The Beginning

27 months ago :
Nov. 6: By this time I would've been studying for my 1st modal exams.
Mostly i'll be having my 1st iPod Nano. Those were the days. I had fun hacking it to play video. Thats an obsession. Any gadget that is unfortunate to reach my clutches will never be the same.
Cant forget my dads reaction when he heard about me playing for the CBSE clusters 3 weeks before my modals. Always makes me smile.
Shams was cool. The class was fun. Had some wonderful memories there.
I guess this was the exam for which i really started studying. French wasn't as bad as it used to be. Ever grateful to Sridevi ma'am for that. It was pretty cold that month, colder than it had been few years ago. Catching half court passes were starting to hurt. Random stuff aside, life was awesome. Back then if someone told me that it'd be my last Christmas there, i would've told 'em to #&!@. Those were the days. Playing ball seaside, cycling in 10 degrees, going to AJIAL, hacking stuff, expanding my music, planning the next after exam party, playing billiards, fragging *sigh* I miss it all.

It was around mid november that my uncle came up with this absurd idea of me studying in India, living with his family. Curse internet chatting. My dad asked me about going there and i said no even before he could finish the sentence. He tried again in december and i said no again. The same |n Jan and yes, the answer was still no. Jan 30 was the last date for taking the TC and when the day came i was glad my dad wouldn't ask again. Or so i thought. He kept asking and asking till i finally had to give in. So, he went to the school, got the TC (they shouldn't have given it, the deadline extending hypocrites). Though I dreaded coming here, I knew I could extort some cash from my dad to buy me stuff "needed" for the trip.

Heck, me and Haffis had lots of fun. Even Nikil, Rino, Riaz and so many others were all were leaving too. Those were some great times. In a few words it was all "worms party, headshots, bball, eclipse, billiards, pizza and beef burgers".
Haffis had to leave a week or so before me. My D-day was may 17. Lets see, I got a cell phone, ipod vid, speakers, 120gb hard drive, boxes of chocolates (read snickers and kinder) and so much other things I really didn't need. The flight was sweet. Emirates rocks. All the flight attendants were very courteous. And pretty. Really pretty. It was connecting from Dubai, so I had three hours or so in transit. The Airport Mall is mind blowing. It was so big and cheap. The electronics section was brilliant and the staff was extremely helpful, and for once actually knew what they were talking about. Though I had close to 50 KD in multiple currencies, i didn't have the heart to blow it. I got a lot of goodies anyway. Though i couldn't resist indulging in a little chocolate. Cost : KD 3.
Back on the plane, the in flight movie was pretty good. Though i cant remember what it was. The food was good. Beats KU airways anyday.
Thinking back, I really blamed everyone for making me come here. Of course, Dads constant banter inculcated the idea. But part of the reason is that most of my friends were leaving too. And I would've got some cool stuff too. That doesn't mean I still dont blame everybody else :)