Chapter 3 - The Journey

So itz now time for some serious decisions,starting with whether to accept or reject the allotment offer.Though I was ready,which is d most important part,parents got the final say...The part 'me getting ready' had two reasons....first n foremost...BIT is supposed to be a very prestigious technical institution,one of the best in India...Secondly students from allover India come to BIT as it has state quota..So itz an oppurtunity to interact wid different cultures n get an wider exposure to the outside world..These two factors lured me so much that all the deterrent factors like climate, food etc got almost nullified.Ny ways..daz how a young mind thinks..But for my parents...they needed to make sure that their pain in sending me far away is worth it in all respects..So they started collecting information about the college from everyone possible..btw..Who can give better picture of the college than the students currently studying there.So dad collected the phone no.s of my seniors..n started calling them up...They encouragd me to come over there(They wer happy that they got a prey to rag :P) .So not long before the final decision came...
'I am going to BIT'

So nxt step was to contact others who r accompanying me.He had already collected their no.s frm NITC.So dad started calling them up one by one.He was at his office then.After calling my so called future 'batchmates',dad called me back... My ears didn receive d gud news dat I was expecting...
Dad said,"None of them are coming !!"....I was really shocked to hear that...No one !!..I couldn't believe it..
He added,"I don think going all alone to Old Bihar is a gud Idea.."...
Understanding the implied meaning I shouted in silence,'I want to goooooo'...But my mind retorted back..'You hav to go all alone..dat sucks..dat too to such a distant place!!' Now even I started to think the other way..My heart all broken...meanwhile dad was telling smthing over phone.I didn pay attention....But he got all my attention when he said,"There is one guy left...But he has got biotech..Sooo...I don think he'll be coming.."
Damnnnn......For a moment I felt my shattered dreams n hopes rearranging themselves back..But soon enough they shattered back wid more energy...Understanding the despair in my voice,he asked,"Shall I call him also...Itz jus a call..we'll giv it a last try .."
Now how much can d news dat biotech guy is not coming hurt me when I already know that better rank ppl are not coming...I gave him a passive 'Yes'..I had already surrendered myself to despair.

After a small interval phone rang........I answered expecting the obvious answer..
Dad said,"He's in !! "
Out of surprise I asked,"He's coming ??
Dad replied,"Yaa,Datz wat he said...You call him up and talk to him !!"
Now slowly once again my dreams started healing themselves....But then I thought... guys who got gud branches like CSE,EEE are not coming and Biotech-wala is coming.. Strange !!! Then I asked dad,"What's his name ??"
He said,'Jockey"..
I asked again,"WWhatt ??"
He said,"I think 'J-o-c-k-e-y'.
I chuckled..'Jockey !!",I thought...That makes him 'More strange'...No..No..Dad must hav got it wrong..Smbdy's name jockey !!..It must be Rocky or sm thing..
He added,"He's from Wayanad"..now thats "Most strange"...Biotech..Jockey..Wayanad!! (itz one of the most beautiful places in Kerala...dominated by hills n forests)
Ny wayz now I called him up...
As soon as smbdy answered d phone I asked,"Jockey's home ?"..restraining myself from telling Jockey loudly, thinking it is wrong.
The answer was."Yaa..n Itz me Jockey"...I took a back on hearing that( I mean d name)..trying to believe that I didn hear it as 'Jockey'..
Well we continued our talk...hoping in between sm wher he'll correct me abt his name..but you know wat...he didn't..His name is Jockey..Whaddupp !!.
But d way he spoke was not strange..He sounded a cool guy.(trust me he's super cool..datz why I m daring to write so freely).All of a sudden the strange factor faded away !!He was firm in his decision to join BIT n he had hopes to shift to Mech as others r not coming..So finally I thought I found smbdy like me...n I'm going to Ranchi wid...Joc...wait for it......key :P !!..

Date was fixed for my first journey to Ranchi,a harbiner to many that are to follow..9th of July was d journey date...Reporting date was till 12th...but the classes start from 24th.So almost a 12 days gap der...but 4 days(it takes 2 days frm Kerala to Ranchi :( ) travel between those 12 days is a tough call..So we(Me n Joks) decided to stay der acquainting wid d place.....

Atlast 9th of July arrived and me n my dad boarded Aleppy Dhanbad Express for d first time.We met Jockey,his dad and his Uncle at Shornur station 45 mins frm Thrissur.We didn hav much difficulty in identifying them.After I met him I completely forgot d Strange factor,though his jeans was a bit strange :P..So we started our journey together to Ranchi,Captial city of Jharkhand !

As the journey started I started talking wid Joks,initially it was sort of formal.But it found itz way to informalz soon !! First day of journey went smoothly.Train entered Andhra Pradesh on the second day.Gruelling summer sapped our energies.More over,after train entered Andhra Pradesh even local passenger trains started overtaking our train...WTF !! We felt as if we boareded d wrong train..Couldn't believe by any chance that we r travelling in an Express train.
After a red hot afternoon who knew that worse things wer to happen in the evening...you know wat..electricity got cut in d train !! Now that was horrible the train still being hot and complete darkness surrounding us !! These one and half days of journey in Aleppy Dhanbad was enough for passenger to say,"That's it..I'm nt travelling in this train anymore"..But I can't say it..you know why..Thatz the only train connecting Kerala & Jharkhand :(
After sm half an hour things got repaired in the next station...sigh of relief !! ...

So finally came 11th of July.At about 9 30 ppl nearby started preparing to get down.I heard ppl here n ther speaking out 'Ranchi'.After getting my luggage ready I looked out through the windows to catch my first glimse of Ranchi.But it was a real let down..The scenery didn look so impressive.Infact looked dirty !! I tried to pacify myself by thinking that it was the wastage area.Atlast I got sight of the yellow board with inscription 'Ranchi Junction'.Then I walked towards the door to get down.After passing the luggage to dad I landed my foot(right or left..I don remember..From the rest of my life here I think left :P )for the first time on the Jharkhand's Captial city !!

Me n dad took a room in one of the hotels nearby while Joks,his dad n uncle proceeded to one of their relatives home in Ranchi.After sm time Joks n family came to our hotel in a Maruthi Omni, which his uncle arranged from one of his old friends in Ranchi.In that Maruthi Omni we set out from Ranchi to Mesra, a 30 mins drive.

The the bad impression I got from the first glimpse kept on worsening as we travelled through Ranchi city.It was too dirty...n more over the way vehicles went abt in the city gave me an impression that traffic rules are not applicable in Ranchi.With much great difficulty Jok's uncle drove through the busy streets to BIT mode.In between, sm local guys stopped us.Joks uncle gav them sm money...
I asked him,"what's going on ??"..He replied,"Gundas"..AIN ???
Jus a lil before BIT mode we stopped to ask for BIT mode.The guy we asked replied..
"It's very near...ther's a board written BIT,Mesra showing the way to BIT from der to the right.."..So as per his instruction we drove slowly forward ..but even after 5 mins we couldn't find the board.So we stopped again to enquire abt BIT.This time the reply was that we already passed BIT mode...What the hell !!....We drove very slowly looking for a sign board to the right, still we didn c it !! So we drove back,this time more careful...Yes..we found it ...A small dirty cement board with inscription,"Birla Institute of Technology,Mesra".As per my expectations the board must hav been much more impressive.Now I realised that there has been a lot of difference between my dreams n reality.So based upon my experiences till now I modified(or 'lowered) my expectations.I changed the expectations to 'Ranchi style'.

So we took our turn and continued our journey.On the sides I found a polytechnic..then a Navodaya vidhyalaya.....and after that sm slums too !!..After seeing the beauty of the place-Ranchi city n itz surrounding places-I clearly understood why ppl call Kerala,"the god's own country'.Finally, at distance I could see an entrance n the entrance matched my modified expectations..Not the big Arch entrance of my earlier dreams.But a normal gate entrance with BIT written over wall on one side of the gate.So I hav finally reached my destination ....n many of my earlier dreams hav already reached a anti-climax ...So I tried to delete the rest of my dreams to avoid more tragedies!!

Through the wide open doors I entered BIT for first time......