On a different note

I just received a letter from Manipal University. I have been offered a seat in electronics. I am thrilled. I am all the more excited as this offer letter will allow me to travel to a quaint little university town called Manipal in the south of India far from my hometown of Calcutta in the east of India.
I wake up from sleep at my father’s call. We reach Tiger Circle, the center of Manipal. It’s a misty morning. Right across the road I see the Manipal Tech College. We get off the bus and hire an auto for Hotel Ashlesh. The auto driver seems gentle and carries a nice smile unlike his big city counterparts. He gently asks my father, “New admission?”
Hotel Ashlesh is quite grand for a small university town. The staff is cordial. I tell myself, “People are friendly here.”
We have dosas in breakfast and head to the university building. I am nervous but curious. The university building is a massive modern structure, seems like one of those software offices in Calcutta. As I enter the lobby, I find a number of boys and girls seated with paper files in hand. They are accompanied with their guardians. The guardians are busy interacting with each other. My father takes the second empty seat to the right. I take the first. My father interacts with a gentleman seated beside him. It seems he is an Indian settled in the USA. His daughter Divya who is an American citizen has been offered a seat in electronics. The gentleman would like his daughter to spend a few years in India. They are at the same hotel. Soon, I am introduced to Divya. I am skeptical speaking with her. She has an American accent. Divya doesn’t seem interested in me. She is sad. She tells me that she finds Manipal a dry, barren, dust bowl. Her father tells me that she is home sick and misses her home in the US.
After our enrollment process, both I and Divya accompanied by our fathers catch an auto to head back to the hotel. On the auto, Divya is silent. She has not spoken much throughout the day anyway. As the auto zips through the Manipal Parkala road, suddenly Divya screams, “Owe whaaoo. Is that a caaw?!” I spot a cow sitting idly right in the middle of the road and say, “Yes”. Divya’s face lights up with a bright smile. She says in that authentic American accent, “Cute!”
Over dinner, the three of us explain Divya that cows are worshipped in India and are free to move anywhere they want to. Divya shares her rasgulla with me and tells me how eager she is to explore Manipal come tomorrow morning!