Gitanjali “Gitsy” Prasad ’08 is so endearing that her residence hall dedicated a Facebook group to her, “Gitsy is the Shitzy!” A self-described “amorphous potato that talks,” Gitsy is also involved with WESTAND and the Tsunami Relief group, and wants to start a revolution to bring back the old campus center as the hub of student life. She loves to discuss her favorite places on campus and in Middletown, so I sat down with her in the Olin lobby, which happens to be at the top of her list.

Barbara Fenig: Why did you decide to go to school so far from your home of New Delhi?

Gitsy Prasad: Well, my mother was the reason that I decided to go here. It was the first epic battle between my mother and me when the decision was made to come here. I was really grateful for the opportunity to come here, because I knew that I would be able to study things here that I would not be able to back home in India. In India it is the same system of studying as the British system, of three years of the same subject as an undergraduate. So I didn’t know what I would choose as my subject. The decision to come was very quick because I took my SATs during my senior year of high school. So everything happened very quickly. That was that. I was packed away and it was done. The deed was done.

BF: Have you brought any of India to Wes?

GP: I don’t think I have, I’m sort of an amorphous potato that talks. I think of myself as a potato sometimes. I love potatoes. I think they have a lot of personality! I don’t think that I’ve brought India to Wesleyan. The closest I’ve come is that I’ve stage-managed for Samsara. I’d like to think that I bring aspects of the people I love at home, and the places I’ve been. I think we all bring that.

BF: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

GP: I would be a sloth and you can interpret that however you want. It’s because I like to sleep and just lie. And I think that they must think fascinating things. I’m sure they do. They choose to do it in a way that they don’t have to exert themselves too much. I’d like to be a sloth on rollerblades and anytime that I wanted to do something I could do it quickly.

BF: What do you think of the facebook group “Gitsy is the Shitzy?”

GP: This was sophomore year, my residents; they were the best things that could tread upon this earth. So much joy in the basement of Nic 5.5 because of them! The group was their doing; they thought it would be fricking hilarious! I constantly have dreams about when I lived there. They were great, they were all crazy in the best way possible but they were crazy. They thought I was the most the most boring person because I didn’t listen to a lot of music. They thought I would have all of these neat insights into the music from back home. They were appalled. They were like, “you might be the most boring person that I’ve ever met!” I love them!

BF: Any wild stories?

GP: When I was an RA, I was super by the book, and petrified of doing anything wrong. I also was unable to assert any sort of community, accountability because our hall was a shit show sometimes, and it was okay that it was. Lots of stories.

BF: What’s the coolest place that you have traveled?

GP: When I was four, I went to the Andaman and Nicobar islands. It was where I had my first vivid memories. My first vivid memories were of the ocean. My mother was working there, it’s at the southeastern coast of India. A lot of the islands are still untouched, and a lot of indigenous communities still live there. It’s a great place. It’s where I developed my serious attachment to seafood, poor sea creatures that I eat a lot! I learned how to swim there, our family was together after a long time there, for the first time. I saw things underwater that I couldn’t believe. It was a great set of first vivid memories and remembering my family in a pretty happy place. And we also got our first dog there, a stray called Teatop.

BF: You spoke about the islands for the Tsunami Relief
group. Were they heavily affected by the Tsunami?

GP: The islands were affected by the tsunami, initially a lot of people we worried a lot of those communities that people had no contact with had been completely destroyed. Some had been but it wasn’t as devastating as was initially thought. I just remember that some of things that you would here were very scary. A lot of the people had never traveled around—their entire lives were devoted to being at peace with the ocean, living by the ocean. I remember that there was this one woman that was interviewed, “I’m afraid of the ocean now and it is my other half.”

BF: What is your craziest meal creation in the dining hall?

GP: When I used to go to MoCon, I liked putting everything into soup: the entrée, the vegetables, the crackers, and salad. Everything into the soup! Soup just needs to be one meal with everything in it. I used to do that a lot.

BF: What do you plan to do after graduation?

GP: The only thing that is concrete about my next plans is that I am going to be living with my sister in New York. I haven’t lived with her since I was eight. She’s so great. She’s twenty-nine! I’m going to live with her, and hopefully I’ll have a job and an internship.

I’ve really been struggling with whether I want to go home or not. Wesleyan has been wonderful and I realize that life outside of Wesleyan is not the same thing at all. I may want to transition to go back home. I miss my family and my friends from high school. This summer will be a transition. I will spend some time with my sister and then ease into going home. It’s been a tough decision and it’s what I want to do right now.

BF: What are some of your favorite Wesleyan memories?

GP: Sometimes I like nights when everything comes together, really perfectly. I think that those have just been interspersed, all over the four years. The Jens Lekman concert at Eclectic, it was great! Sometimes I think about it! It was so great! These past few weeks, all of the seniors have been going to things that their friends have been doing. It’s a very celebratory time. It’s the best way to end it because you can’t sit in your room and be in despair. Everyone has done things that they should be really proud of. People across grades have been so supportive. It’s a really good note to end on.

BF: Can you recommend any places to go to in Middletown, any cool places that you want to share?

GP: I once wrote a letter to this boy who I liked. And I said, “This is everything that you should do in the spring time.” And mind you that this is not so long ago, and it was a pretty good list because I really thought about it. I think I really like walking around Indian Hill at night with a group of people, it’s a nice place to be, especially on the warmer nights. I like the old campus center, sitting outside of it. My friends and I talk about bringing it back and pretending that it’s the campus center. At the old campus center, if you stood at the Vegan Café, the view was breathtaking. It was an incredible place! I think everyone should go to the fourth floor of Olin. There’s a nice light, it feels like a laboratory. You feel like people are doing experiments. I really like the stacks of Olin library, and the hill behind Freeman, it’s a nice place to sit.

BF: Any final comments?

GP: I think love is big.