Chhedi, Aseem, Aunty's, Bhaat, Bhajan, Bong, Billoo's, Bhondu, Batti, CL, Cali, Cal, Jam, Candi, 90 degrees, Carlos, Park, Despo, Diro, Dep, DOSA, Eggies, Funda, Frusst Corner, KAT, GC, DC, Delta, GolB, Ghasi, GolC, GPL, Gult, Gymkhana, Tempo, Illu, Insti, Intro, LS, LAN, Matka, Rassa, Rassi, OP, Sher-e-Punjab, Schols Ave,Stud, Bady, Presi, Vikramshila, SAG, SOP, PSI, Shantanu's, Tinku, Thoka, Juice, Veggies, GOD,Maal, Maggu, Makhau, Arbit, Huha, Halu, Frusst, Load, Peace, Poltu, PAN, PD, 2.2
Within the first couple of months, these poor souls start thinking if Guantanamo Bay could have been any worse. The mess food which was great initially, starts degrading at a super-fast mode. There are no motored vehicles in a never-ending campus. There will be professors/rassas who'll be more concerned about you not putting the correct page number on your P.T. sheets than the incorrect experimental results. There are no girls, or hardly any girls. :O Dada, Cholbe na!?! :O
Then as a few more months pass, it gets only worse. Seniors, poltu, every half an hour doors getting banged by a "concerned" senior, candi, VP, GSec, End Sem, DepC, this, that .. makes one go ugghhhh.
Come second year and suddenly, you knowing a lot of intros becomes very important. Illu becomes a nightmare. SF, KTJ become more than fests. GC becomes more important than CG. Everything passes in a blur. It's the fastest one year a student spends at kgp, and wishes that the worst is over. If only wishes had wings ..
Third year sees everyone clamoring for a FT. Lakhs of mails go out the Kgp server to foreign lands, 99.9% of the times, failing to do the job. Suddenly one realizes that not many opportunities before placements remain to increase one's CG, a term which slowly starts making sense. This is probably the slowest (the first year passes in a daze) year in Kgp. It ends with the training period, which is more of a paid vacation for most cases.
And finally, the final year. The "Cholbe Na"-land has had given enough reasons to be frustrated with it to everyone. Everyone gains an immunity to any kind of pressure or deadline. As the placement season draws near, CVs start getting made and re-made. Group discussions and interviews become the order of the day. For a change, not only candis, but everyone is in formals. Everyday, people return elated and people return dejected from the TnP. There's a wave of optimism and pessimism at the same time.
By the time all this ends, by the time everyone gets what he/she had come to achieve at an IIT, you start believing that the outside-classroom learning was much more than inside.
By the final month of departure, you start realizing that you always hated this place, but always loved every bit of it. It has made a defining change in your life, it has become a part of your identity - a part of you. You still detest having to appear for those exams and studying for them hard the last night, but you'll exchange the life you're going to live once outside with this in a blink.
I've always found it hard to be mushy about leaving and all. I see around - fb updates, Gtalk Status updates, and every available online media - a deluge of "nostalgia"; "miss you", etc etc messages. I don't feel a thing. Not yet. I'm just around 72 hours away from leaving the campus. This has always been me. I've never been able to gauge beforehand, how hurtful it could be to have something taken away. Maybe because I think that it's just a matter of a vacation and we'll be back again, together. I'm wrong - but that doesn't make any difference. But I also know, that a couple of months down the line, I'm going to miss this all .. and miss it bad. It's then it would sink in. I dread that moment. I only hope I don't cry this time around. When I'd left my high school to enter a new school for my XIIth, I was very jubilant for having got through a good school. But one day, a month or two into the new school, I suddenly broke into tears during the recess remembering my old school. And I felt bad, seriously bad. And I didn't have anyone around to share.
I thank KGP for the friends it gave me. For every single person who made a difference to me in any way. For making me realize, that there are always better people at everything. For instilling the confidence to be myself. For amazing seniors and lovely juniors. For experiences of a lifetime. For everything.
To KGP, with love.
PS1 - Dhavy left the campus, 6 hours back.
PS2 - This post made me nostalgic .. maybe am not so in-humane.
PS3 - If you're from kgp, and I know you, I just want to tell you a "thank you" for making this journey so great for me.
PS4 - If you're from kgp, and I don't know you, I want to tell you a "thank you" for making KGP what it is :)
PS5 - Don't tell me it's a typical post with nothing new/good/useful/important/interesting to add. I don't give a damn .
PS6 - Credits: The list of trigger-words from a friend of mine with a few more words inserted by me. Sorry, forgot from whom I took that. Photograph from Bhalu's album.
PS7 - Take Care
Very well written dude....especially loved the line, "you always hated this place, but always loved every bit of it". Of course, this is a typical post with nothing new/good/useful/important/interesting to add :P ... BUT worth a read!!!
P.S: Thank You, Chow!!! :)
awesome post!!!
u seem to have taken out the negatives of each and everything in the campus right from depc,ktj,sf,gc,ft,etc .. what about the hardcore fight for depc, fun days of the fests, the spirit of competition of the GCs, long awesome bhaat sessions wid friends,etc etc etc... 8 paragraphs on the frustness at kgp and just 2 paragraphs on the invaluable experience ! 4 years at kgp were awesome..the shortcomings are really petty ;)
@ankur
exactly my point. it's the "negatives" we keep cribbing about throughout, don't we? you may not, in particular, but you'll agree, it's the general sentiment. It's only towards the end, we realize that they were never negatives. Not sure if you felt I was complaining in the post .. given a chance, I'd relive everything .. (maybe except the depc :P )
very well written...especially the last two paras
loved the line "you'll exchange the life you're going to live once outside with this in a blink"
waise u are actually exchanging outside life for "this"....bas KGP se mini KGP hi to jaa rahe ho :P
Well written. Even at the height of luxury in an MNC, I miss kgp. Hope to c u in IIMC
chow da.. naaicely written.. :-)
@all .. thank u thank u for the appreciation ..
@nick .. mini KGP .. minus the peace .. not that attractive, is it? :P