Leaving all the loved ones back in India (Mother, Father, Brother, Relatives and Friends) can get really difficult for anyone. More than leaving the people back in India it’s the feeling of leaving the place that you grew up in. You would like to see many things around you everyday. The ground that you play in, the street that you walk in, the people who say hi to you when you walk along the roads. Have that cup of coffee made by your mother when you get up early in the morning. Lean back on the couch and watch the India Vs Pakistan match as your mother makes Onion Pakoda’s in the kitchen. Ohhh my god I can’t feel bad for missing those anymore!!!!!!!!!!
These emotions and feelings are common for everyone who comes to USA from India. But what we (students at Rolla) have which any other International Student elsewhere in USA do not, is the love and affection among ourselves in Rolla. The India Association at UMR is probably the strongest and the most active association that I have ever heard off from any of my friends located in different universities. There are around 250 to 300 Indian students in UMR and on any given day, almost everyone of these 250 members can name atleast 150 out of the 250 Indian’s in Rolla. And I am sure everyone of us will recognize every other person if not name them.
Why is Rolla so successful in offering Love and emotional support
Firstly the place is fantastic and is a perfect place to have an educational Institution. I know everyone of us cursed one day or the other for being in a place like Rolla where we cannot party out, cannot see anything, cannot plan a trip to any other place. Rolla is 120 miles away from St. Louis which is the gateway between Rolla and any other place in this world that we want to go to.
Inspite of staying in such a remote place what you really want everyday is some pleasant faces wishing you good morning!!! when you get up. People who look at you with a bright smile asking how are you? People who feel the happiness to see you succeed, people who help you in every step that you take to succeed in whatever field you are in. People elsewhere can think of a party only in the weekends, but in Rolla we have party almost everyday. If you want to have a cup of coffee, just give someone a call and say that you want to have a coffee. That person will instantly call couple of other people and by the time we go to have that cup of coffee at someone’s place we are 10 to 20 people. All set for a small size party!!!!!!!!
Apart from this we have parties for birthday, we have parties if someone is graduating, we have parties if someone gets an internship, for any Indian festival (Holi, Diwali, Vinayaka Chavithi) anything for that matter. If it’s a B’ day of anyone in Rolla, its almost mandatory that you will get an invitation for the party. Even if you do not get an invitation, no regrets, you are always welcome to attend the party. Imagine there are 250 to 300 people in Rolla and even if you attend 100 birthday parties you have an oppurtunity to meet everyone more than quarter off the number of days in an year. India Association screens movies every Friday where we get to meet people again. So if you are in Rolla, you are bound to know people, you are bound to get close with some of them. Its so Obvious!!!
Pic: When I threw a party for getting an Internship
Pic: Performing Puja on Garba Night
If you see a person coming in front of you, you will wish him/her for sure and talk with that person about the way his masters is coming along, check if he has any problems, wish him good luck and leave. As mentioned earlier if there is any party you are an obvious person to be in that party, you are certain whom you will meet in the party, which is obvious, you have so many events where you get close to people which is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo obvious.
You take everything for granted, to see some people whom you meet everyday, you take your computer, you lab where you spend more than half of the time, your friends with whom you spend almost your whole day, the department corridors, the labs, the classrooms, the lawns in front of the departments, Schuman for cricket and volley ball, everything for granted. The frequency of alomost everyone in Rolla is tuned to the life at Rolla. When the time comes for you to go out of Rolla, you really feel the pinch. You feel the emotions of leaving your second home.
Many of the people who graduated this May had the bitter feeling for leaving Rolla more than the happiness that they graduated. Many of us might have heard of the phrase Blessing in Disguise but this is Disguise in Blessing. Graduating is a definite blessing but leaving Rolla is a Disguise. Here the disguise dominated the blessing. Once we go to work, we do not see so many people around us, we do not have so many people caring about us, we do not have so much time to have parties, chit chat, we are going to miss all this fun throughout our life. Friends being in such a wornderful community like Rolla, just spread the love to everyone and let everyone experience the same closeness and love that you showed upon everyone in Rolla.
This pic shows the Strength of India Association UMR and how sweet the community is…
The strength and support of all will remain with you where ever you are…
All the best,
Krishna Chaitanya Emani.
This is Chaitanya CRUISING your way. 