Hey, I’m rushing for office right now, will talk to you later. Dude, I’ve submissions next week, let’s meet some other time. Not this weekend yaar, I’ve an office party. Guys, c’mon it’s been ages since we last saw each other…
The friends who used to meet everyday, sit together for long hours and talk to each other even after getting back home (almost like 24*7) have now disappeared in those busy 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. work schedules all of a sudden. Once a week get-together suddenly started seeming to be an achievement. And now, days, weeks and months, okay maybe even years go by without meeting or even talking!
*Flashback alert*
College…mera college! <3 Jis jagah ko 100 gaaliyaan di thi 1st year mein, usi se 3rd year tak pyaar ho gya tha…jahan 1st lecture attend krne mein aafat aati thi, vahin last exam wale din us gate se bahar nikalte waqt har ek kadam bhaari padh rha tha…jahan bheth kr un pagalon k sath lamhe bitaaye the, aaj unhi chehron ko dekh kr bas sawaal yahi tha- kya ye sach mein aakhiri baar hai?
[College…my college! <3 The place that we had cursed in the 1st year had made us fall in love with it in the 3rd year…where attending those morning lectures were annoying, every step moving out of that college gate on the last exam day felt heavier than ever…where we had spent the best moments of our lives with those crackheads, the only question that day was- is it really the last time?]
Hah! It’s been three years since we graduated, exactly the same time, but never the same days. :’) Our go-to-people from undergrad days have now started settling into their own lives, be it a job, business or higher studies. Some of us found our forever love in college, and are already married or are soon planning to, while some of us are still waiting for that perfect one. Some bonds grew stronger with time, while some eloped in the chaos. Ab toh aisa lag rha h ki har roz life humein googly pr googly die jaa rahi hai :/ [Now it feels that life has been throwing googlies (spinning throws) at us with every coming day].
But we do miss it all, we miss us! And this is why we are back here to live it one more time through our words and share the other side of it, especially with the ones heading towards the *REAL WORLD* (spoiler alert) :D.
To begin with, all the recent graduates – we know that this lockdown has taken a toll on your lives as you did not even know that a closure to such a beautiful phase would be this harsh. But then guys, life and it’s uncertainties – that’s how they roll! Tbh, we may not be able to fill the hole it’d leave with you, but we’re sure that there’s a brighter side to look forward to. Hope this helps you get a glimpse of it, and the other ones (like us :P), let’s reminisce about the good old days. 🙂
So people, remember that instant plan to walk out of the lecture to watch a movie that was about to start in ten minutes? Those sudden cravings for QDs tandoori momos and chilli potatoes that made you ride all the way to Hudson lane, completely neglecting the 2 p.m. lecture for which you actually stayed for? The crazy instance of forcing your friend out of his serious library session, just because you were bored without him?
We all have so much of these in our kitty that words would fall less to do justice to them. The point is we were so full of life to consider them as uncertainties, rather we loved the instant plans then. Nothing made us feel burdened, except for the semester exams 😛 The world – we didn’t give a damn about it, because we had our own in that place. BUT THEN…
On this side of the college gate, we make life to dance … and on the other side of the gate, life makes us dance!
TIT FOR TAT – (Leona) I remember missing the 10 a.m. lectures in college, because I was too lazy to get out of my bed and attend it for just one tick on the attendance register… but now the sharp 10 AM meetings have surely made me reach office at 9.45 (not to forget one hour of travel time here) 😛
(Eira) I would never forget how I cancelled all my plans for the day, when a friend called up to reach some other college just to take part in ‘Treasure Hunt’ at their fest. And today, I’m so engulfed in my studies that even giving myself a break on Sundays feels like a task (Just like Naina from YJHD) 🙂
In fact, each one of us who are out of college and now in another phase of life, we all have questions like, how did life flip this quick? Do I really need to do this? Am I ready for another upheaval in life? Can I relive my undergraduate days one more time, please? Were all those years in college a fantasy? Yeah, no one told us that it was gonna be this way! 🙁
Well, we won’t sympathize with the most unsettled times of all that may sometimes even feel like nightmares, these will be more unforgiving and in all these years of college, we all could see that happening soon, just that we chose to keep ourselves away from this harsh reality. You know, that is the best part, we knew it, yet we chose to *live* in those moments and rightfully, made them the “best days of our life’.
And, the most important point to note here is that probably we all are still the same, just the roles have changed. Responsibilities all of a sudden became real. Today life is all about work and family commitments, experiences, realizations, taste of self and obviously numerous self-made theories about love, work, people and life. Even this lockdown didn’t offer us a break from this harsh reality. Moreover, most of the time we don’t even have an idea of where life is going. It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear, when it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year! But on the brighter side (as we always say :D), “dekhte hi dekhte” (with time) we all have accepted it, such that now we even love to hate it!