Susegad

"So where do you study?", inquires Aunty.

"BITS Pilani Goa Campus", I say with a hint of cringed pride.
"Goa!?", her eyebrows form the peaks of Mount Everest.
The Aunty is rushed to the nearest hospital.
Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little.

Okay, a lot.

But studying at Goa really does have that impression on most people. This idea is not limited to only Aunties and Uncles having a more than socially acceptable level of interest in my life. My Delhi-ite friends too have painted a much too rosy picture of my life. No, our college definitely does not have a private beach; we certainly do not spend every night at 'Tito's'; no, I've never been offered drugs and no, our classes are not held at the beach with students sipping pina coladas while solving complex equations.

I swear to God, I can launch a whole series of 'Ripley's Believe It or Not' centered on life at BITS Goa.

While we do have the pleasure of visiting a beach to break the monotony of college life, my life is far from as exciting my friends make it to be. Yet we do get to witness almost everyday, a freshly painted firmament by a dexterous hand in hues of purple, pink and golden, resonating with the calm Goan mood; Did I mention the stars at night? They dot the night sky so brilliantly, scattered uniformly into the abyss. Maybe I'm succumbing to the grip of nostalgia as I write this but the swirling rings of smoke and dust in Delhi do not offer a helping hand to save me from the puddle of reminiscence I find myself so frequently thrown in.

Shaking out of my entrancing flashback, I mean to say that though a typical student in BITS Goa is not the wild party animal people imagine to be, there is a certain charming air about the laid-back, Goan way of life which soon gets absorbed into your veins. To a Delhi-ite, (or any non-Goan for that matter) this lifestyle may come across as unprofessional and inefficient; for instance, shops and general stores having a tiny window of comfortable opening and closing times; but Goans desire very simple things in life, a comfortable (not extravagant) flow of income, good food, sleep (lots of it) and just to be happy. There is no rat race here, people jostling, elbowing against each other to attain something so obscure while missing out the small beautiful things in life, which sadly how it is in Delhi. People stop and not just to stare but to share stories and memories with each other. You know what makes me so sad? Recently, Delhi experienced its first few showers. I quickly rushed to the balcony of my apartment. Not a single soul was out, not a head peeking out of the window to relish the heavy downpour. If one does not have time to appreciate the little sweet things in life, then I guess the end of compassion is not far.

Maybe Susegad- which is the relaxed and indulgent way of life is not meant for everybody and too much of it will hinder the growth of economy but it never really hurt anybody to take things just a wee bit slow, did it?