me as a girl who was rude and had an attitude problem. When I was done with my viva, I just prayed GOD, make the examiners pass me in viva even if they don’t give an outright excellence grade. Then as soon as I went to
classroom, everyone surrounded and asked me soooooo many questions. What
questions did the examiners pose, how were they? Friendly or strict? I just said
the examiners were neither friendly nor strict. I didn’t tell them what
questions they had asked me because everyone had a project on different topic,
and so, there would be no common questions. I then bid good bye to all my
friends and other classmates. I wished everyone best of luck and they wished me
a happy journey. That was the last day in the college which was my home for
almost two years. I for one last time went and looked at the canteen. It felt
awkward that I will no more be coming to this place and I'll be missing all my
best buddies. Suppu asked me if I can wait as she’ll finish her viva and come
with me. I said I can’t. She understood my hurry. That was the best part with
all the people in my gang. Highly matured and very understanding. I left the
college and was waiting for an auto or bus in the bus stop which was exactly
opposite to the college entrance. Since it was half a day, college buses wouldn’t
start now. I looked at the college and I made a promise to myself. The funniest
promise till date. I'll join my kids in this college for their engineering no
matter where they studied till intermediate. Even if I was in US when kids
grow, I'll come down to Hyderabad and settle here and join my kids in this
college. Very funny. Now whenever I think of it, I feel I acted like a fool.
That was my love for the college and its beautiful premises, nice canteen, a
large library, English club, basketball court, open auditorium. Oh, the list is
really endless.
restless. I didn’t have neither breakfast nor lunch, but I was not hungry. I
was just waiting for a way to get back home. Ten more minutes passed and there
was no sign of any bus or an auto. It was then that I spotted Raaj coming out
of college. He was done with his viva and was on his way to hostel which was on
the way to the center of the city. I asked him if he could drop me till the
city center. He readily agreed. He was the savior of the day. He dropped me in
the stop. I thanked him saying that I owe him, he said that’s perfectly fine
and wished me a happy journey and left. I didn’t have the time to wait for bus
and change 3 buses. So, I thought I'll go in an auto. I never go alone in an
auto. I go with my friends and everyone will share the fare. Today, I was all
alone. I stopped an auto and asked him if he would come till my place. He said
he’ll charge 120Rs, I was shocked. It’ll be at max 70Rs. So, I asked him to
move on. He then said 110Rs, I said 80. He looked at me from top to bottom, and
left. It’s not that I didn’t have money. With the amount of money that I had in
purse, I could make at least 15 trips in an auto from home till college. But
these autowalas are too greedy. Why would I pay 50Rs extra? 10 or 20 was
reasonable. Hmm. I stopped another auto, he said 100, I said 80, he said 90. Ok, 90 should be fine ,considering
my situation. I got in to the auto. I called my mom to tell her that I was on
my way back home, after just saying hello and hearing I say hello, my mom
started firing questions “Did you have lunch? Did they scold you for forgetting
hall ticket? How was your viva? Where are you now? Do you have enough money?
Come in an auto, don’t wait for the bus.” OMG. Mom. I got irritated at her nonstop
questions and hung up on her. After a couple of minutes I scolded myself for
hanging up on my mother. It was obvious that she was concerned and it was her
endless love for me that resulted in so many questions. I called her back. It
was my dad who answered the call now, he said “Hey Ram, wassup?” hmm, that’s
the way my dad talks. I simply adore him. I said “Appa, I'm at Khairathabad,
will reach home in 45minutes or an hour. Where do I go? To my in-law’s place or
to our house?” My mom took the phone and
asked “did you just hung up on me?” Ah, mom. I said “give it to dad”. She
simply said “Come to your in-law’s place as all your luggage is there. We’ll
reach there in 15-20 minutes.” Before I could say OK, she hung up on me.
Revenge. My mom was childish at times and we argue a lot. Sometimes, I feel
funny, sometimes irritated. But the best part, I always love my mom and she’ll
be my best friend ever, despite of our arguments and fights. Since it was noon,
the traffic was less and I reached my in-laws place (I know I should say, my
place now!!!, but old habits die hard.) .Wowww, what do I find there? Ofcourse
my parents. But I also found that my younger sis in-law has very neatly packed
all my clothes and put them in the bag. I felt so happy. In our Indian families,
sis in-laws are considered to be trouble makers and nuisance creators. But,
lucky me. my both sis in laws were trouble breakers. Right from day one that I was
married and went to my in law’s place, they were very sweet to me. They saw to
it that I was comfortable. They frequently asked me if I needed anything. They
both were of my age group, so we always had fun. After my husband left to US, I
stayed at my in law’s place for some days. During night, my mom in-law used to
sleep in hall and I along with my sis in-laws used to sleep in bedroom. We used
to talk talk and talk till one fine day when my mom in-law said “Girls, sleep
now. It’s already late. You are disturbing me.” That was how I shared a
wonderful relationship with my sis in-laws. We even share all our stuff, like
dresses, bangles, hand bags etc. But today I was really touched. I hurried home
thinking that I have to pack all my dresses only to find that my sweet sis
in-law has already folded and packed my dresses. I was so relieved. My mom
in-law has prepared sweets for me to carry. I was not feeling hungry though I skipped
my breakfast and lunch. I told my mom and mom in-law that I had lunch in
college canteen (White lie!!!). My mom in-law cooked upma for me saying that
college lunch would not be enough for you, they serve very little in canteen. That
was my mom in-law, very concerned and motherly. I had upma and slept for half an
hour. My mom woke me up saying, “Your sis in-laws are packing your luggage, it
doesn’t look good, go help them. You can
sleep in flight.” Hmm. I woke up only to find that my sis in-laws were really
working hard. My younger sis in-law was collecting all my stuff, arranging them
in my bags. My elder sis in-law was checking all the documents that I needed to
carry. My dad left to get a weighing machine to weigh the luggage I was
carrying. My mom and mom in-law were busy packing pickles, sweets etc. I told
my elder sis in-law that I wanted to have a haircut before I left, she stared
at me. I said, I needed a haircut badly, and moreover in US maintaining long
hair might be difficult (I didn’t really have long hair and my sis in-law knew
that!!!). She said OK to my proposal. But neither of us had guts to ask my mom
or mom in-law, because I had to wake up at 12 mid night, for that I was
supposed to eat and sleep early. Haircut will easily take one hour.
surely say NO. Then suddenly we had a plan, we were supposed to get photocopies
of all important documents. We were waiting for my dad to return so that he’ll
get them. We told that we can’t wait for my dad as he may be late, so we’ll go
and get the copies. My mom in-law asked my sis in-law to go alone and asked me
to stay home. I said I'll go with her as the shop was really close by. She said
ok. We left the house at 4 in the evening. She went to get the photocopies;
meanwhile I went to the parlor. Thanks to my stars, the parlor had very few
customers and I was immediately attended to. My sis in-law got the photocopies
in 15minutes and came to parlor and sat in the waiting room for a good
45minutes. After an hour, I was done with my haircut. We went back at around
5:40. Neither my mom nor mom in-law could find out that I had my haircut. Good.
We then started cross checking if everything was packed. My mom in-law started
preparing dinner. We were almost done with packing. Two bags of 23Kgs each and
10Kgs of cabin baggage. When I saw everything packed, I was sort of scared.
There was no way I could carry those bags, even on cart. From that moment there
were all kind of thoughts that occupied my mind. What if I drop my luggage from
the cart? What if I'm not able to push the heavy luggage on the cart? What if
the luggage gets misplaced or lost? OMG. These thoughts made me even more
tensed. My dad never made us lift at least a kg of vegetables. He always used
to carry all the luggage however heavy it was. He used to shift luggage in
installments but never made us carry them. So, I was not used to this thing. I
couldn’t not leave anything behind. Everything that we packed was important and
useful. Hmm. My mom was as tensed as I was, may be more than that. Never in my
life had I been out of station without my parents or family. Only once I travelled
all alone. My dad dropped me till bus station, made me sit in the bus and I went
to Gulbarga to visit my sister. As soon as I got down the bus, my sister and
bro in-law were waiting for me in the stop. That was my proud moment, I
travelled all alone. But today, I had to go in flight, not out of station but
out of country, that too with so many luggage’s. It was not a direct flight
too. I had to change my flight at Dubai. Again doubts. What if I board the
wrong flight? What if I miss the flight? I was in a horrible situation. Highly
tensed and nervous about each and everything. My opinion that I'm a strong girl
and had the ability to face anything in life started fading away. Meanwhile
dinner was ready. Vegetable biryani and gulab jamun. My favorite dishes. But I was
not able to enjoy them as I was nervous to the core. I ate very little. The cab
was supposed to come at 12. At 8:30, we all went to sleep. But I wasn’t able to
sleep. My mom and mom in-law slept in hall and the three of us slept in bed
room. My dad went to my uncle’s place who stays nearby. After 10minutes, I went
to hall, slept beside my mom and hugged her tightly. OMG, I'll miss her like
hell. I didn’t want to go now. I kissed my mom and her cheeks were wet. She was
crying. I felt like crying too, but if I do so my mom will for sure burst out
and cannot control her emotions. I needed to console her and thus didn’t cry
and started joking. I said she’ll now have no one to trouble or irritate her.
She’ll have no one to fight with. She then said I had to sleep as the cab would
arrive anytime. I slowly slipped into sleep. I was woken by my mom at around
11:30, I took bath and was ready. So was everyone. The cab arrived on time. We
all went to the cab. As a ritual my dad broke a coconut in front of the cab and
we all started to the airport. My sister who has come all the way from
Karnataka to give me a sendoff joined us on the way. There were 10 of us. My
parents, sister, nephew, grandmother, uncle, mom in-law and sis in-laws. We
reached the airport in half an hour as there was no traffic at that time, or
else it would have taken a minimum of 1 and half hour. My uncle works in Chief Minister’s
office and had good influence on airport authorities. All the 10 of us got
passes to get inside. After 10minutes I headed to the check-in counter, my dad
and uncle were carrying luggage. The security stopped me at the entrance of the
counter and asked me to carry the luggage myself. My dad looked at me with a
dull expression, I didn’t want to create an impression and make him tense. So, I
just gave him a smile indicating that I was perfectly fine and said, “That’s fine
appa, don’t worry. I can manage”. I don’t know what gave me courage, I just
pushed my cart and started walking towards the counter with confidence. After
reaching the counter I turned back to wave at my dad. He gave me a thumbs up. I
was elated. That boosted my spirit. After an hour, I was required to go for
immigration and from there directly to the gates. That means, I'll not be able
to see everyone once I cleared immigration process. My mom and rest of them
were standing far as that was the last place after which they were not allowed
inside. But since my uncle had influence, my dad, elder sis in-law, my nephew
and uncle accompanied me till the immigration counter. Realizing that I'll not
be able to see them after this point, made me cry. Tears rolled down my eyes.
For the first time in my life, I cried like hell. My mom and sister were also
sad, but didn’t cry as it was considered a bad sign if one cries at a sendoff.
It would result in negative effects. So, they asked me to stop crying. I hugged
my nephew who was just 4 years old and was crying too and saying, “Let me go
with Ramya mausi!!” Then I saw my dad. He was also in tears and so was my
uncle. I have never seen my dad in tears, not even in toughest part of his life
when we faced a severe financial crisis. Seeing my dad in tears, I hugged him
and was screaming “I will not go, I don’t want to leave you”. Though I was
crying nonstop, I couldn’t help but notice my mom asking my dad to stop crying
from a distance. She didn’t utter a word. It was her looks and angry
expressions which sent him the message to stop crying. My dad took out his
handkerchief and wiped his tears. I was in tears when I went to the immigration
counter and was done with the process in less than a minute. I for one last
time looked back at everyone. Everyone was waving their hands and my nephew was
still crying and shouting, “Ramya mausi don’t go..Who’ll get me chocolates?
Come, tell me a story!!” I was asked to move forward and I left the counter and
I was no longer able to see them.
real story began after this!!!!!!...I can never forget this life time
experience which I'll share in PART 2…
Be Continued….
