Thursday, January 26, 2006

Waiting for the Mahatma - The Ramblings of the Confused and the Nervous

It is almost 1: 30 PM when I start putting fingertips to keyboard. Soon the doorbell sounds. I jump up in warm anticipation of correspondence from the Promised Land. But I am mostly disappointed, with the Mahatma in Burgundy (MiB) carrying in his hands, only a few letters from financial institutions. He nonchalantly wipes his nose and his sweaty forehead with the back of his palm and hands the letters to me. I take them with barely disguised disgust and gently slam the door on his face. Walking back dejectedly to my room, I continue replying to the day's e-mails.

There is not much to reply to, though. Most of the introductory emails sent to prospective graduate advisors have been ignored. But there is still hope. One gentleman from Ohio who tells me that, I have to apply for financial aid with the application that accompanies the application, the same one that I have already enclosed with the packet. That means two things, one positive and the other negative - the positive being that at least, I don't have to genuflect anymore to the professors at Ohio. The negative is that the uncertainty of aid at Ohio will last until I set foot on Athens, if I choose to do so.

The wait continues as I continue typing. Waiting for the Mahatma has never been more tedious. He is scheduled to visit my abode once again at 5:00 PM or thereabouts. But will I see some positive outcomes after this wait? The answer to that question, only the 200 odd minutes between now and then, shall tell. Like all Indians in recent times, I have only hope in my side. But then hope is the only thing that I can afford right now to keep the fire in my stomach burning.

I stop day-dreaming and go back to typing. I have to send a couple of mails (with my resume attached) to the companies in response to their ads in the "Opportunities" section of the day's "The Hindu". This is quite a change from the heady days in the months of October and November, when that particular section of the good old "Hindu paper" served as time-pass between 2:30 and 3:00 PM. But of late, uncertainty, Dubya and self doubt have combined to crash-land my soaring plane back to the runway from where it took off last June. And the people, whom I have asked to clarify this niggling "drop box" phenomenon have not been much forthcoming. Though I know its only two days since I asked them, it seems like an eternity. At this point, I take a break from regular programming to issue an appeal to all those people who are sailing in my own boat. If you are ever in distress or in doubt regarding anything and everything, please do not play "pass the parcel". As Edgar Hoover once said - "The buck stops here", so shall you say - "All my worries stop with me". Rather than flood mailing lists with the same plaintive emails, take the initiative and try to find answers yourself.

I know you are asking me - "So, why are you telling us this?" Well, I suggest you take a closer look at the title. Do you get it now? You should not have moved past that ominous title. But now that you have started and proceeded, I suggest you read on. So where were we? Yes, my self doubt! Don't worry. I think I might have overstayed my welcome here.

Wait, there rings that bell again. It's not the familiar MiB, but a Mahatma in "mufti". He brings warm or rather lukewarm tidings. Another I-20 and this time it is from a university in Michigan. So the situation gets rosier. But then the issue now is the visa, isn't it? Will I or will I not make it to the Promised Land? Did "Bungling Buffalo" Bill take time off from his dalliances and do something about the student visa just before he cleaned up his office prior to his departure? Or has Dubya removed student visas from the counter list just like he has done with H1Bs?

Well, the answer to all those questions is a tentative "I don't know!" So the next 100 days are definitely going to be crucial. In the meantime, every night I dream of spending New Year's Eve 2001 in the sun soaked beaches of Florida or in the midst of the teeming boisterous masses at Times Square.

Wow, it is almost 5 PM. As it happens every day, the Mahatma has disappointed me once more. I resign myself to watching a humorous take on life in The Promised Land as it unfolds on the "Friends" re-runs in Star World - just about the only bright spot in my otherwise dull existence on the 3rd rock from the Sun.

P.S: This is an edited/polished account of the afternoons, typically spent in biting my nails, waiting for the postman (the aforementioned MiB) deliver our mail for the day. This piece was born as an email to a list that I am part of and this is the first time that I am posting it on a blog or community. On hindsight, it is interesting to note that the MiB finally did bear good news one day and I actually ended up in Ohio for a Masters on a full scholarship.

(Cross-posted as an opinion peice in the Culture section on Desicritics.org)

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

now tht explains y u offered to open the door each time!! :)

GratisGab said...

Whoa...I thought Anti was going back to school...was thinking of warning all the Ohio people I know :)

Mrudula Sreekanth said...

I can't congratulate you now for getting in. Too late! :P But who cares? Congratulations anyway. :D

anantha said...

Gabby/Hardu: Thats my kid sister, Preethi, btw...

Hardu: thanx..better late than never.. huh? Good policy!

Gabby: What? Why? There were references to time past sprinkled liberally there - to "2001" and waiting for a postman! Hell, In India, who waits for postman to bear news there days?
Hmm.. things a baby-on-the-way can do to your mind....hmmmm...
*makes a note on his mental pocketbook under "Expecting Women" for future references*

Preethi: While I ran to open the door, someone I know ran/runs to pick up the phone... ;)

rajesh said...

That website looks so dull and not pleasing.The fonts add to the dullness.

anantha said...

Raapi: They are still fine-tuning things da.

Nilu said...

ennandra ippa? oru ezhavum purila.

Anonymous said...

yeah rite very funny!i dont touch the phone these days...besides look who is talking...u never got up from front of the comp.

btw y do we have to see the back of your head??????

Anonymous said...

I am ?!. ?! is also me.
Conversations inside.

Me isn't me.

Errr. One hopes that clarifies things, sorta.

:)

anantha said...

?!: Err.. not exactly. Because one question keeps resonating inside me. WHY? Why on the comments section?

Preethi: I know you DONT touch the phone these days. Amma does not know that all your "communications" are through MSN and Orkut [girl, I know everything ;)]. And now you know why I never got up from front of the comp. I was constantly refereshing my email inbox, when I was not playing Need for Speed or those trial versions of Comanche Gold and what not.
As for seeing the back of my head, well, I have been left scarred after posting a certain pic sometime last year! And moreover this seems high funda intellectual, as if I am in thought, but people saw through me, noticing some "legs" in the background!

Nilu: You are just envious!

anantha said...

Dumbs: Knowing you the way I know you, is the keyboard part true too? :)

Anonymous said...

(a) So much easier to update.

(b) When one's ym is cluttered with remnants of searches for lonely_housewife_on_cam,possibilities of such convos are limited.

(c) If you see, the post is structured. The comments meander.

It isn't I alone who dictate content. This section, e.g., was started by Me. (Who, as clarified, is *not* me).

Uhuh. I see where the canwegethimtoashrinkbeforeheturnsaxemurdererwhoslayssix bit comes in, in the above bits.

So much fun , too, no ?

Anonymous said...

like someone is coming online these days [:P]!!

Mrudula Sreekanth said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Anti,
"Aaala Kootu" subramanian da nee, athunaala than nee munnala pore, naange pinnala - on muduga parkarom
G

anantha said...

Gman: Niruthu da Paalakaad! :p

?!: Hehe...