21-Day Blogging Marathon | Day 18: Unique Experiences Part 1

I am going to write about one of the most unique, and by far one of my favorite experiences in life. I say that, because, as I was going through this time, I was devastatingly lonely and seemingly unhappy to the point where I might have considered myself depressed. However, looking back, I feel like this was the toughest and the most interesting time of my life, with the best memories, the biggest challenges and the most significant lessons. Which is what makes it my favorite.

It was almost three years ago. I was 23, and I was starting out my first job. I did not know what role I was going to perform at my job, or where I was going to be posted. We had to undergo a 21-day orientation session in Bombay. The day on which I boarded my flight to Bombay, I did not know whether I would come back to my hometown or not. As someone who had spent 23 years of her life in one place, it was quite nerve wracking to contemplate being displaced like this, to think that I might never come back. While “never” is a bit of an exaggeration, this was exactly how it felt at the time.

So, on a Sunday morning in the summer of 2017, I embarked upon this journey. I landed in Bombay some time in the afternoon, went straight to the hotel, and before I could even settle in, I found myself meeting so many different people from so many different areas of the country. As someone with poor Geography skills, I was not even familiar with some of the districts that people had come from. The first person I met, who was going to be my roommate for the next 1.5 years, was from Chhattisgarh. There were 43 of us – young and energetic management trainees - hailing from parts of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, and other states, together in this melting pot. The orientation program went on, I have previously posted about one of my experiences here.

As the orientation was about to conclude, the facilitators of the program slowly began revealing the names of the locations that we would be allocated to. Our new homes, I thought. I was nervous, to say the least. Delhi, Delhi, Delhi, my mind was going, hopelessly, knowing that they would not send me back to my hometown. They had distinctly mentioned it to us previously. But, well, the heart wants what it wants…

“Calcutta”, they announced. Alright then, Calcutta it is, I thought.

Two days later, I found myself on another flight, this time, headed towards the mighty east. I landed in the city of Joy, not knowing how to feel. The weather was hot and humid. The airport was strangely quiet. At the time, I figured that it might be an off-season for travel. It took me almost six months to realize that this humidity is perennial in the city, and this silence is in fact, the norm at the airport. I collected my luggage, emerged out of the airport, settled into the cab.

I glanced around like a little child, curious and attentive to everything around me. The city had such a different vibe, something I had never previously experienced. Since I was circling around the outskirts of the city, I was awestruck by the clean, quiet streets, the number of cycles, the lack of cars (and traffic!) on the roads, and the expanse of greenery around. I witnessed the famous yellow cabs of Calcutta, something I had only seen in newspapers and magazines before.

I reached my hotel in about thirty minutes. Salt Lake Sector 5 – it was the first of many, many times I would visit this place. I checked into the hotel and went to meet my roommate to-be. She was the only person I knew in the city and was staying in the same hotel as I. We caught up and went for lunch at a nearby restaurant. My first meal in the city! I ordered some Chicken Biryani, something I had never eaten before in my life – since I belong to the north of India, and Biryani is not a popular meal option here. It was delicious. I discovered a whole, uncut potato in my rice, which, I was to later realize, is the signature of this city, and not merely in the Biryani.

We returned to the hotel, cleaned up, and my roommate informed me that she had already zeroed in on some leads for a house, therefore, we were to commence the task of house hunting on the same day. I was somewhat lazy at the time, and it was new to me, doing so much work in one day. But I have to accept that things are going to be different from now on, I thought, and off we went, house hunting.

We booked a cab towards the first house, but did not fancy the house or the owner. We decided to keep it as a backup in case we didn’t find anything better. Then, we headed towards the second one. It was past 6 PM by the time we could reach. Since we were in the east, we had to get used to the sun setting early. It was dark, and we were almost lost in a place we did not identify. Our cab driver dropped us and disappeared. We were stranded outside the apartment complex, and there was not a living soul around. We could not locate the entrance. Looking back, I feel like we could have easily freaked out. But what we did instead, was to find an area around the fence that was not as high, and climb the fence to get inside. It was difficult, but we succeeded! We found our way to the house, and decided to assign this one as another back-up.

That day was one of the longest days of my life – it was the day I flew from one city to another, was on my own, unaccompanied in a strange place for the first time. The day I had my first plate of Biryani with a potato in it. The day I interacted with way too many people as per the standards set by an introvert. The day my roommate and I hopped onto a public bus, bound to places we didn’t know. Missed our bus stop on the way back and pushed some people to get out (ouch), in order to walk back to the stop we had missed. And oh, the day we both climbed a fence.

I feel that this post will turn out to be quite lengthy if I continue writing, because I have innumerable fond memories, which I want to share. Hence, I will continue this tomorrow, as part of Unique Experiences Part 2!