Christmas is here - I have stacked up heaps of food, DVDs and books to keep myself busy for the next week or so. I was invited to spend the Xmas at Coventry with my Uncle’s family…you can call me a loner, but I just said no as I wanted to spend time by myself. In true honesty, I haven't got bored even a wee-bit so far in the past few days, there are so many things I have just ignored since returning from my holiday and I guess it's time those are addressed. Trust me it can be the most depressing period of the year if you don’t have any family or friends with you, but this year I just felt like taking a break and reflecting on my own. There you go - I am getting sad and old...sigh!
Never really celebrated Xmas when I was in Jammu and it didn’t make much difference when I moved to Sheffield. But unlike today, I was always doing something or the other to keep me busy over the festive period. Having spent the summer holidays with my family, it didn’t make much sense travelling 11000 kms just for a week or two in December. My first Xmas in UK was entirely spent in Sorby Hall with Vicky and Dadu, while we along with Shivi and other Indian friends from Manchester decided to visit London for the New Years’ Eve. It felt as if the whole country had gathered in one city, as we slowly made our way from Leicester Square to the banks of Thames. It was my first time in London – drinking in the expensive city bars, eating delicious pizzas in Soho and watching the Queen, Tony Blair and other VIPs being paraded to a concert at the newly opened Millennium Dome was just too overwhelming. I considered mobile phones a nuisance in my first year but felt the opposite that night, as I was made to wait for half an hour outside the heavily occupied red phone-booths for just a 2-min call back home. It was the biggest party the world had ever seen and witnessing the spectacular Millennium fireworks in front of the Big Ben for continuous 25 minutes was truly a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. All the clocks showed the right time, all the computer networks still worked fine despite the Y2K bug scare and there was no blackout in London as was being warned in the preceding months. As we headed back to Sheffield by the morning train from St Pancras, each one of us had made sure that the last night of the old millennium was one of the most memorable nights we would ever spend together.
Never really celebrated Xmas when I was in Jammu and it didn’t make much difference when I moved to Sheffield. But unlike today, I was always doing something or the other to keep me busy over the festive period. Having spent the summer holidays with my family, it didn’t make much sense travelling 11000 kms just for a week or two in December. My first Xmas in UK was entirely spent in Sorby Hall with Vicky and Dadu, while we along with Shivi and other Indian friends from Manchester decided to visit London for the New Years’ Eve. It felt as if the whole country had gathered in one city, as we slowly made our way from Leicester Square to the banks of Thames. It was my first time in London – drinking in the expensive city bars, eating delicious pizzas in Soho and watching the Queen, Tony Blair and other VIPs being paraded to a concert at the newly opened Millennium Dome was just too overwhelming. I considered mobile phones a nuisance in my first year but felt the opposite that night, as I was made to wait for half an hour outside the heavily occupied red phone-booths for just a 2-min call back home. It was the biggest party the world had ever seen and witnessing the spectacular Millennium fireworks in front of the Big Ben for continuous 25 minutes was truly a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. All the clocks showed the right time, all the computer networks still worked fine despite the Y2K bug scare and there was no blackout in London as was being warned in the preceding months. As we headed back to Sheffield by the morning train from St Pancras, each one of us had made sure that the last night of the old millennium was one of the most memorable nights we would ever spend together.
Welcoming the new Millennium in London - (L2R: Shivi, Me, Kathuria, Rungta, Pulli, Dadu...Vicky is the cameraman!)
The homesick Rohit generally went to India during the Xmas period but when we succeeded in convincing him to stay back for the following year, Sheffield turned out to be the host to our New Year celebrations. All the students had gone back home for Xmas and the town gave an uncharacteristic ghostly look. All Indian freshers had also gone back except this kid from Alwar...little did I know at that point that he was going to become one of my closest friends later on in life. It was a freezing December night when I, Dadu and Vicky spotted Bharat returning from the IT centre at 3am. Dadu tried to get my attention, "Look at this loser, who spends his Xmas in the IT centre?". I quickly recognised the 'java geek' from our Victoria Hall house party back in October, when all the freshers had gathered to celebrate Rohit's bday. "Jump in...we'll drop you back home", I shouted at Bharat who was now briskly walking on the other side of Mappin Street. He quickly agreed without any hesitation whatsoever, wisely deciding that the torturous and freezing 3km walk back to the Halls of Residence was too much for his balls to take. All of us visited the Kingdom nightclub for the grand Xmas party, which had just opened few months ago and was stealing the business away from the adorable Republic. As Rohit came back from his sister's house in London, Arka, Panky and Gautam also joined the gang late on just in time for the New Years' street party. Carrying deadly drinks in our hands and shouting the group slogan "Iqbal ki...", the 8-man gang made our way to the white city centre. As the humungous clock outside City Hall struck 12, the whole Sheffield went berserk and the fireworks instantly decorated the sky. The party lasted late into the night and was topped up with some scrumptious donner kebabs from west street.
Some sort of celebrations or the other continued for the following years but they never felt the same as the initial years at University. Infact life has moved on so much now that it would be impossible to relive the good old University days every again. So many years down the line, today I am still in this country during Xmas but none of those friends are here. At this nostalgic moment, all I can do is to hope all the old friends meet up sometime in the future and teach the world as to how the new years is really supposed to be celebrated. Okie dokie, enough of blogging - now it's about time I cook the turkey that I got yesterday and finally get the Xmas spirit going. Here is a toast to a very happy Xmas and a prosperous New Year for all of you!
Some sort of celebrations or the other continued for the following years but they never felt the same as the initial years at University. Infact life has moved on so much now that it would be impossible to relive the good old University days every again. So many years down the line, today I am still in this country during Xmas but none of those friends are here. At this nostalgic moment, all I can do is to hope all the old friends meet up sometime in the future and teach the world as to how the new years is really supposed to be celebrated. Okie dokie, enough of blogging - now it's about time I cook the turkey that I got yesterday and finally get the Xmas spirit going. Here is a toast to a very happy Xmas and a prosperous New Year for all of you!
The party dudes at my flat - (L2R: Rohit, Bharat, Vicky, Panky, Gautam, Arka, Dadu...I'm the cameraman!)
2 comments:
Jammu!!
Some old memories dude. Came across to your blog via your comment on wastedmonkeys.com. I've bookmarked the page - will get back with more comments!
All the best,
Saket
Good to hear from you boss. Loved your blog. Laters!
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