Labor day weekend last year, I was ready to move into a basement studio in Boston that reeked of gasoline. I was nevertheless still excited that I wouldn’t have to commute two hours back and forth from Burlington. My sister and brother in law graciously let me stay at their home for six months so that I could save money and get a nice place of my own in Boston. Even though they were sad to see me leave (thats what it seemed like at that moment correct me if I’m wrong here 
) I was really excited to finally have a place of my own in Boston even though it was not to my liking. I have to thank my stars that somehow things changed and I got to live in a luxury apartment without having to break the bank. Now, one year later, when I’m packing and trying to move out of this place I’m finding it extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact that a year went by so quickly with so many pleasant and few not so pleasant memories.
Apartment 427 in the Atrium became the rendezvous point for birthdays, tea-parties, cricket meetings, pre-gaming and most important of all friendships. I have been trying to pack for the past two weeks but everytime I get to it I feel nostalgic and find an excuse to shy away from it. I have been trying to put up a brave face when my friends say “we had some great times here” with my usual retort being “What do you mean?? There are better things to come”. I know it will be difficult to replicate the ‘good’ sorry I mean the ‘great’ times that some of us experienced but I have to let go with a heavy heart. I will miss everything from David (the hilarious concierge) to Keiki (the maintainance guy) and the crazyness experienced at this place. Hopefully there are better things to come for one and all who share the same emotional attachement to this recently so called, “Refuge center”.
Category: Memories
Firstly let me apologize to the small number of readers of my blog for not being regular. The last few months I have struggled to cope with this unusual sleep disorder where I survive on naps. One thing I can say for sure is that I definitely appreciate sleep a lot more now that is alien to me 
. Last night I tried to sleep and lay motionless staring at the ceiling for two hours when I finally decided to do something more productive with my life and update my blog.
Somehow most of my experiences are related to nights that are spent with friends drinking, either celebrating some joyous occasion or when they are fed up with how their lives have panned out. Well I have been through a lot of ups and downs recently and thank goodness for my friends that I have come out stronger and more determined. It’s not easy being unemployed after putting oneself through five years of rigorous engineering courses. When other smaller things also don’t work in one’s favor then one feels that the world is conspiring against them. Don’t get me wrong here, I am neither sad or depressed; instead I’m actually relishing this experience .
Getting back on track here, I was under fire for the best part of an hour for being a nice guy in a very awkward setting. I don’t consider myself being a nice guy but if you are in a room with three inebriated souls then you would usually go with the majority won’t you?? Jokes apart, a lot of serious things were said and I would like to use this blog post to answer some of my so called “critics” and they definitely know who they are.
Some people smile to show that they are happy while some use it as a way to hide their sadness. I know I smile a lot and usually it’s more for happy reasons than sad ones. I know it can get annoying to some that I smile in pain and in happyness but what can I do, I’m just weird . It took a long time developing but this happy go lucky attitude is here to stay so just learn to deal with the fact that things don’t affect me as much as they should. I know that this world is filled with people who are materialistic and take advantage of others but why can’t there be exceptions. I really appreciate the concern of my friends as they don’t want to see me get trampled upon but this is the lifestyle I choose and wont change it for the world. Just because people might have taken advantage of someone’s simplicity doesn’t mean that they should stop being nice because for all we know that there maybe someone who genuinely needs help and why should they miss out on this opportunity. “Do good and good things will happen to you in return” is what I have built my life on and I don’t intend to change it just because some people believe in the most ridiculous saying that “Good people end up last”.
I don’t want to sound like Mr. Perfect and accept that I have flaws too. It’s not that I have not meant harm to others and it’s not that I have not been mean to people in my life. All I trying to say is that each individual is different and it’s this idiosyncratic behavior that makes us appreciate one another as otherwise this world would be a really lousy and boring place. So people take a chill pill and appreciate all the goodness that is around you .
A few years ago during the orientation at my university an Indian asked me which part of India I came from. When I answered Sikkim, I saw the expression on her face change as if she just saw me commit some heinous crime. She said to me that Sikkim is not a part of India and that I should not be giving people a false impression. You bet I was pissed at this but calmly asked her if she was born or became like this. Before she could say anything I cleared this for her and told her that ignorance to the contrary is not bliss. Just because I don’t possess Mongoloid features doesn’t make me less Indian first and then Sikkimese. I would therefore like to enlighten some of the ignorant Indians out there that Sikkim is definitely a part of India. No, it’s not a kingdom of its own and neither does it belong to The Republic of China or Nepal.
Sikkim is one of the smallest states in India that is bordered by Nepal, Bhutan and China. It was a kingdom until 1975 and then decided to join India fearing that China will forcefully take over like they did with Tibet. The world’s third highest peak called the Kanchenjunga is located in Sikkim which can be seen from the meandering roads that one needs to tread to get to the capital city, Gangtok. From the years spent in Sikkim I can vouch that there is not a more easy going and peace loving community in India than the Sikkimese. One might wonder unlike Goa what such a small state might have to offer to the country. So let me get into some numbers, please bear with me. Sikkim has a growth rate of 8.3% which is the second highest in the country after Delhi. This might not sound big to people but the ones who know some basic economics might be able to digest this information better. So before any other person makes one more comment about my home not being part of India please make sure you know your facts otherwise you are in for a rollicking!!
