End of Year I

There are more times than I can count of instances when I wish that I was endowed with less laziness. And then are bucket-loads more occasions when I feel that God could have gifted me with more skills. Well, this post is not supposed to be about my skills, but the above is just the prelude to the statement which confirms (for those who haven't observed it already) that this post comes after a long time and that I wish I posted more often. Taking all things into consideration, this term the "I didn't have enough time" excuse would hold some water. I guess that is enough of an apology for those who did miss my writing skills :D (Why do I have the feeling that no one in the audience raised their hand? Ah well, you will come around some day when I manage to write a best-seller! What??? Well, there is no harm in dreaming!)

The intent of my writing this post is commemorate the end of classes for the first year(the exams finish tomorrow). I hate using cliche (now this too has become a cliche) but I need to something to the effect of 'the time has flown and I can't believe that the year is up so soon'. To say that I have enjoyed it would be poor use of the repertoire of words. The word 'enjoy' requires lots of qualification for it to be properly put in context.

I would like to put the negatives out of the way first and then go on to better things. I guess it is not just me who has been underwhelmed by the institution. There were much higher expectations when we entered the portals of this institutions. To say that we have been more than slightly disillusioned and the quality of our learning has been affected as a result, would not be off the mark. There have been times when I was in disagreement with somethings going on here and there were more than a few who were unhappy with my disagreement. Well, those things are bound to happen in life but it still is jarring to see the cynicism which creeps into people. I could dig a bit more but I am in no mood to continue with this postmortem.

The great thing about staying in a hostel is the bonding which occurs. People whose existence I was unaware of just a few months, come along, make an impression and form bonds which are strong enough to last a life time. I would say that friendship is still very under-rated. I realize that all said and done, it is people who count. There have been times when I was down and I didn't ask for help, but I was glad I got it. I guess it is the very environment of being in a hostel which makes one feel much more strongly for others (at least a lot more than I used to).

There were lots of occasions when I have had fun, from water fights, matka-phod in the mud to trips to the city. However, one of the most important groups that I was a part of this year was my study group. That we are notorious is a gross understatement. We kicked, pushed, pulled, fought, screamed, swore ( all over GTalk and in class when we realize that no one has turned up with the assignment) and of course did the brilliant presentations. It was kind of ironic that we could have done a lot more but we still managed to get pretty decent grades for our group work. My only regret is that we could have done a bit more of 'group' work!

Then there is the row in which I was seated for the first year. I had the privilege of being in the same row as some very talented people. There were at least two of us who had a great talent for sleeping, all the row was more than very competent when it came to class participation(CP) and we also had time to indulge in 4-by-4, cows and bulls, and other games. There were more than a few times when I put my neighbour in danger by not waking him up before asking a question, but we were always there to alert each other when our main occupation in class (i.e sleeping for those who couldn't make it out) was going to irk the professor. Then there was the really chill trip that we had for our bench party. It was a great time and I am going to miss the row.

There were a lot of others whom I had the privilege to talk to on all kinds of topics (well, mainly football). Looking forward to more of that next year.

This writing would not be complete without a mention of the wonderful people that I call my friends. All of them have their quirks but each one of them is very caring. The sort of people who would go the distance for you. There are times when we try to look back and trace the way in which we made friends and find it difficult to point the time when we became friends, but that doesn't really matter ( though I am sure that there will be at least one point/incident which settles the issue). What does is the fact that one has them in place and that they now how much one values them.

As I leave for summers, I know for sure that I am going to miss this place and what is even more tragic - the people!