Precautions When Entering the "Masala Mix"

26 September 2008
My dear little innocent one

You are about to enter the wonderful life of university. The place where mistakes are made over and over again but you eventually learn from them. Some might say it’s not as wonderful as people make it out to be. I hate to agree but I guess they are right in a way however if you play your cards right you will have no regrets.

What a year it has been. Assignments upon assignments, drinks upon drinks the story is never ending. I do however want to warn you about something that you are going to have to deal with; the little Indian community.

Yes, it is lovely to socialise with people you can identify with and who make you feel at home but seeing as it’s such a small community gossip is the staple diet. Your older self thought she would never be a part of the indulgent conversations but alas she was wrong. People found out about those whom I spent evenings out with and jumped to their own conclusions; more than half were not true but it had to be dealt with. At one stage I had a boyfriend according to the messenger in the grapevine.

The most useful piece of advice I can give you, which I wish I had at the begging of the year, is be sociable in this community but be weary of who you poor your feelings out to for they could be the very people to give your secrets away. It will be so tempting to be a part of the “curry corner” in Friar Tucks, a club that you will be attending frequently or shall I say weekly, but in accomplishing this make sure not to forget who you are and no matter how much you think you trust someone there’s always a possibility of information coming back to you completely distorted and looking like a “masarla mix”, everything tossed together.

With this I wish us a great, stress less and exciting life at Rhodes University.

Good luck fellow rhodent.

Your older, wiser and more indulgent self

Divia Padayachee