Musings of a Half-Engineer....

Another year has gone by. Summer vacations have come to a long awaited end; this time it was more purpose than leisure (securing an internship in these times of recession has been a daunting task indeed).....and yet again I am baffled by how fast we've moved on. It seems only a few months back that we stepped into RJB as "facchas", with the sole aspiration of making it to the top rung amongst the pool of "like-headed" souls. It was much different back then - the innocence (people would rather call it dumbness), sincerity and a steadfast resolve to perform to the best of our ability; now all has been reduced to mere blankness and uncertainty.

I still recall a vivid picture of the day I stepped into the insti - waiting expectantly to meet my roommate, thinking of how I'd deal with a clumsy, spoilt brat if need be (fortunately Abhas was way mature). It was amazing to ponder upon how the 4-year long stay at IITR would fare. With the varying "degrees of freedom" we have been subjected to in our endeavour to pursue the ultimate goal - graduating as engineers (how many actually care to?), one can't still be so sure as to what comes next. The scales keep tilting and might scare the mickey out of you just when all seems perfect, but things also happen the other way round - when all hope is lost, one might be awed at getting something way better than expected in the first place.

There has become a phenomenal change in the mannerisms of each individual compared to the day one first entered the realms of IITR Main Building. I remember the first morning when everybody was up early enough to reach the lecture hall 10 minutes before the professor set foot into the classroom. Now, bunking and proxying are the first thoughts of the day. There are "zombies" who, deprived of slumber due to nocturnal ventures, attend lectures only because they find the teacher's voice quite hypnotic or because the furniture feels cozier than the wooden structures in their gloomy rooms (which are often camouflaged by an assortment of what-nots and so difficult to be visible to the human eye beneath all the rubble).

Gathering the two-year experience so far, it seems there is one thing that keeps us motivated in our quest for the precious piece of parchment only the tenacious are destined to achieve. Recreation through increasingly ingenious propositions and hilarious pranks takes our mind off from insignificant worldly pursuits and instills a new energy to start all over again. And the fact that we won't get such fun opportunities after passing out compells us to enjoy as much as we can. That is the jargon. To put the same in simpler words, "it's only play and little work that makes Jack an 8-pointer", and not many would dare to sacrifice their identity for entering into the distinct class of bespectacled, dreamy, dreaded 9-pointers.

Now that we enter into the third year, I can only assume times are going to be even more taxing and much less fun than the blast we had all during first year - chapos(free treats) at the canteen almost everyday, pranks which had the victim's heart in his mouth, funny professors and the exceedingly hilarious Meta skit. But we thrive on hope, that still better and merrier times await us in the near (and distant) future. Whatever we do, wherever we drift away after the convocation ceremony (after passing out, obviously), I am pretty certain we'll cherish forever awesome memories of these four precious years at IITR for our entire lifetime.