Back to Ranchi

Jolly left for Allahabd for his S.S.B. interview by Purushottam. I leave for the bus stand to catch the bus for Ranchi. We board the same scarlet Shiv-Shakti video coach that Daddy & me had boarded for the BIT interview in August 2002. Some 80s dacoit film starring Jeetendra & Dhrmendra is playing on the video. I'm more interested in sleeping. The seats are highly uncomfortable. The sky remains cloudy for most of the journey. Sid is happy at the prospect of some rain.

We reach at 11:30 & head for college. Meet Awadhesh & Richa at the library. Pay him money for getting done our hindi name affidavits & deposit our no dues forms. Meet Ravi, the MBA guy on the way to Shivam. Meet Aunty. She seems happy to see us. Next, we head for 'our' room currently occupied by Gunakar, Neeraj & their batchmate, Abhishek. Poor guys have their exams looming ahead but chuck their books for the next hour & a half as we get chatting. Sid borrows Neeraj's Pulsar & we head for MESRA. Meet Amit (the Paul Walker lookalike), on the highway. He's manged to snag a job with Hughes through an off campus interview. He seems visibly happy. Get our acceptance letters at the T & P office. Sid meets up with Antara at the R & D building. She seems like a fun-to-be-with girl. It's a pity that there was such little interaction between the people of the two sections. Soon, we're on the way back.

Have lunch at Laazabab. Don't get to see Vimal (the waiter) though. Meet Santosh & Manilal. At Kantatoli, it's the same bus that we came by in the morning. What are the chances of that happening! Anyway, we get different seats which are as uncomfortable as the ones in the morning. The journey is really tiring even though they're playing 'Baap Numbari Beta Dus Numabari' on the video. Reach Jampot at 8:30. As we walk past the hotels & parked cars near the former bus stand, I can't help but think.......it's probably one of the last times I've made that journey.