Since N wanted me to archive this golden memory
I will not complain I will not complain I will not complain!
Anyhoo...
Singapura is turning into a ridiculous experience these days. I spent all of yesterday with this absurd feeling that I'd signed on a starring role in a Mandarin film, with much in the script being lost in translation. The prospectus just magnified certain words like " Top 20 among world's universities", "world class facilities", "unique international experience" and bla bla bla ... useless glitz.
That being said, Singapura affords Madness too. Friday night found four generations of POI (peeps of indian origin) NUS undergrads congregating at our favorite (read cheapest) pub in Clarke Quay. The place closed eventually, so we found ourselves on the bridge till 3am, inebriating our selves with rounds of beer from the corner 7-11, puffing out perfect rings of smoke and getting strangely philosophical. Or maybe the philosophical part was just me. Eventually, people started coupling and left. Or maybe, they just had had enough nonsense.
And then there were 5 of us.
At this point, N points out that he has a 9 am final the next day.
"Abeyy, this is THE chance beyy. 4th year mein aa gaya hoon and
I've never written an exam sloshed. This is my chance beyyy."
We all agree. We promptly hunt for other ways to maintain sweet intoxication (free of cover charge of course)
Arena has two black women sporting c-rrrazy afros in white hot-pants. Not my beat, really.
The Rupee Room is infested with Indian uncles.
Forbidden City has shut by 3am.
So we arrive at our Mecca- The Ministry of Sound. 9 rooms of music (worth paying cover charge for). We skip trance and R&B and techno and all that (trance and techno are supposed to be the same thing no?No?) and reach the Retro room and boogie away to Boney M for the rest of the night. I feel like I've died and reached heaven. Somewhere in between, I notice people have dropped away like barnacles off a ship ( I know, most absurd analogy possible).
And then there were 3.
T tries to do a jive with me but I trample all over his toes. He, however, simply smiles and looks at the LCD image of the girlfriend on his phone. Aaah...love hath cometh at last. T is happy. N is happy. Everyone is happy.
At 6 am, a cab deposits us back home. We lie in uncomfortable positions on the stairs in front of the hostel (N, me and T, in that order) and count stars like drunken fools.
"I'm not high."
"Neither am I."
"Yea, I'm fine."
But when we notice that one star is positively moving across the sky, we begin to reconsider this.
" Err...guys, do you see a star moving."
" Abey, its not moving bey."
" But it is!"
" okay, lets see in comparision with a stationary star. Oh f*@% man! It is moving!"
" Do you think we're all in the same dream?"
" No. Its a geo-stationary satellite."
"Oh."
Silence for a while.
" Did you know that people don't dream when they're snoring?"
" Really?
" Ya"
" Wow. That means my dad hasn't dreamt in 30 years."
Silence. Laughter. Silence.
"Oh look. There's that planet Mercury. Usko morning star kehte hain."
"Chup kar aunty"
There are still 2 more hours before N's exam and its crucial that we keep him awake. T & I embark on this mammoth task by watching Waisa Bhi Hota Hai part II and feeding him with peanut butter and jelly on hot toast. But in about half an hour, two fully grown man-babies are fast asleep on my lap.
And then there were none.
I guess college in Singapura, as good as college anywhere.
Epilogue:
N made it to the exam on time. He didn't know a darned thing and consequently finished the paper in 10 mins.
"30% paper tha. I'll manage a B+." He says.
Anyhoo...
Singapura is turning into a ridiculous experience these days. I spent all of yesterday with this absurd feeling that I'd signed on a starring role in a Mandarin film, with much in the script being lost in translation. The prospectus just magnified certain words like " Top 20 among world's universities", "world class facilities", "unique international experience" and bla bla bla ... useless glitz.
That being said, Singapura affords Madness too. Friday night found four generations of POI (peeps of indian origin) NUS undergrads congregating at our favorite (read cheapest) pub in Clarke Quay. The place closed eventually, so we found ourselves on the bridge till 3am, inebriating our selves with rounds of beer from the corner 7-11, puffing out perfect rings of smoke and getting strangely philosophical. Or maybe the philosophical part was just me. Eventually, people started coupling and left. Or maybe, they just had had enough nonsense.
And then there were 5 of us.
At this point, N points out that he has a 9 am final the next day.
"Abeyy, this is THE chance beyy. 4th year mein aa gaya hoon and
I've never written an exam sloshed. This is my chance beyyy."
We all agree. We promptly hunt for other ways to maintain sweet intoxication (free of cover charge of course)
Arena has two black women sporting c-rrrazy afros in white hot-pants. Not my beat, really.
The Rupee Room is infested with Indian uncles.
Forbidden City has shut by 3am.
So we arrive at our Mecca- The Ministry of Sound. 9 rooms of music (worth paying cover charge for). We skip trance and R&B and techno and all that (trance and techno are supposed to be the same thing no?No?) and reach the Retro room and boogie away to Boney M for the rest of the night. I feel like I've died and reached heaven. Somewhere in between, I notice people have dropped away like barnacles off a ship ( I know, most absurd analogy possible).
And then there were 3.
T tries to do a jive with me but I trample all over his toes. He, however, simply smiles and looks at the LCD image of the girlfriend on his phone. Aaah...love hath cometh at last. T is happy. N is happy. Everyone is happy.
At 6 am, a cab deposits us back home. We lie in uncomfortable positions on the stairs in front of the hostel (N, me and T, in that order) and count stars like drunken fools.
"I'm not high."
"Neither am I."
"Yea, I'm fine."
But when we notice that one star is positively moving across the sky, we begin to reconsider this.
" Err...guys, do you see a star moving."
" Abey, its not moving bey."
" But it is!"
" okay, lets see in comparision with a stationary star. Oh f*@% man! It is moving!"
" Do you think we're all in the same dream?"
" No. Its a geo-stationary satellite."
"Oh."
Silence for a while.
" Did you know that people don't dream when they're snoring?"
" Really?
" Ya"
" Wow. That means my dad hasn't dreamt in 30 years."
Silence. Laughter. Silence.
"Oh look. There's that planet Mercury. Usko morning star kehte hain."
"Chup kar aunty"
There are still 2 more hours before N's exam and its crucial that we keep him awake. T & I embark on this mammoth task by watching Waisa Bhi Hota Hai part II and feeding him with peanut butter and jelly on hot toast. But in about half an hour, two fully grown man-babies are fast asleep on my lap.
And then there were none.
I guess college in Singapura, as good as college anywhere.
Epilogue:
N made it to the exam on time. He didn't know a darned thing and consequently finished the paper in 10 mins.
"30% paper tha. I'll manage a B+." He says.