Recylced Rasam and Spicy Burritos

Some of memorable days have been my days at WVU. Every time I think about those days, they bring an involuntary smile over my face especially certain events. Here are some of the events that I experienced first hand and some heard on hearsay.

Recycled Rasam - If you are from South India, you must know what rasam means. It is a common practice among student roommates to share the chores especially cooking. So there was this guy who would recycle the rasam. How is that possible? He would take the rasam made by his room mate the previous day, add some water, salt and rasam powder, reheat it and would say Rasam Ready.

Spicy Burritos - This is an anecdote from personal experience. This guy was from Bombay and had a Peurto Rican and a Brazilian friend. He would hang out with them quite often. So one day he comes and it was his turn to cook food. He asks if we would like to try a Mexican item named Burrito. To me it was exotic. Sounded good Why Not. So he makes spicy scrambled eggs, takes out a tortilla, spreads some Maggi TomChi sauce (which was staple on everything at our home those days) on the tortilla, rolls the tortilla stuffed with Scrambled eggs and say here you go. I think I did like it that one time. But he would make it every time it was his turn.

Fountain - This was my first day at school and I was waiting at the Chairmans office to report my arrival and talk about registering for classes. At the desk was a Student Assistant who was filling in for the secretary. This was the graduate student assistant with whom I took a class later on. After a short wait, I ask this dude where I can find drinking water with my thumb pointing to my mouth. After repeating what I needed, he says there is a fountain outside. To this I felt slighted, why does he want me to go out of the building and drink water from a fountain. I did not want to miss the Chair in search of a fountain as I could see one on my way in. After a short time, I repeat to which he says there is a fountain just outside. What I later found was that there was a water fountain just outside the office door. All this while I was imagining a dirty fountain in the park, that this graduate student was asking to find drinking water.

Cleaning with Tissues - This is from my brothers school at EMU. His roommate takes his bath, dries himself with tissues papers and clogs the flush. He somehow manages to clear the clog that day. It so happened that the clog went a little out and stayed causing the water to fill up and seep through the roof underneath. Imagine the stench for the guys staying below and from the backup. The landlord slaps him with a bill of $2.5 K. At least the clog is cleared.

Togo and For Here - This must be the perennial. Anyone used to Plate or Parcel can sympathize with this guy. This one guy goes to a BK and orders something for lunch. the lady at the counter TOGO or For Here. Having heard it for the first time, he cries neither. He blurbs out, I WANT HERE AND NOW FOR MYSELF TO EAT HERE.

Then there are these cliches like this newcomer sitting on the commode, cleaning in the shower tub etc. No details necessary there.