Saturday, 4 June 2016

THE GRADUATION JOURNEY


“Every beginning has an end. And every end has its own new beginning”
It’s a continuous cycle that happens in every aspect of our life. College life is no exception.
Things change, people change, situations change, but one thing that remains constant is the ever lasting memories that remains with us throughout.

Today, when I flip the pages of the book of life going into the past, it seems like yesterday when I completed me higher secondary much excited about the results and the mysterious future that waits. Out came the results and the focus shifted to the wild search for a new college. The thoughts of joining the best college ran across the country probably not missing out on any options available out of the hometown. Finally after all the head scratching moments, things settled with the new upcoming university in the town – KAZIRANGA UNIVERSITY

There were some nervous thoughts accompanied with excitement on the first day of college with some known and mostly unknown faces. We started with a little introduction and three years down the line we have built relationships, and priceless memories.

What’s ironic though is the fact that through the course of three years, we pretend to hate every bit of our college life. The news of a cancelled class makes us jump up and down on our seat even though we are fully aware of the horrors of the make-up class that would be scheduled or the tough time we would be having we would be having to cut time. The dull holidays anticipated as joyous moments were actually spent with the guilty pleasure of watching movies, series, videos, songs etc.

But let’s not forget the time spent in class to fulfill the academic requirements – the lectures, the exams, library, canteen, lobby, the study groups, the study sessions. Then there were moments spend outside the class, outside campus at those little pan shops. The annual day, sports week, entrepreneurship sessions, the fresher’s day, farewell and the list continues...

Making the college experience more fun and memorable were friend’s of all character and chasms, from the photogenic girl to the silent of all, the carefree one, the weeping princess, the little one, the one who would faint every now and then the slim diva with the most complex name. Then there were studs and the gentlemen’s, the bully, the knowledge guy, the army man, the one with the falling trousers, rajnigandha’s brand ambassador, baba, assamese hunk and the crazy one rarely found in class.

Then we had the most ‘tactful’ mentors and faculties. Every time you go to them to request an extension in the term project submission date or such requests, they will always be there. And not to help, mind you, but to stare at you in a nonchalant fashion and declare in an annoyingly innocuous tone a big “NO”. Then there were professors who just won’t stop cracking those tacky jokes, the young faculty with a great command on her English, the entrepreneur, the law professor and his laughter, the stubborn accounts instructor, the professor addressing everyone ‘Beta’ and finally the head of department who needs no mention.

Despite of the above mentioned stuff that we apparently disliked, somewhere in the last semester, the cognizance of our university life coming to an end hit us squarely on our face.
A couple of free days after the final exams and I have started missing the weekend make-up classes; classes that I went to grudgingly, cursing the instructor’s wife all the times for making life so miserable at home that he takes the troll of frustration on me.

Oh! How much I miss the constant complaints, the arguments, and the pranks played on the professors and class mates. And of course, who can forget the study groups, the misplaced crushes, relationships? All these small things, put together make the whole enterprise unforgettable.
No, it hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth every minute.
We have laughed, we have cried, we have fallen down just to rise again; we have felt the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat

Finally the curtains have fallen, the final whistle is blown, the game is over, another chapter ends and journey waits for another roller coaster ride. The story of real life may have just begun, but graduation seems to be a very appropriate point for an integral chapter of life to have a happy ending.


PS: A heartfelt apology to all those who have been a part of this mesmerizing journey, friends without whom classrooms all around the world will be exponentially boring.