Life as a Wife of a PGPX-ite

These days, Dinesh is a blur,whom I get to see with some clarity only during breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. I can't even sing the original score of 'Hai, Hai ye majboori.....' as the course costs a bomb and not 2 takas. Anyway, who has got the time to listen to my renderings , even if I sing? These days, our conversations are highly distilled. Samples are: "ETA is 1:40 and ETD is 2:30?' 'Wake me up in 10 minutes' and 'DND' interspersed with 'Bahut padhaate hain!'

Had we got time for a duet, this is what our lines would have been:
Dinesh: 'Dhal gaya din, ho gayi raat, jaane do, jaana hai (work group mey)
Me: 'Abhi-abhi to aaye ho, abhi abhi phir jana hai??'

The message is loud and clear. I have to look after all the household stuff. I'm the PR, the page boy, the refrigerator-stocker and cook. Friends and family, I need all your support to survive this year. If you can come and cook, great! If you can't, at least send some fast-to-cook, good-to-eat recipes and some funny forwards to keep us in good health.

The initial settling-in, the dinners and the intros are all over. I've finished twiddling my fingers and thumbs and soon will be done with the toes too. Apart from envying all those who walk out enlightened from these portals and keeping house and chatting with new-found friends , I am trying to find what i can do for iima and more important what iima can do for me :) Wish me luck, so that while Dinesh is getting polished, I also walk out with some shine!

Hope this is not how people value his MBA!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcoDV0dhWPA

At last! IIM Ahmedabad!

We are finally at Amdavaad! We landed at about 7 pm. Once outside the
plane, it felt like we were peanuts, being roasted on a slow fire. The
amusing thing was Dinesh holding his heavy duty winter
jacket :) The autowallahs surrounded us like papparazzi surround a
celebrity and we finally obliged a 'CNG autowallah'. He fitted in all
our suitcases and brought us to the campus only for 150 bucks. It was
a pleasant change from namma Bengaluru's autowallahs and auto fares!
Ahmedabad is economical, I thought pleasantly as images of colorful
markets and good bargains danced in my mind.

We reached the new campus at dusk. I was thrilled to set foot on the
hallowed soil. The building gave a good first impression. The facade
has been designed as a magnified stone image of the IIM A logo. The
reception looked slick and smart with a welcome a/c and a smartly
dressed receptionist in a sari. My hopes for a smart apartment soared
higher. 

A couple of housekeeping guys helped us with our suitcases
till our apartment - MSH 803. It's a reasonably done 1 BHK apartment.
A double bed in the bedroom and a single one in the living. All of you
who plan to visit us, don't hesitate....we can use a sleeping bag to
make more space. The bathroom was clean and spacious. The major
negative for me was the location of the loo vis-a-vis the kitchen.
They face each other......ughhhhh.....The apt. gives a cosy feel with
chatai blinds and wooden shutters. To remind you that you aren't here
for luxury, the ceilings are done with cement slabs. It's as if they
couldn't decide on the look of the apt. It's a mix of looks. I felt
very nostalgic for Carnation after having a look at this place. Missed
my beige-coffee kitchen, silk wardrobes and lake-view. Oh...Amarpreeet
is so lucky ( the tenant at Carnation).....To top it all, the view
isn't all that great from our place. It's a car-park on one side and a
lawn struggling to turn green on the other. Both of us felt very
strange at the changes taking place in our lives.

The apartment wasn't fully cleaned and so we left the luggage there
and packed a small suitcase to spend the night at the guest house.
This was better. We went for dinner at the canteen. Again, a/c and the
spread was lavish. Soup, salad, kadahi paneer, corn-khumb curry,
bhindi poriyal, daal, rice, curd, tandoori and plain roti. I ate
heartily and took generouys helpings of bhindi. It was so thinly
sliced and beautifully done. A stark contrast from long, fat
ladyfingers of B'lore ( B'lore's lady-fingers don't do justice to
their name! A rethink of the name to gent finger wouldn't
hurt.)....Rest later...I had requested a change of apt. and our fate
would be sealed in the next few minutes.