My First Day @IITK

July 24th(i think) was when i reached iitk....i was accompanied by my father ..After the tedious journey by train lasting for more than a day and a half ...(We came by the famous Raptisagar express! ) we finally reached Kanpur station. around 11 am......When we got down,i was in for a rude shock...Was it a city in the first place?Such was the pathetic state of affairs,that i felt"Oh God ,where have i come to?"...So dirty,so badly maintained and so disorganised ....As it is ,i was feeling very home sick.....Luckily there were some volunteers from our institute who had come there and had arranged a bus for the newcomers....so that eased things a bit....



All along the route from the city railway station to our campus,there were several thoughts that swept across my mind(How would life be here?more importantly,how would life be in a hostel ?what kind of people would i come across?...when would i go back to bangalore?!!)....meanwhile it was terribly hot outside ...and peeping out of the window,i caught a quick glimpse of the city......i cud mainly see overcrowded buses,autos,cyclerickshaws,jampacked matadors(called as 'vikram's here)..Vast majority of the people whom i saw were going about their work with a kind of resigned look on their face... and I got a feeling that may be life here was not easy ......Finally after 45mins of travelling so..we reached the institute and as the bus moved on from one hostel to another,....i started feeling much better as the campus looked clean and inviting..(in stark contrast to the city!)... eventually we reached hall-8 and it was time to get down from the bus....



After a quick round of introduction and verification of documents...we were handed my room key and led into my room...(D-block,room no 106)...the cleaner just told us to wait outside for a couple of minutes and after the dusting and cleaning was done....we made our way inside....He also told us"brother,u are very lucky..u have got a very nice room....its close to the tv room,mess,cycle stand etc..)..i felt happy and smiled at him...and gave him 5 Rs extra other than the 20 bucks which my father had given him....then we brought in our baggages...,rested for a while .....all along my father was advising me on various issues such as keeping the room neat and tidy,becoming systematic....And how necessary it was for me to learn hindi ... etc etc...



By around 1 pm we had lunch ..that was my first visit to the mess!Seemed to be quite an occasion as we stood in a queue and waited for our turn...I casually looked around at the people who had sat down for lunch....(in the hope of recognizing someone i knew...or even someone whom i felt was from our part of the country..!,)....As we moved from one counter to another in the queue,we were greeted by the staff and that made me feel better.We had a sumptous meal and then returned back to my room,following which we had a nice nap...

Later in the evening, we went around the hostel and i got acquainted with some people...(managing with hindi at times and with hindi mixed english at times...!)..As the Sun set in the background and the birds hovered about in the sky,the evening drew to a close and it was a sight to behold...and reflect upon the day so far.Around8.30 or so,we had dinner,chatted with a few ppl..(who apparently had come by the same train!)and then at about 10 p.m. charted out the activities for the next day and retired to
bed...

Yuvi's 169....

The stage was set....India were reeling at 61-4..Arafat had just dismissed Laxman..what a memorable debut it was turning out for him,having got the wickets of Dravid,and Jaffer earlier..

In walked Yuvraj...having waited all along for this oppurtunity....well looking at him..i just got the impression that may be he didnt expect to be out there so soon...and he took quite a while to get off the mark....letting alone deliveries outside the offstump liberally on either side of lunch ,then as he slowly started to get a feel of the wicket and the pace and bounce of the pitch....Yuvi was soon back to his elegant best....and it was a treat for the spectators as it rained boundaries at the Chinnaswamy stadium...no one was spared..Kaneria,Sami were clueless....Akhtar seemed like he was fighting a losing battle...Yuvi had an answer almost always,yes there was the occasional delivery when he was beaten comprehensively...but for most part of his innings ..(especially after tea)...he drove and flicked glorioulsy, cut and pulled with disdain,well...it was actually a test match,but i couldnt take my eyes of for a second also...such was the quality of strokeplay....eventually at the fag end of the day...Yuvi was dismissed but not before he and Ganguly had sent the Pakistani bowlers on a leather hunt....It was an innings to remember...Well we did miss him in the first 2 tests ..didnt we??