French misadventures - Part 1

Q) What do you get when you cross 6 semi-crazy IITians with a misleading train time table having 'petit miniscules', a beautiful french city and 2 overcareful french people?

A) A night to remember.

So, the story goes like this-the 6 semi-crazy IITians, referred hereon as TheSorryGuy, TheFundaeGuy, TheCompletelyNormalGuy, TheNearlyNormalGuy, ThePsychoGal and TheRain, accompanied by the 2 supercareful Frenchies and many-many nearly identical Chinese went on a visit to a place called La Rochelle. (For some weird reason, French people add an article before the names of cities-THE Rochelle.) So, this was the plan - We go to La Rochelle after a 2 hour train ride, we spend 3 hours there and we come back - a plan that certainly (and obviously) did not appeal to the 6 people this story covers. And hence, Mr. TSG, the person who is normally leading the group, asked one of the 2 supercareful Frenchies about other trains between the two stations and got 7 and 9 pm as answers. 

After much deliberation, the 6 people decided on the 9 pm train (TCNG and TFG being music fans just had to watch the FREE jazz concert and the decision was made..) Skipping the part where the 6 were mis-guided by the staff at the tourism office and the uninformative leaflet and the first appearance of the word "Sorry" (A word that was going to change how the night was going to be), we arrive at the scene of the insane laughter and where the screw was being bolted in. 

Time : 9 PM

Place : Gare SNCF, La Rochelle

And as we switch scenes, we see TSG beating his arms, his legs and his head on the ground and rolling around in laughter. 

And the cause : The 'petit miniscules'. The spark : "The screw has been bolted in." The explanation : A little tired and after having seen a small tussle between TFG and TR, the 6 people reach the station and check the train schedule and, lo and behold, don't find their train there. The feeling of being screwed starts to arrive. Then, the not-quite-as-careful-as-the-extracareful-Frenchies TSG revealed his carelessness. On the top of the the time for the train was written in 'petit miniscules' a number : 20. That was the 'conditions apply' number and the condition - The train doesn't work on 15th August (which, coincidentally, was also the scene of these happenings.) So, the feeling wasn't out of place. Even then, not deterred, TCNG goes to the enquiry counter to find out other options and learns that the next train is at 7am the next morning. He walks back with these news and says a sentence which triggers TSG's laughing mechanism (a very weird and possibly, unique one at that.) And then come the rolls, the flaps, the shrieks and the slaps (everything, surprisingly, related to just laughter.) 

Time : 10 pm

Place : Gare SNCF, La Rochelle

And we still find the 6 people where we left them racking their brains trying to come up with a solution to where and how THE NIGHT should be spent. 

(The developments in the meanwhile:

i - all hostels are booked

ii - the station can't be used as a refuge since, now this is weird, it is closed at night.)

Hence, they divide themselves into two teams and go to explore options. Here follows the tale of the teams

Team 1 : TPG, TFG, TSG

This team went to find TPG's lost jacket (she lost it sometime during the day) and by sheer serendipity, discovered that nearly every Frenchie is extra-careful. (Someone actually took care of her jacket all the time..wow!! ) And then followed some shrieks (of relief and delight) : TPG - "I love French people" which, of course, attracted weird looks from the people being talked about. Then, the 3 went to get cheap potable water (Don't be alarmed - There have been instances when mineral water has been found to be costlier than WINE.) They ended up at a beautiful beach and forgot all about the fact that they had to meet the other 3 at a fixed time. After realising their mistake, they start making their way back to the meeting point - The Gare, what else? But, they start enjoying the performers on the street and make the same mistake again. So, we leave them here and shift our attention to Team 2, which, at that moment, is at The Gare - Where else?

Team 2 : TNNG, TCNG, TR

This team was handed the task of trying to arrange some lodging for the night and explore possibilities of camping sites too. (Not much important, but mentioned here 'cuz the author thinks it is a very interesting idea.)  Hence, they arrange the number of a youth hostel (Attention: it is not interesting - Mentioned here 'cuz the author thinks it is important) and, just before calling, find their conscience reminding them that that would have been a killjoy. Hence, they confirm from the other group whether they seriously want to sleep, and on receiving a complementary reply, start thinking about how to spend the night. A little tour of the city later, they buy 2 bottles of beer to help them through the night (Author's disclaimer : the people covered in this story are not habitual-drinkers. These people drink only when its necessary. Clarification : The French people consider it necessary to drink wine with every meal.) And some more time later, they stumble upon a bar open all through the night and form a plan of how to spend the night in their heads. Hence, they return to the Gare.

Here, they decide to wait for the other group, and while they wait, here's their plan:

Till 1 am - At the gare

1 am - 5 am - At the bar

5 am - 7am - At the gare again

After having waited for an additional hour, having sent a message, having tried calling the other group and being completely frustrated, they finally catch a sight of team 1  jumping, dancing and singing their way back, which augments their frustration and hence follows a heated discussion. (Not exactly heated, but important : Hence, exaggerated to make it interesting.)

Summarising their discussion, we learn that there is another plan to spend the night and the plan that has been chosen is an amalgamation of the 2. 

(The author leaves this post here and vows to complete it soon and explain all the unexplained things - like the word 'Sorry', for instance. 

Key:

Gare : Station

SNCF : French National Railway)

   

 

Being Exchanged!

The cognition

It was, if I remember correctly, the second day when I was staying in IIT, when I went for this Inter-hostel Faccha Quiz (Those were glorious times, when facchas were treated as facchas, and not as petty, minute touch-me-not plants that will curl even if you call their name) and I met this guy, dressed up pretty formally in a shirt, with trousers et al and I found out he was going to go on something called an Exchange Program, and would be back the next sem or the next year. And it wasn't till nearly an year later that I found out what criteria govern a student's selection for the same - And it would be futile to mention, that as everything in IIT, what I heard the first time was only partially correct-if at all it was.

The relation

The true information, somehow, crept through and come January of this year, I was looking forward to applying for this much coveted, much longed for (atleast for me) title of an Exchangy. Hence, time came for filling the form for the same. And I was told, "You need to clear this, after this, its just the interview-woh tu kar lega". And then followed the exploration of my past, the process of digging deep into my memories and the pile of papers kept at my home, recollecting all that I had done in my life worth mentioning on a form with space and size restrictions, filling and refilling THE form, getting it cross-checked and cross-referenced- all just to 'clear this'. 

The anticipation

Its in verity that people say, "Everyone in IIT is lazy." So how long would a process of going through 50 forms to pick the best 25 last? 1 day? 2 days? 3 days? Well, it took 3 weeks, and they picked the best-wait for it-50!! Hence, 3 weeks the sombre pieces of paper were waiting : waiting for someone to just take a look at them-after they had been very thoughtfully filled and refilled and refilled and refilled and refilled-but it wasn't to be.

So, on the date mentioned, we 50 exchange hopefuls queued up outside the dean's office, hoping we would all be 'interviewed' and it would be done before 1 or 2 in the night. And then came the law of averages-We were provided one wish, the other-Ughhh!! Hence, by 8, when the process was finished (The one wish we had been provided), 15 of us had been interviewed (Ughhh!!) "The rest tomorrow"- They said that day, and the next day. And, all this time, there was this shadow of POLTU looming all over us. (which is a topic much beyond the scope of this article) 

The result also successfully upheld the IIT tradition-by keeping getting delayed and by succeeding to be spread around as a rumour everyday. And when it did come, there was still the element of disbelief-not because I had been selected, but because the result was indeed OUT. 

The conclusion

So, after 3 months of intense, poltu-ridden, unadulterated, red-tape governed, slow-as-a-snail drama (involving interviews, delayed interviews, even more delayed interviews and the always-in-the-pipeline-but-never-actually-showing-up result), the news came out and I was to be, well, an Exchangy, and surprisingly, and not so surprisingly, I didn't actually jump with joy. (The jump could have shown itself had it all fittingly ended with someone with a mic and drums saying  "Aaj ki taaza khabar..aaj ki taaza khabar")

(More exchange related stuff to come soon..)

This moment...

In moments like these, this question unfolds

To flow or not to flow with the folds

To see what you should or what you are told

To murmur and surrender or instead, to be bold

The places are here,

The joy-Alas!

The laughter is here,

The happiness-Alas!

The thoughts that cross as you wet your eye

For, to live is to breathe and to breathe is to die

The anticipations had risen, the wait seemed long

And life seemed as if just on the brink of a song

And then, the slump, the fall and the slide

And then this question in the middle of the ride

My heart called upon me, "Is this why I am here,

My master-Do you care? My master-Do thee care?"

And I answer, "O clock,

that ticks back to my grave,

It's in times like these

that you ought to be brave

And I care for thee, therefore I councel you now

Do as you desire, but never just bow"

For it's in his dignity, that a man is honoured

And you need your genuineness when you find you are cornered

And you need yourself to make yourself believe

That to live is to breathe and to breathe is to live.