Let the games begin

I saw him sitting next to me at the Division of Motor Vehicles Office. He had the distinctive Darden School of Business black folder with him. 'So are you attending Darden', I asked.

That's how I met one of my classmates.

My first 2 weeks here have been really good. Meeting new people has been fun. The fact that almost everybody seems to have such a different (read as hugely interesting) background makes it that much more exciting. We've already had about 3-4 get togethers and the group seems to be growing each day. People have been posting on Facebook, meet-ups are being planned everyday, some just turn up at your door and ask 'Are you darden guys', some you met at the Ivy Garden Office (Ivy Garden is the name of our Apartment complex) as they are moving in - I love the spontaneity of it all. All the buzz words that I had seen on the brochures and the websites while applying - diversity, small town feel, close knit community, high energy - are gradually beginning to make sense.

School starts tomorrow. Well it's actually the orientation. So there would be more people to meet. And judging from the ones I have met so far, the good times are just beginning.

Playing with my new toy

It's really worth all the hype. Ive not been able to stop tapping it ever since I got it a few days ago. In fact, I'm writing this from my phone! Just wanted to check if it really works.

Drinking Hot Chocolate & Reading Pamuk at the JFK airport

A week ago I left Kolkata for Charlottesville - ending what was a very satisfying, transitory, eventful and relaxed phase of my life. One which was also characterized by anticipation mixed with some amount of uneasiness. An uneasiness which, I guess, a change of this proportion in anybody's life is bound to bring. I got my errands done, kept myself very busy, enjoyed the extended stay with my parents, savoured the brilliant sunsets our ninth floor apartment offered everyday, and was cheered up by the weather which was somewhere between an all out monsoon and the heat that preceeds it.

Charlottesville has been fun so far. And school hasnt even started yet. From an ex army who served in Iraq and knows about Sachin Tendulkar to an NFL quarterback - meeting people from all over the US has been a totally new experience. We've already had a couple of get togethers and as far as first impressions go, people seem to be nice. Last night we went to the famous Downtown Mall in C'Ville and it really was unique. I didnt have my camera along so can't post pictures but the pebbled road and the solo artists playing flute and violin lent a very old world, arty feel to the place. The band which was playing (Alligator, I think, they're called) was good to listen to in the background.

It helps that my house is a little less than a 5 minute walk from my school. More so because at 11 o' clock today, I felt like taking a picture of the Saunders building at night. It's a very majestic building and has a certain aura to it. And by night as well as by day, it looks gorgeous.

And about the title of the post - it makes for an interesting title (a little snooty maybe), right. But then again, last Sunday at the JFK International airport, I was indeed reading Pamuk's Other Colors while waiting for my flight to DC and not just because of the book, life felt really good.