TURNING GUJJU….

Survival mode – Week 1.

My 2 months internship experience in Baroda (I prefer Baroda to Vadodara simply because it needs lesser key strokes! Also, it sounds better to me) last year did not help me mentally to move here.  There is a plethora of reasons for my reluctance. First one is definitely food.  Although the Gujju food tastes alright to a Chennaite, end of the day (meal) he would prefer filling his tummy with rice, rice and only rice. With loads of homemade snacks, ready to mix pastes, and strict instructions on how to cook yourself without burning your fingers, I landed as a neighbor to my colleague, who happens to be a Gujju himself. Secondly, it is the language. Not many South Indians are silver-tongued with Hindi, let alone other North Indian languages. With my limited Hindi skills, I embarked onto a very interesting phase of my life. Thirdly, night life in Baroda is lesser than zero. Anyone who comes from the metros and cosmos will have initial hiccups to get used the new life unless they were tea toddlers back home. One has to find amusement in new things, let’s say, to laugh at yourself when you find it ridiculously difficult to explain your non-english speaking neighbours, “What you are cooking” with your Hindi you learnt in primary school days!

However, every cloud has a silver lining and so does this place. I am hoping to explore the other side of Baroda and me!