The butterflies just wouldn’t stop. A million thoughts and
worries kept flooding my mind. Was I making the right decision? Was I ready to
move away from parents? Start a new life altogether in a brand new city?
Yes, this all sounds a bit dramatic, but this is how I was
feeling after my acceptance to Sophia College in Mumbai. Of course I knew deep
inside that enrolling into this one-year media course would probably be one of
the most valuable experiences of my life, but the apprehension just wouldn’t
stop. And now here I am sitting on my hostel bed blogging away, after dropping
Mom off at the airport, on my first day away from home.
It
all seems like a complete blur now. Only two months ago, I was cooped up in my
room focused on cracking these entrances, clueless about the outcome. I got
accepted, and will start my first day of classes tomorrow. It’s all very
nerve-wracking. Of course I’m extremely excited to venture into different
fields of media, and do what I had been craving for all this time. Throwing
myself in projects, interacting with professionals, working non-stop, and
learning so much along the way…but to be honest I’ve never done something like
this before.
Although
I’ve moved around my whole life, I do have to admit I’ve been pretty sheltered,
and have lived a fairly comfortable life.
I’ve relied on my parents for everything, and here I was in a brand new
city, immersed amongst new people, about to begin a new life, but this time
completely alone. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Bombay, but this thought
scared me a bit. Today, when I was moving in and unpacking all my things, for a
moment, I just threw myself on the bed surrounded by various things, completely
overwhelmed. I wept silently, “I don’t think I can do this, this shifting in
thing, all over again, and this time alone…” But, Mom, always being the strong
pillar of support for me for years, reassured me this was how I was to learn.
“Hi,
I’m Kriti, and I’m your hostel rep…” came a warm greeting from a girl with a
giant smile on her face. It wasn’t until half an hour later that Kriti and I
traversed up to the top floor for a splendid sea view of the city, chatting
away about Bollywood movies. Soon, four other grinning girls surrounded us in
my tiny room. From Bollywood, to Kerala, to senior hostelites, to the course,
to Bandra Hill shopping, we talked about it all. The nerves loosed up a bit.
Mom smiled nodding as if saying, “It’ll all be okay.”
So
now my two excitable roommates are back, chattering away in Hindi with their
‘apun’ ‘apun’ Bumbai slang. This is going to be an interesting ride, a few ups,
a few downs, but all in all I’m looking forward to it. So here we go…
