RGIPT - À la carte!

First day @ RGIPT! Can any of the 34 guys ever forget that day – 13^th September 2008? Atleast I can’t! I remember walking in from the gates of GTI, Noida and expecting to be led to a “college”. My expectations from a college were very simple – tennis court, big cafeteria, football field and a well equipped gym. Of course these things are expected to be topped up by lots of freedom, movies and loitering around. Well… dreams are dreams for a reason J All my dreams of bunking classes and playing basketball were put to rest that very moment. The joyride that I had imagined was not to be - More likely, the Horror ride had just begun!!

The menu was well laid out for our batch:

Starters

Crispy Honey first 2 weeks

“7 subject” soup

Sesame “quiz” fingers

“Mid term” Tandoori Roll

Main Course

Fried nights (accompanied by loads of work)

Roasted “Assignments”

“End Term” Butter Masala

Dessert

Placements

We could only digest the first item in the starters! Very light schedule and not much work to do – the professors handled us with a lot of care. Little did we know that the honeymoon would turn into a nightmare within couple of weeks. As the session progressed, days became longer and nights became shorter. The soup was extra thick – 7 ingredients (subjects) in a soup was something that we had not dreamt of! The next round consisted of quizzes – the only time when we thought that we did not give quizzes was when we went to the washroom (some decided to spend extra long hours in the washroom to avoid thinking about quizzes)

Mid terms did not take long to get served. Before we could take a breather from the quizzes, Mid terms were dished out!

The main course was served without us finishing the starters and gosh…. It was spicy and sizzling hot! While the main course was being served, our batch devised new ways of working around that workload. New innovations were made in doing assignments overnight (that night was generally the night before the final submission) and we learnt to sleep with our eyes open during lectures (some of us have actually pioneered the art… can’t reveal the names though)

End Term examinations were always with extra butter and lots of masala! So many things to study…. So little time and very little knowledge about what was taught in the class! That was the time when we perfected the art of “Time Management” - I’m pretty sure that some of us would be taking seminars on this topic some years down the line J

However, everything that has transpired in that one room of our ‘campus’ has been an experience of a lifetime! More than friends, books were there by our side J. Despite having the most grueling study sessions, our faculty made learning fun for us. The Horror ride has indeed been a joyride that I failed to see. The menu wasn’t exactly what the dietician recommended, but dessert ke liye kuch bhi karega!!

CHAI!

Chalta

Hai

Apna

India

Meri CHAI kahan hai??? (where is my cup of tea?) How many of us like to start our day with this famous dialogue?

I’m wondering why India does not have a national drink… we have a national flag / flower / bird / animal / Youth Icon etc….etc… I propose to designate CHAI as National Drink in the forthcoming parliamentary session and Seek blessings of all political parties. This would be one of those rare unanimously unopposed resolutions, to be passed by both Houses.

Chai is the engine that drives our country! Chai, in India, is popular as a breakfast and evening drink (I don’t know why I’m skipping lunch though - I see all my colleagues running to the tea room in any break that we get!)

Chai forms an indelible connection with so many things in our lives. It definitely acts as a mode of connection to start off with. Our batch, a diverse one, gets together for the ‘chai break’. Chai is the common rope that connects most of them. Most of our gossips happen over that cup of ‘tea’ - I somehow like to call it Chai though. And yeah… it acts as a bribe too!! Anyone who knows something that others don’t – just finance his/her cup of tea and Bingo! It’s just a matter of time before those ‘bribes’ become a way of making stronger bonds with the so called ‘strangers’.

Want to relax in a study program like MBA? Voila - Once again its Chai that comes to the rescue. I’ve seen my mom ‘relaxing’ over a cup of tea ever since I can remember (Hello!!! What happened to spas??) The same goes for most of my colleagues – they say “Its just about relaxing” (I think its just another excuse for having another cup of that sinful drink!)

Does anyone know how many ways can a person have chai? One of my very good friend loves to have his chai from the saucer. Then there is the unmistakable sound – suuuuuuurrrrrrrrr. And ofcourse there are the sophisticated ones – the ones who like to have their chai with no milk, little sugar and a touch of lime.

Can you recall the different types of teas?? Iced tea (my favorite), Black tea (why do people have it??), the conventional tea (with milk and sugar), red tea, white tea, green tea (the last few varieties I just happened to ‘copy paste’ – pseudo knowledge as they say!)

I’ve been to a lot of different places – both hot and cold. They all have their own, unique way of welcoming guests. But again… everyone is welcomed with a common drink (no points for guessing what it is) - CHAI!! I can see as many people sipping cold drinks on a hot sunny afternoon in Delhi as there are having chai. Sometimes I wonder – is that chai served cold (laden with a ton of ice) or am I really seeing somebody having a 50 degree celcius hot drink when the temperature scale reads 45 degrees?

My not so loving chai nature might the reason why I’ve felt left out so often in my almost 26 years of existence. But having talked so much about chai I’m beginning to feel that maybe I should give chai a chance to enter my life too!

I would like to wrap up this discussion with one simple question:

Q: Where is chai available in India?

A: Everywhere!!