Yes, as the title suggests I am in USA right now. Past 26 days were so hectic, busy, full of work that I did not get time to update my blog. Now, I am little relaxed and feeling slightly better, that's why here is the update regarding the past few weeks.
In the earlier post I mentioned about the confirmation of visa. So here is what happened next...
Sudipta's elder sister and her husband dropped me and Sudipta to the Chennai railway station by their car. We were a bit late and the train was about to leave within a few minutes but we managed to catch it. In the mean time I also bought some sweets for my friends in ISI. We reached Bangalore quite early in the morning. It was around 4:oo am and it was dark outside. So we decided to wait for sometime in a nearby cafe. We had samosas, coke and coffee. We talked about several things and before I realized, it was 5:00 am. This is the best thing about Sudipta's company, I never feel bored when he is around and the time goes away so quickly that I want to hold it as much as I can. But I can't. I think the duration of beautiful things in life is always less, so that people realize its importance deeply and this is exactly the case with the me and Sudipta.
We took a bus from Majestic bus terminus and came to the campus at around 5:30 am. Nobody was there in the campus except the security guards and it was a sweet cold-ish morning of Bangalore. I thanked Sudipta for being there with me all this time and told him how important he is to me. He replied,"I have done what a friend should have done at my place". But the reality is now-a-days there are very few friends who help you when you really need them.
We reached our hostel and went to our respective rooms.
I thought of taking rest in my room but could not sleep as my father kept calling me for 4-5 times about the air-ticket booking and all my sleep had gone by that time. So I thought of going to the lab for checking my e-mails. Also on 14th of July, there was an interview for the upcoming MS(LIS) batch, which I missed as I was in Chennai. When the students got selected for the interview, many of them emailed me about the preparation they should do for clearing the interview round. So I was very curious to meet my juniors. Then at around 9:oo am I went for a walk with Sumita, one of my friends at ISI. I was discussing something important with her when I saw a group of 3 boys coming towards us. However I did not pay any attention to them thinking they might have come for the interview and we walked past them. They were also talking amongst themselves. Suddenly I heard a voice from behind "excuse me" ! I turned back and said "yes". One of the guys asked me if I was Priyanki ? I replied yes I am. Then they introduced each one of them and said we are all your new juniors. They also congratulated me for my visa approval about which Shion and Alka had told them. I talked to them for a while and then went to the lab for studying as one of the exams was still left and this time it was Knowledge Management. I had not studied a single chapter of this course as I did not understand what to study for it. Anyway I tried to study something just in case I do not fail. I informed my professors about the visa approval. Next afternoon I gave a miserable KM exam and I do not really remember what I wrote as I wrote nothing special. I just filled up the paper with some bullshit and I was scared if I will pass or not. After I went out of the classroom I got an envelop from visa office with my passport and visa on it. So I was relaxed. I informed my parents about it. And now a new tension in my life, how to book an air-ticket ? And my parents were as usual in hyper tension about it.
I had so much of work to do in the mean time. I had to do packing for going to Kolkata finally, submit my thesis, arrange for the ticket to Knoxville, do all the formalities of leaving the institute. I tried doing it one at a time. My air-ticket was booked by one of my relatives in US electronically. I completed my thesis and showed it to professor IKR. However he wanted some improvements in it and I had no time. I told him I will go to Kolkata, will make the changes inn the thesis and send him the e-copy. If he finds it alright then, Sudipta will make a hard-copy of it and give it to him. Surprisingly he agreed. Prof. IKR is very strict and I think if there would have been any other student at my place, he would not have allowed this much of freedom. Sometimes good rapport and decent behaviour plays an important role in life. I never bunked classes while I was in ISI, misbehaved with any faculty over there, did studies and participated well in the classroom , may be these things were considered by him to give me such a freedom. I thank him from the core of my heart.
It was 22nd July, final day at ISI. I did my packing and it was time to leave. It was an emotional moment. I met all the teachers who taught me. All the administrative staff , people in the canteen who served me food, clerk in the office everybody who in some way or the other contributed to my life in ISI. I thanked everybody and took their blessings. For the last time I saw my lab, I touched my computer, I did pranam to the college building, to my room, hugged my friends, cried and left ISI with only good memories in my heart. Shion and Binit came to the railway station to say good-bye. It is with them I staretd my journey of ISI. It is with them I ended my journey of ISI. For few minutes I just could not talk when I was sitting in the auto while going to the station. I was totally blocked from inside. There was, rather there is a lot of emotion inside my heart about ISI and words are not enough to express them. The more I think about it, the more it kills me. So , I stopped thinking about it and began a new journey ahead.
