CHAPTER 5 - Bachelor’s Lifestyle
I know, it already is 4 chapters and I didn’t even talk about the lottery. Don’t worry, it is going to come and there is lots of it, so let me get my life’s journey out of the way first. I promise to cover as much as possible when we get to the windfall.
Now four years of education, right from 18 years till 21 years, it was indeed a good time. I made new friends and we hung out and had loads of fun together. We used to watch movies, discuss about movies, eat at nice restaurants and food courts and spend nights together having these endless, sometimes pointless conversations. It was all good fun and sex & girls was always on our minds. Some of my friends managed to find girlfriends, I was too introverted and shy to make any prominent moves, so I was unsuccessful. Masturbation, movies and magazines got me through all those lonely years but I always dreamt of finding a nice girl and sticking by her forever. I used to remember all those intimate days with Anitha and masturbate even more. I even tired to get in touch with Anitha few times, but it didn’t work out any further than exchanging a few emails.
As I mentioned, adult films were our top priority. The late night show used to start around 10PM and me and my friends used to go over to watch them as soon as they were released. Most of them were pretty useless. I am trying hard to pick up my favourites, which at least had some sensible erotic scenes and I cannot get anywhere past Basic Instinct.
We also used to rent out television and Video CD player. This was the time when personal computers and Windows were taking over and VHS tapes were just getting outdated, we had compact discs which played videos as well. Slowly, there were loads of Video parlours which rented out VHS tapes and VCDs (Video Compact Discs). We could also rent out television and VCD players from these stores. So we all used to chip in, rent them out and then it used to be a movie marathon. Of course, majority of the VCDs were adult movies and we had a few triple-x movies as well.
Everything changed, when my dad bought me a personal computer when I went back home during vacation time! It was the best thing ever, it had Windows Millennium with 256MB RAM and 40GB hard disc with a CD ROM drive. We also got dialup internet connection and it was like the entire world packed into a TV-sized box. I spent countless hours on it, looking at stories, pictures, destinations, porn, etc. etc. And the CD ROM drive was amazing, I used to buy VCD discs whenever I found a bargain and kept them so I could watch when I go over during vacation. Oh by the way, each semester was about 5 months long. We had classes for 3 months, 1 month we had time off for preparation and we used to have a week for exams and then another month off after examinations. Most of the time, we used to go home for preparation holidays as well as holidays after the exams. So after getting my personal computer, it became my best friend! It probably is the single most amazing thing which I ever had until I got my first Laptop, which again got replaced when I bought my first Apple iPad.
My own personal nickname for me computer was USM (Ultimate Shagging Machine) --)))) I used to have a decent collection of adult films, loads of porn clips and pictures. I think my personal computer filled the void of not having a girlfriend. So theoretically, I knew everything, but I have never had sex with a girl and I was 21 years by then.
4 years went by and it was time to bid goodbye to Chennai, the university and all my friends. There were a few from Hyderabad, so we did keep in touch afterwards, but most of the others were from different places in India and I haven’t met or spoken to them until Facebook got us all reconnected.
After engineering, it was time for Mater’s programme. Even though India offers various Master’s courses, the set rule from parents was to get admission in some good university, either in America or the UK, complete it and get a good job so you can live comfortably. My parents were soo keen regarding this that as soon as I completed Engineering, they started shopping for necessary things for going abroad. Suddenly, they became the experts, they knew colours, type of clothing and stuff required for surviving abroad. Mostly they got it wrong though, as I ended up with this weird beige looking jacket which they felt was a nice “English” colour! I couldn’t even see one single person wearing that coloured jacket so I had to ditch that and get another grey jacket to fight the extreme cold weather of the UK. Even before getting an admission from a university abroad and a Visa, they kept on telling all relatives and friends that I am going abroad. I had to ask them to turn it down a bit and keep it down under, but they really were more excited and eager to get rid of me than I was!
Well true, any kind of big change in life always made me nervous. I had the same feelings when I had to go to a different city for Engineering and had the same feelings for going abroad. After all, I am going to leave all my friends, my family, relatives, cousins, my USM and go to a place where I don’t know if I can afford to come back when I feel homesick!! So I was bracing myself for the biggest change yet in my life!
Now, if I look back, I cannot help but believe in the Hindu philosophy and Karma. It states, if you given a lot in your past life, you get in all back. If you are good, obey the rules and never harm anyone, there are chances that your next life will be very comfortable. You do not go to any place, unless you have some sort of attachment to it in past life, same goes with the people who you come across in your life. So, that’s it, simple rules, never harm anyone, never hurt anyone and give as much as possible to the less fortunate ones, you will be born as a king in your next birth. I cannot help but quote what the character “Raj” from “The Big Bang Theory” TV show says in one of the episode –
“I am a Hindu and believe in Karma, so if I suffer in this life, I will be born as a well-hung billionaire with wings in my next life!!”
Cannot control my laughter and it is one of my favourite shows. Oh, by the way, I want to talk about Stereotypes and Misconceptions about Indians in one of the upcoming chapters!
Coming back to the preparation of going abroad, after finishing my Engineering, I had almost a year to sort things out. Most of the time, I spent preparing for entrance exams or hanging out with friends or the USM. We had to write two different exams called TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) and GRE (Graduate Record Examination) in order to secure an admission and Visa for America or the UK.
I simply loved TOEFL which was mainly test of English language. There was an Audio section where it played clips for us to listen and then we had to answers multiple-choice questions regarding the same. The test was computer based and all the Hollywood knowledge and movies really helped me. I scored full marks in that test, this made me get a decent scholarship from the University of Westminster in the UK. I got admission from other universities, both from the UK and US like Sheffield, Surrey, Bath, West Virginia, Southern Illinois, etc.
Don’t know why, but me and one of my close friend choose to go to the Westminster University and give up going to America altogether. For Information Technology and Computers majors that is not what everyone does. People back in India know that the UK is an expensive place with lot of taxes on everything, so they usually opt to go to the America. Don’t know what invisible force made me change my decision, but for me, it was the UK.
I had to go back to Chennai to attend an interview for the UK Visa, it was a long day but I managed to secure a student VISA for 2 years, which was the duration of my Master’s course in Computer Science.
I really had soo many mixed feelings, mostly I was very sad but my parents were over the moon. My mom was sad and kept on shedding tears whenever the topic of me leaving home came up, but still she was happy and proud that I managed to get admission, Visa and a good scholarship.
For me, I didn’t know what was going to happen, h
ow I would survive, how the new place will treat me, plus the thought of working part-time to support myself during my stay for the course was scary. The point is, when I was doing my Engineering, it was in India and my monthly expenditure including accommodation, food and other expenditure came up to about 10% of my mom’s monthly salary. In UK, it was totally different, the monthly expenditure was about 500 British Pounds. That was more than half of my mom’s complete salary. So it was very expensive for them to keep sending me money every month. They paid for my Master’s program fee and gave me enough money to last for about 4 months. Plus, they did all the necessary shopping (including the English Beige Jacket) and bought me a one-way air ticket. They would have sent me more money if I needed, but I was already feeling guilty of taking soo much money from them as is.
The day of my departure was coming closer and internally, I was in hell, even though I pretended to be happy outside. I was going to miss everything which I had till then, including my relatives and cousins whom I sometimes hated.
I still clearly remember the last day in Hyderabad before the big flight. We had relatives, friends at home, but still I managed some alone time in my room. I got a couple of hours, I spent looking at all my prized possessions and memories. All the adult stuff from my USM had to go. I re-watched all those videos and images which I fondly used to watch over and over. I checked all my picture albums, again this was the time before digital cameras, so I had loads of hard-copied photo albums. I knew to my heart that it would be at least two years before I can come back to this room (actually, it was longer), and with a heavy heart, I bid goodbye to all those favourite things and memories.
The long flight to UK was in the early hours from Hyderabad International Airport. The flight was by Emirates Airlines, which had a seven hour stopover at Dubai and then flew directly to Heathrow in London. It was the first time in an Aeroplane for me and I didn’t know if I should enjoy this or feel sad that I’m leaving everything behind! (Again, if I could time-travel, I would hug and tell my younger self that it is the best decision that I would ever make!! Damn!! Nobody invented the Time Machine yet!!)
So, that’s it, the beginning of a new chapter in my life and it indeed was a great new chapter with loads of things which I never expected or anticipated!!