18-1

This is set in India is based in 2 main cities of Mumbai (or Bombay) and Bangalore. Many names of Areas, towns and Institutions would seem overwhelming. But this is the story of Sarika.

Prologue

“Hey till when do you plan on lying like that?” Maya looked worried. Maya Rao, 11^th grader. With a tall and sleek frame, she could even put models to shame. With her hair tied up in a bun and her pretty face bearing the tensed expression, her eyes were constantly trying to get a glimpse of my face.

“You really love creating a ruckus, don’t you? I am worried about you sis”

Of course she would be; who would want their older sister to lie on the bed the whole day without uttering a word. But I was in no mood of entertaining anyone and the last person on my list was Maya. Sarika Rao is down but not out, I thought to myself. But just for that day I wanted to lie down peacefully without having to explain anyone what I was feeling or what was I going through. Heartbreaks are seldom easy. And in my 18 years of life I had come face-to-face with the feelings of love and heartbreak. This excludes Raghu Varier of Sixth Grade whom I had a crush on for a very long time.

Sad, lost soul mourning over a love that can never be achieved is vexing. Times like these, though nothing for adults, really spell doom for adolescents. And especially for a person like me, it spelt end of the world. I cried for a whole week and then was on a silent-mode for a good two days. The functional speech was on since the silent-mode. Not to forget, I have been on an eating spree since then. I was already a little plump before, but after that I ended up looking like a distant cousin of an elephant!  I, who was already a misfit in the so called modern society of teenagers, was in a terrible spot. A random thought came to my mind which made me seriously think over the events that occurred in the recent past.

                Is the sulking even worth it, Sarika?

Was it really worth? Shifting from Mumbai to Bangalore; joining the Brindavan ZOO… I mean College; falling in love; getting your heart broken and finally almost flunking in the semester exams; was it all really worth it?

These questions sent my thoughts to the very first day in Bangalore…

 

 

 

 

                     1.

  BANGALORE

If I was anything, I was excited! It was a new city for me, Maya and Mom. Leaving the comfortable ambiance of Mumbai, we landed in Bangalore. It was announced last year that we would have to shift to Bangalore because mom had a job transfer here. But, Bangalore meant a new lease of life for me. It was a way to escape the past, my past, in Mumbai.

“I am already having jitters! Charu, you fine?” Mom’s gaze was penetrating. She wanted to make sure both her daughters are comfortable with this new place. Anjali Rao, a middle aged gorgeous woman and a hard working professional was lively and full of zeal and enthusiasm. Her attractive features were another feather in her cap. She successfully juggled her personal and professional life for 17-odd years!

A faint sense of loneliness hovers over her eyes. Must have something to do with this place being in south India, which was never in her favorite list.

“Yeah, don’t worry mom. I am fine. I know we will get used to Bangalore as we got used to Mumbai.”

Maya chose to maintain her dignified silence over this matter. The total opposite of me, Maya was sulking over the fact that her beloved city is not her home anymore.

On 23^rd April 2013 we arrived in Bangalore and I was still battling my own personal demons and shadows of the past. But it was the past and I was supposed to move towards the future. Not knowing what the city had in store for us, we all took our steps forward… out of the airport.

 

                            2.

                M.S.R

 “This is annoying!” Maya was in her usual (bad) mood. We were selecting an apt course for her. She had decided to take up commerce instead of science. I wouldn’t be surprised if she took that decision after my failure as a student in the science stream. But thankfully, the reason was that she couldn’t tolerate physics and she resented chemistry. So she unwillingly gave up her long cherished dream of pursuing Forensic Science and settled down with Commerce. It sure was good news to mom, who didn’t wanted her daughter to spend the rest of her life examining corpses and eventually turn into one herself!

After a month we were almost settled in our new house in the Mathikere area. Famous for the M.S.R Hospital and group of educational Institutions, Mathikere was a quiet spot for a peace loving family as us.

But for that particular time, the peace had been excused.

“Why M.S.R? Why amma? Is it just because it is near to our place?”

 “Relax” I intervened “and by the way it is just a stone’s throw away from our place”

“It’s not funny Charu!” Maya certainly didn’t like my comment.

“Listen dear, it’s not like I know all the good colleges in Bangalore. And even this city is new for us, so for a kid to travel far is not accepted. And why not M.S.R? It is a very famous institution doll.”

And what followed was a long non-productive argument about the choice of college and the course. Maya lost the argument. Nobody could win an argument with the great Anjali Rao! She was quite famous for it even at her work place.

M.S.R it was and mom chose the MEBA course for her- Mathematics, Economics, Business Studies and Accountancy.

All I could say was good luck to her as she stared at me in disbelief that mom could get so demanding in the choice of institution she would go to. She wanted to do MEBA but she wasn’t too pleased with the Pre - University(11th and 12th grade) College I guess.

As far as I was concerned, I wanted to do a simple B.Sc course that would give me a graduation degree. There was a time when I was ambitious about my future prospects and goals but now I didn’t even care. The situation was so worse that I could even pick the institution from a news paper advertisement And I did the exact same thing! A brochure of an institution was included in the Times of India (daily newspaper) we subscribed to here.  

Brindavan College, Bangalore.

That advertisement saved me hours of brain storming over the right college to chose. Not willing to probe any further, I applied to it online. I wouldn’t even care if it was a third rate institution. But it read

RE-ACCREDITED LEVEL ‘A’ BY NAAC.

NAAC was the council that would rank the colleges according to their progress and standard.

So it had to be a good institution. So thus began my count to start a new academic life. After all that happened in my past it was a miracle that I was even standing here and planning to take my studies further.

It was June by now and Maya was unhappily attending her college and I was usually at home day dreaming about the past I was so stuck in....

Author's Note

My first attempt at writing, please go easy on me. but constructive criticism is welcome.