the check list...lol

this is an old post...but its freshly imported from 'cloudkhizzy' because its better suited for this blog.

somebody mentioned wanting to go to india with their friends!one of the things i truly love about indus..and the thing that keeps u going till third year is the international trip.its the first thing ur seniors brag to u about when ur a freshman, and till ur time comes u do nothing but dream.december 2004 was our turn...my entire batch of 30something people went to india!it was easily one of the best experiences of my life.i might never travel with such a large bunch again.i might never travel with these friends again.i might never travel by train so much,and i might never appreciate meat so much!lol.
i have so many fond memories that im thinking of making a separate blog for my india trip.memoirs.but for this one, ill just make a check list for who ever plans to go!lol...
.pack lots of immodium, lomotil, or what ever stops u up faster.lol.
.do a head count every five minutes.
.*sigh* hold on to ur own passport.
.make sure u have a politicians daughter or neice in ur batch.avoid lines, look cool.lol.
.do not step out of the line at the airport!ARE U LISTENING!its long!
.stop staring at the alchohol shop.lol.
.invest in lots of hand sanitizer.
.share a room with someone u like, u are after all also sharing a bathroom.
.take less, bring back more!live by this rule!
.at the train station, do a head count.
.when on the train , do a head count.
.do not, i repeat , do not get off to buy food 5 mins before the train leaves.
.the siren!do another head count.
.damn.we left five people behind.(dont worry,we got em back)
.if u are a male classmate, u will not enjoy this trip.u are the shepherd here.
.do not throw a tantrum in the middle of the road because u have to use the bathroom!*blush*
.u will live on ruffles lays...zindagi bhar ki kasar poori ho jayay gee!
.always call for the middle bunk on the train.trust me!
.there will never be enough time to load all ur luggage on the train.make a human chain.lol.
.when the train starts, call out everyones names.
.say "only" and "no?" after everything.and nod ur head side to side.fit in, pay original price.
.if ur name is zahra or even sara, the indians will be intrigued.they will insist on finding u a veer!lol.
.after veer zahra, pakistani girls are godesses!
.no matter how much u try, u wont develop a taste for idli sambars and vara pao's and all those funky names foods.
.it is not mineral water..its bislerri!
.nobody will ever agree on where to shop, eat or sightsee.
.OD on baskin robbins!ull miss it once back home.
.watch as many movies in the cinema as u can.its unreal!
.when u come back...u will be a proud pakistani!.lol..
.u just might even applaud when ur plane lands in karachi...*guilty look*
theres more...so much more!the fights, the laughing fits, the bindia obsesions, the splurging on sari's, the upset stomaches(lol), the sneaking out, the feeling of independance when travelling on ur own by 'auto' or cab, the satisfaction when someone recognises u as pakistani because u talk and look different(i always took that as a compliment),the gruelling travelling and the satisfying exhaustion at the end of the day,the deep sleep and the wake up calls,the buffet breakfasts, and the memories!!!aaaaaaargh, the memories!

hindu from mumbai!

Things leading upto day 1.
parents sort of freaked out about ahmedabad being part of the intinirary.home of the religious riots, i suppose it was natural!khair...got the teacher to pacify them...and ]on the teachers advice came up with psuedo hindu identities incase we faced any fanatics...*this part was fun!*i heard he'd done this with past batches too.soooo...the girls all wanted to be anjali!i inisted on calling everyone Shakuntalla and Kanta bai!and the boys were all unanimously named Raju Patel!god knows where we came up with that, but they were now Raju Patel 1, Raju Patel 2, etc!lol.u could hear constant irritated shouts of "NOOOO.... i want to be Rahul" or..."jo bhee ho, mera naam to Abhay hai!"...lol...i was named Tina...which was so not indian, hence i also joined the band of whiners..."why cant i be Kareena?""once in ahmedabad, if anyone stops u, ur a hindu!and ur from mumbai." said 'oh great and wise teacher'"i personally think we look like delhi walla's" piped in blondie...*eye roll!*anyways...secure with our new hindu identities...we looked forward to the Day!
Day1:
after a not very long ride and an even shorter nap(which we all so needed because the days leading up to the trip had totally warped us), our plane landed.we got into the lobby and everyone froze...there in front of us proudly displaying its stuff was an alchohol counter.lol...now coming from 'the islamic republic of pakistan',lol...we're not used to it being displayed so openly.there is alchohol,yes, but undercovers and behind closed doors..or after my bedtime...read nightlife!"stop staring!" called out one of the smart asses from my class.i dont know about anyone else, i sure as hell couldnt!"oh ,my god!! McDowells diplomat!!!eeeeeekkk...its the one from tv!"to which i heard the reply..."Jahil larki..wahan peh Absolut or Smirnoff displayd hain...and ur freaking out about McDowells!time to fill out forms...after the first few, it bacame a routine and we started talking about other "exciting' things we'd do...like going to an actual club!note:for the indian readers, pakistan has parties but no proper disco's and we're all pretty sheltered so our only chance of ever seeing a disco without parents, brothers, or husbands stopping us was this!our teacher had mentioned Velocity as being good.so it being the only name we knew, thats where we would go!now paranoid teach had made all of us paranoid too and advised us to remain discrete about our movements and whereabouts.filling out the forms, propped up on the liquor counter we continued to discuss our plans until the fat sleezy friendly(lol) guy behind the counter asked us where we wanted to go.me the loud mouth told him.rule one broken.my friends clammed up, *sigh*, i didnt.i proceeded to tell him where we wanted to go when.velocity, tonight."i have a friend there, ill call him up" after which he dialled a number on his cell.i could feel my friends all looking at me...i knew why...and refused to look up, completely engrossed in the forms i was filling out."i bet he's telling his underworld friend about the pakistani group going to velocity.innocent indians will die today when they bomb us!and it'll all be ur fault!"it was not!of course i did move away from the counter after that!forms done, battles with line cutters fought, we finally got out...AND IT WAS HOT!"WHO SAID TO ONLY PACK WINTER CLOTHES" i screamed!sweating and heaving we all dragged our luggage(which was enough for us to permanently settle in india) to the waiting pajeros!nice!six very nice and air conditioned pajeros awaited us!of course after accomodating the luggage the ride to the hotel was very uncomfy!after the hotel, first stop,kolaba for some shopping!how do the indians recognise us...because everytime i bargained the shopkeeper would slyly ask..."aap pakistan seh ayay ho na?"..."jee, app ko kaisay pata challa?""kiyun keh, her do minute ke baad app 'hai allah garmi' boltay ho, aur bargaining aisay karahay ho jaisay mujhsay maafi maang rahay ho." lol, urdu and its tehzeeb!fianlly , after shopping and catching a movie at the I-max, we got to the hotel and crashed!going to pune tommorw!

day 1:all of us at the I-max, goofing off with a life sized shahrukh khan poster!
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