I was finally back home for good. One of the first, no, actually the first one to leave college. It was as if a 3 year surrealism had suddenly been taken away. The dreams we saw, the dreams we lived and the dreams to come all live on forever.
On one hand, I remember, there were people in my own batch who had waited 2 years before they got through the entrance exams and on the other hand there was me! Not that i didn't complete my test, just that i couldn't do the first section cause i was late and out of the 20 minutes given for that section i was left with only 5. It had been a wild time the night before and anyway it was not my idea to sit for the entrance. Well, i somehow managed and was informed that i need to come back for my group discussion and personal interview the next day. After yet another hard night of party, i walked in for round 2 only to find boys and girls dressed in suits and ties! Was i in the wrong place or were they? I believe the only thing decent in my attire were the shoes - which were thankfully black - barring that the earrings, the Chinese collar shirt, the baggy jeans and the colored hair screamed 'FREAK'. In the state i was in - still reeling from last night - the single memory (other than clothing) i have of that day is a question i was asked by one of the panelists in the personal interview. He asked me, "what is the significance of those earrings, is it religious or just a fashion statement?". I will always believe that i got admission based on the answer i gave, which was "it is nothing religious and yes to an extent it is a fashion statement, but more than that sir, i believe that everyone has a male and female side to them and i am just trying to keep in touch with my feminine side". I was also looking directly at the only woman on the panel when i said this so i guess i got that brownie!
A month later i was standing in front of the haloed gates of the institute that would be home for me for the next 3 years. Only God knows how? Apparently, and this is something i honestly didn't know (i thought i was going to college?!), the campus had a few ground rules - no chappals, no shorts and no earrings on campus! Are u kidding me? Where am i and how did i get here, cause when i entered i had instantly faltered on all the rules! I was traveling for fucks sake and who the fuck (except for executives and the like) travels in suits? I need my room when i travel and that's why the shorts and the flip-flops. Ah well, within a minute i had four seniors telling to me to change into pants or something cause the principal had already heard! Can u believe it, this is within a minute of entering the gates? Welcome to the mecca of gossip and professional 'bhakhchoddi', IHM, Aurangabad.
When you are pretty convinced that you are completely in the wrong place and then out-of-the-blue someone approaches you and the first thing they ask is "were you the guy who entered wearing shorts?" with a smile on their face - that gives a hope and a half that maybe just maybe. It was that question alone that forged a friendship for life, because beyond that question i didn't even have to ask as i knew instantly that i was looking into a mirror and a rebel-without-a-cause stared back! He was black, big, bespectacled and a devil to the core. The black, bespectacled devil is still the same, just a little smaller. With time i realized that the devil is actually a quick thinking, sharp-witted and with the memory of an elephant and that is what made him the devil. More about the devil on a later date maybe, for now every time i think about this day it reminds me of how it can be classified as a re-birth or what the alcoholics term as 'A moment of CLARITY!'
On one hand, I remember, there were people in my own batch who had waited 2 years before they got through the entrance exams and on the other hand there was me! Not that i didn't complete my test, just that i couldn't do the first section cause i was late and out of the 20 minutes given for that section i was left with only 5. It had been a wild time the night before and anyway it was not my idea to sit for the entrance. Well, i somehow managed and was informed that i need to come back for my group discussion and personal interview the next day. After yet another hard night of party, i walked in for round 2 only to find boys and girls dressed in suits and ties! Was i in the wrong place or were they? I believe the only thing decent in my attire were the shoes - which were thankfully black - barring that the earrings, the Chinese collar shirt, the baggy jeans and the colored hair screamed 'FREAK'. In the state i was in - still reeling from last night - the single memory (other than clothing) i have of that day is a question i was asked by one of the panelists in the personal interview. He asked me, "what is the significance of those earrings, is it religious or just a fashion statement?". I will always believe that i got admission based on the answer i gave, which was "it is nothing religious and yes to an extent it is a fashion statement, but more than that sir, i believe that everyone has a male and female side to them and i am just trying to keep in touch with my feminine side". I was also looking directly at the only woman on the panel when i said this so i guess i got that brownie!
A month later i was standing in front of the haloed gates of the institute that would be home for me for the next 3 years. Only God knows how? Apparently, and this is something i honestly didn't know (i thought i was going to college?!), the campus had a few ground rules - no chappals, no shorts and no earrings on campus! Are u kidding me? Where am i and how did i get here, cause when i entered i had instantly faltered on all the rules! I was traveling for fucks sake and who the fuck (except for executives and the like) travels in suits? I need my room when i travel and that's why the shorts and the flip-flops. Ah well, within a minute i had four seniors telling to me to change into pants or something cause the principal had already heard! Can u believe it, this is within a minute of entering the gates? Welcome to the mecca of gossip and professional 'bhakhchoddi', IHM, Aurangabad.
When you are pretty convinced that you are completely in the wrong place and then out-of-the-blue someone approaches you and the first thing they ask is "were you the guy who entered wearing shorts?" with a smile on their face - that gives a hope and a half that maybe just maybe. It was that question alone that forged a friendship for life, because beyond that question i didn't even have to ask as i knew instantly that i was looking into a mirror and a rebel-without-a-cause stared back! He was black, big, bespectacled and a devil to the core. The black, bespectacled devil is still the same, just a little smaller. With time i realized that the devil is actually a quick thinking, sharp-witted and with the memory of an elephant and that is what made him the devil. More about the devil on a later date maybe, for now every time i think about this day it reminds me of how it can be classified as a re-birth or what the alcoholics term as 'A moment of CLARITY!'
I am excited at being the first one to comment on what I am hoping is going to be the beginning of something spectacular!
ReplyDeleteThe day being referred to was the 25th of August 1999, when 119 (if i remember correctly, else the "black, bespectacled devil" will surely correct me) lives changed forever! and I remember this day clearly because I was one of the 119, No 722 to be precise!
awesome sam - i am really bad with dates so keep 'em coming bro!
ReplyDeleteVery true Mayav.. 25th Aug... the day it changed it all... yup u got 701 here to ...
ReplyDeleteThere was a buzz in the air that day that was quite invigorating for us lambs (if i might say so) if counting the chefs too yah i bit round that figure... casuse the mgt went up till 790, 90 of us.