The next few days after the exam, Ria went to all the tourist spots of Mumbai along with her grandmother. They visited at least one tourist spot after every two days. Though they visited many places, three of them caught Ria's attention pretty much.
At Red Carpet Wax Museum, one could see lifelike wax figures of prominent icons from various fields of science, politics, sports and cinema. Ria happily posed for pictures standing next to wax figures of Barack Obama, Michael Jackson and Harry Potter.
The next tourist spot that she loved was Iskcon Temple, which was also known as Sri, Sri Radha Rasabihari Ji Temple This one place surprised Ria. Never had she expected India to have such a temple. It was located close to Juhu beach and occupied four acres of land. It was a gorgeously carved temple that was crafted with marble. Thousand o
Though Emma felt guilty about her grandfather willing to sleep on the floor with a mattress, she couldn't do anything else for him. If she hadn't played a prank on her aunt, this would have not happened. She tried her best to convince her grandfather every day but he would not change his decision.All those who had written the medical entrance exam were now looking up for enrolling in colleges. Counselling sessions were held for those who wanted governments seats. Those whose rank wasn't much but qualified for the exam could pay money and get into any university or college of their choice. Since Ria was already under the non-residential Indians quota, she would have to cough up more money even if she qualified and got a rank.To Ria's shock, she did not have the rank she thought she would. She wondered if she was going to disappoint her
Ria and her father spend the next two days checking out various medical colleges in Mumbai but in the end, her father decided to send Ria to the same medical college, from where studied MBBS. Ria's father already spoke with a person from the administrative office and got her a paid medical seat.Lakshmi Narayan Medical College was located away from central Mumbai, very close to the outskirts. Her father had already informed her that it would take two hours for them to reach college. Ria and her father had already booked a cab to travel to the college. Though Mumbai was a thickly populated city, the outskirts were filled with several trees and shrubs. As the car drove she also saw a white temple with a beautiful garden in front. Ria asked the driver to stop so that she could take pictures from her new iPhone. Although her father l
Ria filled the form for admission and gave it to her father, who submitted it along with her high school certificates to a bald man who sat outside the Dean's room.In return, the man gave him a couple of papers. On the top of one of the papers,Medical Fitness Certificatewas written. Few papers were attached to it from behind."We are taking most of the tests in this building today. You can go to the study room on the first floor. They will guide you from there for other tests. The X-ray will be taken only in the hospital." said the bald man.Ria along with the father walked used the U shaped stairs near the office to reach the floor. The study room was directly in front of them. It was a huge room with students sitting at one end and doctors examining the students
Ria managed to give her urine sample in the washrooms on the ground floor. Though she argued with her father all the way downstairs, she finally used it. Although the washroom down was stinking as well, she quickly collected her sample.For an X-ray of the chest, she had to go to the hospital. Ria and her father stood outside a room on the ground floor of the hospital. Along with students many patients too had to wait. When her turn came, she went inside the room. Ria didn't have any problem while doing this test.It was afternoon by the time they finished all the tests. Ria and her father went back to the office but most of the staff including the Dean itself were on lunch break. Ria and her father went outside to a restaurant nearby for lunch. They planned to eat and go back quickly.
Ria spend the next few days buying books for her college. While she had gone inside to give the x-ray for her chest, her father had gone to the office to get the list of books needed. In addition to this, she also had to buy aprons and a dissection box.Her aunt insisted her father to buy some traditional clothes for her as well."Your daughter doesn't look like Indian. That shirt is so short and those jeans are so tight. She is going to study in a college that is away from the city. People from villages and towns will come there. There will not look at her as a doctor. Please buy some Indian clothes for her." said Mrs Gayatri Malhotra."There is no way I will wear those uncomfortable clothes.""Ria, Gayatri is right. You must wear so
A woman in her middle-aged opened the chocolate brown door of the hostel. She wore a simple blue sari and her black hair was tied in a bun."Do you have the receipt for hostel fees?" asked the woman, looking at Ria and her father.Mr Kunal Singh removed a small piece of paper and gave it to the woman. The woman looked at it and nodded her head."Ria Singh?" asked the woman looking at the paper."Yes?""You can come inside with your bag now. There is only one room left for you to stay. Usually, the freshers take the ground floor but since you arrived just a day before the first day of college, you will have to take a room on the second floor."
Ria and Nazia sat on their beds unpacking their suitcases quietly. Ria didn't remove her clothes but she removed a large plastic cover which she kept separately to put used clothes in. She wondered if there was any laundry shop nearby the college."Is there any laundry shop nearby?" Ria asked Nazia."No, but there is a room downstairs that has a washing machine, a television and a fridge. We can use it but we have to pay the warden.""I have noticed something in India. We have to pay for every small thing. I mean payment just to keep something in the fridge sounds absurd to me." said Ria, shocked."I know it sounds funny. I can understand about using a washing machine but we will hardly use a fridge. We would be eating in the hostel canteen. Maybe once or twice we may need to keep something in the fridge and just for that, we have to pay. It sounds like the college is desperate for money." said Nazia.
It was almost eight in the evening and the girls on the second floor seemed excited. They kept moving in and out of one particular room on the floor. Some of the girls brought up balloons, ribbons and white masking tapes for decoration on the walls. A tall girl with a nose ring and black t-shirt stood in the corner of the room and switched on her laptop."Amrita, which song should we play first?" asked the girl turning to a girl who sat on a chair beside her."Manisha let's put that Ik vaari aa song from Raabta."A girl with curly black hair and dark purple glasses glared at them as she arranged paper plates on a table near the bed. She wondered what her roommate planned for them. It was their first night at the hostel and she didn't want to cause any more trouble but she a
Do people face unfortunate events regularly in life? Of course, everyone does occasionally. In Ria's case, that unfortunate event came in form of a fracture of her cousin on whom she pranked. She wore makeup and a costume to look like a ghost. Her cousin slipped on the stairs while running and ended up with a fracture. Luckily it wasn't his head that got affected but since he fell more than three flights of stairs, he ended up with a fracture in his right elbow. This unfortunate event changed Ria's life suddenly. Her parents were so upset by this that they decided to send her to India for her bachelor's in medicine and surgery. A couple of other events troubled Ria's stay in India but none were unfortunate because she managed to shine in those events among her peers. She thought she could manage her walk wearing a sari on the stage in front of her batchmate
Ria and her friends quickly rushed out of their hostel. The auditorium was in the building next to the second year building. The ground floor had two huge rooms opposite each other. This was where the third and final year MBBS students had their classes. The auditorium was upstairs. It was very huge with several ceiling fans. The auditorium also had a very huge platform. Several girls who wore sarees stood in a corner near the stairs of the platform in a queue. Ria rushed forward and stood last in the line. Her palms and soles began to sweat due to nervousness but she was relieved at the fact that the contest hadn't started. Clenching her lips, she turned her neck and looked for her friends. They were in the second row on the left side of the hall. A cooler was right next to them. Nancy and Nazia both gave her a thumbs-up as they sat down on a white plastic chair.
What is a beauty pageant? Is it just a public entertainment where judges select a girl whom they find to be the most beautiful? Or is it a contest beyond physical appeal? Pageants were platforms for showcasing women's empowerment, diversity, intelligence and leadership.Women who take part in pageants have utilized the platform to empower other women, others have also used pageants as a way to advance their careers. Although this was the meaning of a beauty pageant, it also somehow became a medium for fame for several young ladies but Miss Fresher was nothing at all compared to this.Ria realized that neither it gave any fame nor it would help her in her career. It looked like a contest meant only for popularity. Perhaps this was the reason why many of her batchmates weren't interested in participating. It would only boost her image among the students b
Ria thought all the students would be excited for fresher's day but she was wrong. Her classmates did not show much excitement. Apart from the girls who stayed at the hostel and the students who participated no one was excited. This shocked Ria. Back in America, at her school, the situation was quite different. Any competition would be something everyone would talk about and watch. Whether it was sports, singing, dancing, debate or quiz, many participated as per their interest and many would be excited about it. The hype for fresher's day here was not even remotely similar to that.The girls from the hostel who were rude to Ria now became quiet. Their acne was still visible. Few of them were so embarrassed about it that they sat at the back almost away from many. They only stood up for their attendance covering their faces with a cloth. Ria did feel sorry for them until she rememb
Finally tomorrow, the first-year students would have their fresher's day which was being organized by the second year students of their medical college. Many girls were already excited to see how the event would go but unfortunately, the girls who stayed at the hostel had a different story. Most of the girls from the hostel participated in the event and just a day before the event many of them had severe acne on their faces. They suspected that someone mixed something in the water of the washrooms. The hostel's warden asked the affected girls to freshen themselves and visit the dermatology department of the hospital. She also assured everyone that everything will be fine by evening but until then all students in the hostel will have to use water from the washrooms of the college. This almost made Ria throw up. The unfortunate moments she had with a rat appeared in her mind. Nazia too wasn't happy with this news because she disliked the
There was never a time in Ria's life when she thought someday she would wear a sari. She happily paraded showing off her Indo western clothes at weddings and festivals. Her mother made sure that she wore something that didn't offend anyone yet somehow her typical Indian aunties always found a way to complain something about her. Often they complained about her attitude and called it ego issues because she didn't talk much to them. At times they openly made fun of the way she stood and the way she sat.Ria remembered how her relatives made fun of her in one of the Indian weddings. She wore a very beautiful long skirt which had embroidery on a matching blouse. It was called ghagra choli. Though Ria wore a similar dress for various weddings, this time the blouse was heavy. Her relatives who saw her at the wedding did not appreciate her dress. Instead, they made fun of the way s
Finally, Sunday came, which meant that Ria could spend some hours away from her books to practice how to wear and walk in Sari. Dinesh would bring the sari for her and she would have to try it. He would show her how to wear the Nauvari style of sari. Nazia also agreed to come along to help her. Ria felt nervous because if she messed up something today, she would look like an idiot in front of Dinesh. This was a very important day for her because she wanted to show Manisha that she is up for any challenge and there was nothing Ria couldn't do.However, by Sunday, many first-year girls suddenly became hostile to them. Many of them were very rude and few even dared to ask her if she could walk in a sari."Don't worry about that. This would probably last until the competition. Many girls from hostel are participating for fresher's day and they think you already have an edge." said Nazia as she and Ria sat on in the corner of their hostel canteen."I don't get you,"
Nazia's continuous rude behaviour with Dinesh made him so upset that he began to make more demands. Ria is now supposed to do the physiology homework's that Professor Shruti assigned them. Ria tried to hide everything from her roommate Nazia's vulture eyes but she was exposed. Nazia, who was the female class representative, was given the task to collect homework. She immediately recognized Ria's handwriting, though Dinesh submitted the papers along with his friend. Her vulture eyes looked at Dinesh furiously and before she could say anything further, he pelted across the benches quickly."Ria, he is crossing his limit. Just stop asking him for help.""Nazia, we are only helping each other now. Once the fresher's day is over, I won't need to do anything.""Please just think once again."
Dinesh agreed to show Ria how to wear the Nauvari sari. It had a typical Maharashtrian saree draping which Ria's mother often wore in Indian weddings. Ria decided to contest for fresher's day. This wanted to show Manisha that she isn't afraid of anything and no one can challenge her. This was going to be a tough task for Ria because she had never done it before. The sari that she borrowed from Nazia was torn while she tried to walk in it but this time she was determined to do her best. Luckily, their fresher's day was postponed to the next week and this gave Ria some more time to practice. Since Dinesh did not stay in the hostel, he could bring a sari for her. Ria was very careful while selecting the sari because she didn't want to look like a clown. Of all the photos Dinesh showed her which he saw online, Ria selected a red silk sari with a green blouse. Dinesh agreed to meet her