My transfer to Bangalore is finalized. I am so glad I have something to look forward to and something to occupy my mind.
I will be booking the 22nd March flight to Bangalore. And 22nd being Holi, it will be fun to celebrate it with old friends and new alike and also in a new city.
I have so many things to take care of.
I am trying to create a list of absolute essentials here apart from clothes and all.
My 2-wheeler. Friends tell me I’ll need it to commute short distances and all. I might use movers and packers for that instead of using the government rails to do it. I somehow don’t trust them.
My US visa will be initiated from Bangalore. So I am going to scan all the documents here itself so that I don’t have to do ‘Please scan and transfer such and such a document’. I just can’t let my mom rummage my cupboard at any cost. Not that there is anything great in there.
My friend’s boyfriend wants to send something to her from Pune. Yes, because he is here and she is in Bangalore. I am so NOT looking forward to it.
I have to finish my medical test before I leave. Arrgh…That is the worst possible thing ever. It is the same one I had written about, say a year back? Remember? Yes, I still haven’t taken it.
Books, CD’s, bags, shoes, chargers…. Oh god, how much am I going to fit in?
Do you think there is anything that is absolutely essential and I might miss when I reach there? You know things that are not always on the priority list but still make a big difference?
Book-Shelved 
Congrats! Is there anything curiously local that you get? Like a local specific food to take some of or something like that to make it feel like home quicker?
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Yup Pete: I have asked my mom to make something which i can take with me. Can’t think of anything better than that 🙂
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Sorry I’m late but it’s been manic here.
This is such great news, I imagine you feel relieved, nervous and excited all at once.
Some things to remember:
Take enough to read, at least until you can find out where the good bookshops are.
A notebook and a couple of pens so you can write to us while bumping around in a rickshaw.
There will be lots of new things to see (and we’d like to see them too), so take your camera.
Your cell charger, a map, your music
Oh, and somewhere to stay
And Wikipedia tells me that Bangalore is 1000′ higher than Pune, so please be especially careful not to fall off the edge!
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Bunny:
Ahhh…a map, yes. That is a good suggestion, I didn’t think about that.
I have a place to stay already, with an old college friend.
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Can you share your impressions of Holi please. Lots of cultures have spring festivals and I’ve not heard of Holi before. It sounds like fun.
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Hover:
As far as my impression is concerned, it is simply a way to enjoy with friends. When i was in college, we used to gather at a friends place and from there go to every other friends place and play with colors, water baloons and sometimes even eggs…eww.
It is basically to chill out and get dirty for one day in a year. For some people it is a family affair. Relatives gather together, prepare sweets and enjoy.
This is from wikipedia
Holi is also called the Festival of Colours.
On the first day, bonfires are lit at night to signify burning the demoness Holika, Hiranyakashipu’s sister.
On the second day, known as Dhuleti, people spend the day throwing coloured powder and water at each other. The spring season, during which the weather changes, is believed to cause viral fever and cold. Thus, the playful throwing of the coloured powders has a medicinal significance: the colours are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Āyurvedic doctors. A special drink called thandai is prepared, sometimes containing bhang (Cannabis sativa). People invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations later in the evening.
Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colours.
Holi takes place over two days in the later part of February or early March. As per the Hindu calendar, it falls on the Phalgun Purnima (or Pooranmashi, Full Moon), which will occur on March 22 in 2008. (In 2007, Holi was celebrated on 3 March, the burning of Holika was on 4 March and the Dhuleti on 5 March.)
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I read the wiki but it’s no substitute for direct experience…or reporting your direct experience. It sounds like easter really but with different names. Do kids ever need an excuse to get dirty?
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Yeah…but this is like official. You can do whatever you want, you can even roll in the mud and no one will say anything to you 🙂
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Brilliant. We should do that in England. Except that the mud would probably be cold.
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