Its Graduation Time: Goodbye, Bricks...

I owe an apology to my poor neglected blog...
After braving severe tsunamis of hectic days of exams and placements, with my course skidding to a seemingly sudden stop, I must admit that it has taken me some time to bring my mind back from the chaotic sprinkling of thoughts and set things in order.
The thought of my graduation in April, as always, manages to fill my heart with a deep vacuum that looks dark and sinister : the end of student life ? Where am I headed ? Whats in store for me in the future ?
One part of my mind battles with these questions, while the other pauses and ponders over the recent past and the wonderful two years I spent on campus at IIMA...

One sunny day I stepped over the threshold
Into a world filled with fortunes untold
Into a womb, brick-walled and red
Where only the fortunate and gifted, tread.

The campus was home for two long years
Where I overcame many of my fears.
The girl who went in, a child at heart
Emerged a professional, raring to start.

I may have grown from sapling to tree
But this will forever be a part of me...
Each square inch of the campus here
Is a part of my memories I'll ever hold dear.

My memories start with the famous ramp,
The evenings at LKP, a student's dream camp,
Of course, there's VSL for the sincere scholar,
And then the CT for the food connosieur.

First year saw me drowning in books...
Classrooms I knew, and the library's nooks.
Dreams of casemats were common then
Night-outs and exams that shook mightiest of men.

Along with WAC came the cultural shows
T-Nite and Music that enlivened the lows
Parties and practices that energised me
And strengthened me to face the examination sea.

Came second year with loads of leisure
B-plans, Conflu, work plus pleasure...
Chaos, Uno and the LAN's movie sea
And watching fachhas on a mugging spree!

Then came my turn to mug away-
Placements n prep ruled the day
A test of sorts, for the butterfly in me:
Fresh out of her cocoon - bold, was she...

The brick-walled fortress despite its flaws
Protected and nurtured the girl that I was;
Made me a woman, bold and strong
To face the world and right the wrong.

So many faces year after year
Pass 'neath these arches, that I hold dear
Achievers may come, achievers may go,
But the soul of the campus will forever glow.

As I bid a fond farewell to the familiar brick-walled buildings, I know that this sense of bonding I feel with the red bricks is a legacy passed through generations of WIMWI-ans and will forever bind us all together in some form or the other...