First Among Many

The past two days marked a significant development in my life. I undertook my first ever solo journey by train. I know it may seem frivolous to most, as I'm eighteen, and well past the age where I need a steady hand by my side to explore new cities, but there's a first time for everything. I've arrived only this morning after a brief journey to Kozhikode to claim my refund from the AIEEE counselling session. As I'd perhaps mentioned in an earlier post, I chose to sacrifice a dream to join NIT-Calicut, as by virtue of dropouts, I would've probably claimed a seat in the Civil Engineering branch, which is far removed from where my true interests lie. As I see it, irrespective of the college, to spend 4 years of my life studying a subject for which I share no enthusiasm from the very beginning, is ridiculous! NIT-Calicut may be a world apart from Model Engineering College, but Computer Science Engineering there would probably suit me a whole lot better! I suppose I could now state that Comp Sc. in NIT-C would be EVEN better...hehe...but I'm way past the point of brooding over my results now! What's done is done......I've already written the script for the first eighteen years of my life, the rest, is still blank and waiting for me to chart whatever course I choose to a destination worthy of His faith in me!

The journey was an interesting one. By a shocking turn of events, I actually managed to get reservations a day ahead of the scheduled departure....I suppose luck was truly on my side. Boarding the Mangalore Express at 8-45 pm, I got a premature glimpse of the sad,doleful look that would dawn upon my mother's face the day I depart to Ernakulam for college! Being her second son to leave, I suppose, would make it harder for her. It's not a sight I'm looking forward to, but I suppose this preview would help soften the blow on that day! Regardless of where I am, she probably knows I'll love her, and visit once a month to give her a reason to shout in the mornings. She'll probably miss repeating her daily screams of " Vivek, it's 9 o clock.....get up already!", or "Vivek, it's 1 am, go to sleep!", along with her pointless query "What time should I wake you up 2mrw morning??" (I always get up only 2 hrs past that time!).....[:D]. It's  gonna be a tremendous change waking up according to a routine in a month's time, but I guess it's better to learn sooner rather than later. My dad's always been slightly less outright when it comes to displaying his emotions, but I know that his best wishes are always with me, and his at times firm and unmoving nature are only meant to direct me to what he feels would be best for my future.

I arrived at Kozhikode at 6-15 am ( my body isn't programmed for that anymore!!!), and caught a bus directly from the Palayam bus stand, arriving at NIT-C at about 8-15 am. A delay in opening the withdrawal counter meant I had to wait until 10-15 to finally claim my refund. Attempts to meet my friends at NIT-C were quashed, as they had class from 8 to 12. I hope I meet them soon somewhere down the line, but since I had forgotten to bring along my camera, I suppose I was destined to miss out on a glimpse of our NITians. I spent the day at the house of a colleague of my mother's. I'd stayed with them before during the first round of AIEEE counselling, and had got along well with her son, Ashwin, a fellow B.Tech aspirant. We chatted, laughed and pondered over our foggy futures together before I went up to my room and slept like a log for 4 hrs! At 10-15 pm on the night of the 31st, I boarded the Maveli Express, bidding him goodbye as I headed home. The train miraculously arrived 15 minutes early, at 7 am this morning. Having reached home at around 8 am, I've been attacked by a bad case of insomnia, which is why I'm writing this post![:D]....Didn't have anything planned for this time of day for I expected to be out cold on my bed by now! The experience was an exciting one, and I've now gained the confidence to venture forth to any new destination without the need for support! It will go a long way in helping me spread my wings and journey forth as I look to mark out a special space for myself in this world!