Sunday, July 31, 2005

A Gift that has not been...

It reverberated throughout campus the whole of last year - enthu tempo shouts of "Mug-o! Fachhon! Mug-o!" by Tuchhas that made poor Fachhas like us painfully aware of the chasm that stretched wide and deep between us... Great pains were taken to ensure that we knew, and dreamt longingly about, the much-spoken-about, much extolled, glorious period at WIMWI-Land called Tuchhadom - the golden age - that heavenly era at this Well-known-Institute-of-Management-in-Western-India when the students actually breathe, find time to look at themselves, at their friends, at the campus and beyond, and do some activity apart from mugging, which was accepted as the full-time profession during Fachhadom.

While we slogged, slogged and slogged in Fachhadom I mean)...
- Get up at 8.55 (though I, always an early riser, was slightly different in this regard)
- Hurriedly gobble some breakfast
- Run to class
- Attend lectures till 1.10
- Have lunch (if God does not rule that you should starve that day by sending a quiz your way)
- Mug for and then give a quiz (if it is one of those unlucky days)
- Slump back to your room, fully washed out, and crash right away
- Wake up for Chaai at the mess, with its 'appetizing aroma'
- Or better still, resign yourself to a bite of something at the heaven-sent CT (Cafe TANSTAFL, for the uneducated, cheerfully christened ‘There Ain’t No Such Thing As Free Lunch’ by one thoughtful Prof.)
- Chalk out and carefully schedule your group meetings for the day (err... night)
- Manage to skim through the readings for the next day between running for the group meetings one after the other (though me, fortunately being a resident of D1, almost never had to migrate to alternative dwellings for the meetings)
- Manage to crash atleast at 3/4 early next morning, of course, given that there are no major submissions or assignments the next day which might necessitate a night-out...

Our seniors seemed to enjoy, party and chill out...
- Get up whenever you want
- Attend classes whenever you want
- Go out of campus for movies and treats whenever you want
- Watch movies and play computer games whenever you want

- Haunt the tennis grounds and basketball courts whenever you want
- Well... basically have fun all round the clock... whenever you want

Or atleast, thats what we were made to feel...

Now, officially licensed by the PGP office to travel through that golden age, given that gift - the baton that was dutifully passed by our seniors to us, I feel personally let down... despite the fine-print-like subtle warnings by seniors that the fourth term might, in some ways, be a replica of the first year, I was expecting something like a paid holiday (of course, the only difference being that in this case, I would be paying for it...).
Apart from the so-called learnings from the electives we are supposed to have chosen because they really trigger some very profound chemical reaction called interest in us, I thought my days would be filled with fun, movies, friends, dinners and what-not...
Though I do admit that I've come a long long way from Fachhadom, I still envisage a long way (mebbe, another 3 months till my next term ?) to reach that stage...
To be fair to the fachhas, I must say that I've watched more movies and gone out more number of times in the past one month than I have, the whole of last year put together !
But still, sometimes, there is that little tug at my weak heart that echoes thoughts like "You are here to learn!", "What is your take-away from this place?" and "Are you doing justice to the well-earned money of your parents?" that makes me sit up guiltily, dust my books and try to digest the fundae about the Greeks and the Capital markets...
Well... to be fair again, I must say that I have been mugging a bit now and then, though I have been having my share of the fun in terms of going out with friends and watching movies...

I realise that the vision of second year that was painted to me was quite biased, in that it portrayed what some Tuchhas chose to do... Studying or not studying is one's personal choice in second year... Given that the system has been designed in such a way that the grades of second year may not have a hand in shaping one's career in any way, there are people who decide that the last year of student life (atleast, in most cases) should not be wasted in useless pursuits of the so-called learning, but should be utilised for other fruitful activities like enjoying one's freedom as a student (without the ties of a workplace and a salary and a boss to answer to). Of course, there are the other people who stick to ideals like learning and take-away and mug away, barricaded in their rooms...

If you ask me to which type I belong, frankly, I don’t know... I guess I am trying to be the bridge - a balance of both worlds - trying to "learn" as much as possible, while also valiantly attempting to make sure I don't lose out on my share of the fun...

Well... as I continue to maintain the balance (more details later, perhaps) I am alerted to the fact that fachha mid-terms start from tomorrow, by the haunted silence all around me and the aura that seems to emanate from behind every closed door that has a fachha behind it...
If I continue to dabble with my thoughts on my e-scribbling pad, I might be on the receiving end of many a curse from frustrated despo fachhas...
So I bid 'Goodbye' right here... accompanied by a heartfelt "Good Luck" wish to all fachhas at WIMWI... and any student in any part of the world who may have the blessing of an exam tomorrow (just to prove that I'm not partial in such matters pertaining to good luck charms)

Goodbye...till my next appearance :)

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

nice one dude.. very well summarises life at campus..
one important thing to realise is that second year is for having fun.. and learning can be loads of fun too..it needn't be mutually exclusive with watching movies etc..
it is this truth which most people choose to ignore and leave this hallowed institution with a feeling of discontentment hidden somewhere within them...
all the best to you to ur second year..may you find ur middle path as soon as possible...

3:52 AM  

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