How Manipal Treats you as a Newcomer

It’s not even a month since I moved into Manipal. But surprisingly, I don’t feel like I’m new here. There’s something so warm about this place. The people, the city, is welcoming.

A little flashback, I’ve never stayed out of my house before any time, and I’ve stayed in one city (Bangalore) for 17 years. Life there was nice. When I decided to come here, and when I got my admissions done, I was pretty much, very excited! But as the day of my arrival here came closer & closer, my heart started to skip a beat! I was excited for a new phase of my life; at the same time, I didn’t know whether I was ready for such a significant change. I couldn’t express it to anybody, but I was petrified. (Oops) My parents were also worried about me managing my stuff here (because I’m not good at it).

Let me give you a little gist of Bangalore life.

Mornings were starting with sounds of horns, people frustrated, annoying alarms. Then to reach my college, which is 20 mins from my area, Left 1 hour before the time to make sure I catch the extremely crowded buses and obviously “Traffic.”  After college ended I’d again miss 4-5 buses in the process of crossing the huge main roads and finally would catch the 6^th bus, and it used to take double the time to reach in the evening than morning. I was rather tired of that congested, tiring, always frustrated, in-a-hurry, life.  (No offense to Bangalore, I love my city a lot, but it is how it is :P)

But here in Manipal, (at least since the last few days) I don’t wake up from my alarm, but the tapping sound of rain on my window is more than enough to do the job. I get up and sit a few minutes watching the rain and then proceed with my day. The peaceful, green campus here makes me happy. The “unique charm” that this college campus has is very rare. The way we walk to college in the rain, while getting drenched even with umbrellas, with the fear of cars and rickshaws splashing water on you, crossing the little swimming pool formed outside of gate 2 to reach MIC, all these may sound annoying, but I know for a reason, these are the things which we will remember! You can be in your hostel at 8:45 and reach college at 8:55!! Almost every place here is within a 2 km radius.

My most favorite place here is STUDENT PLAZA. The reasons are numerous. Me being a socially awkward person came here and spoke to people! I made my first few friends not in a class, but here in student plaza itself! Till today if I don’t sit here for a few minutes in a day, I feel my day’s not complete. Especially when the place gets lit in the evenings, this place looks a hundred times nicer nice! You can come here and sit literally at any time of the day. People at the plaza here sing, play music, talk and do what they feel like without having to worry about anything.

I feel that coming to Manipal for pursuing my higher education is the best decision I made. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith to know you’re capable of. This city accepts you for who you are. People here are welcoming, helpful, and courteous. In simple words, settling down in Manipal is not difficult!

The food here is also pretty excellent! You won’t feel bad about it. They try their best to fulfill everyone’s expectations. You will find people literally from the North to the South of India, which is a great thing about the place. It’s almost like a small pack of the whole of India in one town due to the massive diversity!

The first day I came here, there was something which told me that I’m going to love this place and it’s very accurate! Everything here is a lot nicer than I expected. You may feel I’m saying a lot for a person who has stayed here for hardly a month, but I sincerely feel it. I’m sure all the freshers do feel this way. The lush campus with a view at every corner, the serenity, the calmness, every part here is worth exploring. And I’m sure this is only one part of my experience, and there’s a whole lot to come. I’m surely looking forward to my stay here, and I know for a fact that it’s going to be the best experience of my life yet. J