Learnings

What I learnt after 1 semester in India’s premier B school

1. Clearly, I am not the most intelligent, capable and awesome person in the world.

2. Hard work must pay, cause I am nowhere near my dream job.

3. Unable to figure out what my dream job is, still...

4. I am not afraid of any situation. After going through the rigorous schedule and crazy examination, I feel I am prepared for any eventuality. Bring it on!

A blissful day...

Ok... So here are the explanations :)

Last weekend was my best friend A's birthday... We've been buddies since engineering. And I have this terrible problem with dates, especially birthdays. I just CANNOT remember them, even close family's... (with a tinge of shame, I've gotta admit the only birthday I remember is my own).

So, I had been planning for a while to do something nice on that day. I planned to connive with his girlfriend. And the two of us set forth gathering other conspirators for D-day.

All our intricate plans were in place. She planned to meet him later in the day like she normally would have. I called him at 12AM like I normally should have, and spun a long yarn about being stuck in Pune due to office on saturday (HA!!! He fell for that one, cause it's true at times).

But alas!! Not many were free to attend the culmination of this conspiracy for the simple fact that no one was in town that day, so it was left to me, his girlfriend R and his school buddy J. To add confusion to complication, I got delayed in reaching the rendezvous. Eventually, the three of us landed up at his doorstep, cake in hand and the camera rolling...

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!

A remains transfixed as he sees R, Me and J outside his door, with his sister in on this whole thing... He hates to admit this, but he was Totally suprprised!!!! :)

After the ritual cake-cutting, we gorged on auntie's Idli-Sambhar (gosh it was like manna!). Joke's, food, friends and some internet made it one memorable afternoon. Spontaneously we decided to watch a movie... Chak-De India it was. Fortunately, cause Bollywood usually behaves truant, it turned out to be a great movie...

For A it was a surprise, and R loved it too...

For my part, I could'nt contain the joy of meeting A & R after such a long time... We 3 and other friends have been together for the last 4 years in the same class, and then I used to take everyone's presence for granted.

It's only now, when I am away, bereft of their company... After losing someone do you understand their worth... I've learnt it the hard way. So I've always been the one who forgot to come, the one who forgot to call, the one who was never there... I want to change that, I want to let my loved one's know that I do care... These were my first steps to make amends, to implement what I have learnt... the hard way.

Troniiiix... Tronix... ta ta ta!!!

Sounds weird??? Not to me. Thats the chant we used in college to spur us on. No, I aint a roman gladiator or a cricketer who needs all that cheering, but this was one rallying point for anyone or anything to do with Electronics Engineering in my college. Its typical, you know, the standard department chant, that is used indescriminately from sports days to annual dance competitions to fisticuff fights.

'Tronix...', is a snazzy and rather cool shorthand for 'Electronics Engineering Department is the best'. Besides its commonplace utilities, it was used most potently during Euphoria, the annual cultural fest in college. I mean c'mon, (70x4=) 300 odd boys and girls belting this chant out in perfect sync repeatedly, is QUITE a thing. And the statutory use was before and after Elecs dept dance or skit. Before, to basically shut the others up, and after, to show em whos the boss!!! We cudnt give a damn about the condition of our throats, once the mood got to us. We would cheer for the freshers, juniors, seniors, boo the other departments, get into fights, even physical ones, all with the chant in our minds... TRONIIIIIX...TRONIX!!!

Its amazing what such a seemingly insignificant sound can achieve. Its by far the best form of bonding I have discovered. It makes people from diverse backgrounds and experience stick together like super-glue! And fellas, you've gotta be cheered for once to know what it is like. During our final year performance, I was to perform a solo on 'Rang de Basanti' in the finale sequence. Despite the hours of practice, the wardrobe decided to malfuncation. Hey, don't gasp, nothing like what the term implies. It's just that it was a typical Punjabi Costume with all the headgear, and the flourish on top was loose, and hung right into my left eye. It absolutely impossible to concentrate on anything when you have needles being pricked into your eyes I'm sure, and thats exactly what it felt like. But the moment the song reached the fast beat, the crowd roared! Believe me, at that moment I didnt care two hoots about the sagging headgear or a loose dhoti, I danced my heart out. I could here the gang chanting... I still get goosebumps when I think of it.

And Euphoria just happened again in college. I missed it. Many of my batchmates attended as ex-students. Missing Euphoria SUCKS! Some people would surely find this rather childish and immature for a guy who is working now. Big deal, its just a college fest. That too one you have sat through 4 times, and of a college you are no more a part of, and of a culture you are no more SUPPOSED to be a part of. Grow UP they say.

But hey, maybe I dont want to. OK, ive really grown and matured in the last few months, ever since I went of to training and started living alone in new city, among new and unfamiliar people. Yeah, I've made that transition, boyz to men. But a part of me still is hanging back there, in the coridoors of college, in the coffee shop with friends, on the cricket field on weekends, all drenched up during holi, yelling at 12.30 in middle of the night on getting my Matlab program correct, still teasing friends and getting teased in return, fighting with each other over petty things and forgetting as quickly. Is it all that bad???