Remembering Kurukshetra..

"the chaos has come to a standstill..and i do not like it much..this could've had a better ending or none at all(don't we all wish that. #sigh).but deep within, i know, this isn't it.there is more.a lot more.and we will be there..together..again, on the rooftop clinking the glasses,lost in the smoke.."

"you can get yourself out of college but not vice versa..."

"The problem with having an awesome time in college is that all your following life seems to pale in comparison.."

These are just some of the status updates (well to be honest, the most 'Liked' ones) that my friends and me put up on Facebook after graduating from NIT-Kkr. The 4 years of our lives, we can exchange any dream job for.

Today we step into the swankiest of offices located in the most posh areas, sip free coffee and drink beer after beer in bars. Probably living the lives we all wanted to, after entering our final year. In a way, it is a very naive attempt on our part to make up for one thing which we will never be able to relive. 4 years in that dusty old town of Haryana.

I often log in to my Facebook, after having lunch in office, to see the pictures we all got clicked, in the madness that was the last month of college. Its amazing to see the radiance in each of the faces. And why not! We were all about to graduate from one of the best engineering institutes of the country, with jobs in world renowned companies. We had the world at our feet. Or so we thought.

As I put in more and more hours each day at my job, trying to make sense of what good I am doing,I can't help but be thankful to the people who made those 4 years of my engineering, a dream lived. I'm glad that as I sip coffee with my colleagues, I have a story to tell about the 'next door' theka that thrived just because it had an NIT crowd to cater to, about the Aunty, whose door we used to knock at 4 in the night (after a walk from H-7) for a 'choti gold flake', about the compartment I got in the 8th semester (in a ONE CREDIT lab course), which nearly cost me the 2 jobs i landed on campus!

There are three sets of people I want to specifically mention and thank, apart from my seniors, for giving me a lifetime of memories.

• My Gang :-D

          Put all of us in a graveyard together and we will make sure that even the corpses come alive. That's how we all were. And thankfully, still are. No use of listing each and every one, because they themselves know who they are. And I swear to the success of my current project (:P) that they are grinning from ear to ear as they read this. The countless bakar sessions live long in the memory. 7 months after graduation, and most of us talk to each other almost every other day. Although the days of 'bashing your behind with my chappal on your bday' are over, we manage to stay awake till 12 to wish each other. And any working professional will tell you this is an achievement in itself ;-)

• My Classmates

          Section C-1, Civil of 2K8-12, is the most notorious group of bastards I've ever hung around with, till now. We bunked classes for weeks together, our Professors hated us for our attendance records, and famously, we were the FIRST section of the Civil batch to get fully placed! :P 

That we had no girls in this section helped a great deal towards organizing those Mass Bunks. The 'not even one girl' phenomena also helped dispel any sense of decency in our conversations.

• My Juniors

         Apart from the customary thanks that this article is about (:P), a word of advice. The positions of Pressi, Secy and PACy stand nowhere in comparison to your CAT, GATE or GRE score. The priorities of Final Year students at NIT-Kkr is messed up. Think straight. My batchmates have realized it after nearly 7 months at thankless jobs, that just getting placed in your Final year counts for nothing. Apply for foreign internships, go to lengths to expand your skills, join a coaching class. Don't waste your final year in petty politics. You have got your whole corporate life ahead if that is what you want to do!!

And most importantly, create memories. Memories with your gang, memories with your classmates, memories with your girl. Yes, there are a few good ones in college too :-). Just look properly :-)

The quote couldn't be more congruous at this time, 

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”

I embraced the pandemonium that was NIT-Kkr and I want you to do the same. Because one day or the other, you, like me, will figure out what's the best for you. Till then, have the time of your lives.

Cheers to NIT-Kkr. My home away from home. 9th April is the convocation date isn't it? I am counting the days.