A path less traveled by
ESCAPADE
At this point, I am torn between explaining the bonding between me and Ms. Priti, and the footsteps I have left behind in my adventure so far. (Mark the word “adventure”). After a few minutes I realized that they complement each other. Salt and pepper, kind of.
It all started with a little walk to the train station. In fact, my story in India is closely related to the most popular transport in India. I was quite persistent in asking Ms. Priti to show me the way there. For this matter I have approached her 3 times and with a min of 5 visits a day to her desk for the 1st week there, it didn’t mean that much of disturbance, I hope. We started off with a map drawn by her showing the way from the school to Andheri station. Even though the map is so simple and less complicated compared to a primary school drawing I had totally no idea of how to get there. Anyway I told her that I got it, kept the map and reminded her to wait for me for an afternoon walk there. It turned out that Dr. Nabsiah was also a fan of the amazing race and the three of us spent some good time walking in the drizzle. At the station I was told about the do’s and don’ts before Ms. Priti handed me my first ever ticket booklet. We waved goodbyes to Ms. Priti when she took the train headed north home. What I remember next (which I had openly discussed on Facebook) is muddy water and potholes. The rain was perfectly timed and it’s my first encounter with mind-and-body endurance in Mumbai. When I look back, it amused me how feeble I was, as it is the same route I take everyday now, just a mere 20-minute walk. The big luggage with 14 pieces of kurta cloths makes the difference on that rainy afternoon. Dr. Nabsiah played a part in the minor awakening, when she mentioned our generation was really a pampered bunch.
So my engagement with train actually started with a really pleasant ride with Deepti, another good friend of mine in the school. She is always caring and another shining star of mine. As I was a rookie in transiting by train, she has spent the morning of my first working day with me, traveled south to Bandra. The fast train happened to be easy to hop on. I managed to push some ladies into the compartment and got down easily at the destination. Little that I know I would become the infamous student from Malaysia in the same afternoon, who restlessly tried 5 times before making it into a ladies compartment. Nevertheless the pride of successfully making it onto the coach is amazingly satisfying. It’s like you are able to solve a secondary mathematic questions but you are just a 10-year-old, even today I’m still feeling it. Bitter sweet.
Other curricular activities in India are loss of directions with a combination of language incapability that rules out any chances of asking for directions, and to tell the auto drivers the exact place that I wanted to go. For the first week traveling to work, I have lost my way for not less than five times and has reached the hostel gate as late as the minute it supposed to be locked up. Sometimes when luck wasn’t with me even the auto that I hopped on broke down in the middle of road, the most unforgettable experience I had is the one I got down from the dead auto in front of the JW Marriott Hotel at Juhu. Anyway, it’s the rainbow after the rain which got me eagerly anticipating the next thrill. I failed to hop onto a train and here she came, a physician volunteered to share an auto ride with me. When I was confused because of some ladies pointing fingers at me there were another group of kind passengers advised me not to block their way out of the train (yes they spoke English). On the night I have changed 3 autos because they were not able to understand where I headed for, God sent an auto with an English-speaking driver. Because of all these constant setbacks and faithful bunch of good people came along, my definition of hardship has changed. It’s just a process before we get there and the process is what makes the whole thing worthwhile. All my silly adventures were usually reported on almost a daily basis at the desk of Ms. Priti. That same corner which I passed every morning before going to cafe for sandwich and a cup of masala chai, has been my favorite corner to visit in the campus. It’s not hard to realize that worries started to grow on her face and it was that one ridiculous night which I was lost outside for 3 hours that made her raise her voice. The usually calm Ms. Priti has lost her cool, I thought. She looked into my eyes and vowed to cancel my VISA if I continued to risk my own safety by choosing unorthodox ways of commuting and lacking sense of security. That priceless expression of hers will remain with me for the rest of my life, just like how I always remember the first time I met my mentor one fine morning in Arizona. The weather was freezing cold and those were a pair of warm hands. 
