Places and their names

My 1st indi-venture away from home was participation in IIT-Madras's Shaastra. Me and my partner had no confirmed accomodation, and after some cajoling were put up in the hostel with a large group. All the girls in that group were from the same place - Vizag. Me and my friend gelled in with them within a short time. For the whole of my stay in IITM, I kept wondering what Vizag is. Finally I mustered enough courage to accept that i am no geography wiz, and asked them about vizag? How come such a beautiful place with awesome beaches exists in India and I havent even heard of it..vizag is Vishakhapattanam. Of course I have heard about it!

So now when my Dallas roomy says she studied in College of Engg. Trivandrum, I quickly google it to confirm that Trivandrum is indeed Tiruvananthpuram. It then dawns that my geography GK is not just based on school education, but also on daily news. Surely news readers wont call it Vizag or Trivandrum.

I had heard about Vasco da Gama loads before we learnt about him. But before I saw the sea-route his ship had followed, I thought Calicut was same as Calcutta.

My native place is close to Pune, the city I grew up in. To go to my native place, I have to take a bus from the main bus terminal in the area of Pune called "Shivaji"nagar. So when someone talks of "Sambhaji"nagar, i picturize a smaller bus terminal. :P