part-1

I don't know how to begin this blog. Someone told me that a blog is all about being honest all the time, so honestly, I don't know how to begin. What i do know, is that this blog is going to be a medium to tell the world all that I have learnt. Suddenly the question comes up- Why would the world be interested in my experiences?? Some pondering over this thought makes me decide my answer- The world is usually interested in the story of all fuck-ups! Why?? To learn from "the experiences" or to take pleasure in the pain of another person. We'll see.

I'll cover this in four different parts, this being part one. Since most of the stuff that I learnt the hard way was in college, this story is divided into four wonderful years. A short summing up of the story before that would be " a guy with a cherished schooling waiting to venture into the avenues of this big wide world, falls abruptly on the first step(more on that later) and is recovering ever since....". A part of me thinks that 'the fall' was the best thing to have happened to me. For starters, it made coming to 'the temple'(aka SVNIT) the aim of my life. The first thing in a nude man's mind is always to cover himself up. Yep, I did cover myself up, probably in the classiest tuxedo's available. Or so i thought... :P

After one full year was I again able to think highly of myself. Obviously I had made it to the temple, beating thousands of enthusiasts to it and shining on the cusp of a wonderful career. The confident walk was back, the nerdy moustache was lost and so were my geeky ways. On my first day at the temple, I was so excited that I brushed my teeth thrice and had a 30 minute shower-which is still a record! The buzz was that I was admitted into the most estrogen-filled division of the fresher camp- the E division. I still remember on the first day when a batch-mate asked me my division, my answer almost gave him an orgasm! 2 words were all i spoke-" E division" and i could see him in his flights of fantasy as he inquired about all the intricate details and I could see that all my answers were disappointing him by the second, because i knew nothing! I wont mention his name(for obvious reasons), but that guy enlightened me with my first learning- THE TEMPLE IS FULL OF HORNY GUYS. You bet it is!

In my first 15 days at the temple, I came to know so many people from across the country that I was in a regional mess! For reasons known to all yet known to none, group-ism was the most prevalent practice. You could always see people from the same state(not assos, not yet :P) sitting together, walking together, eating together, living together, playing together and sometimes even sleeping together. It is hard to believe, but in the evenings, the temple main road resembled the republic day parade-each state following the other! Never before had i seen such regionalism in my life. I was looking for some explanations. Somehow life at the temple was not as i had thought it to be. People were mean- no not exactly that- they were taught to be mean! It took me a week to befriend my entire school division; I had been in college for 15 days and i just connected with 3 people. Weird thoughts used to hit me- Was I in a different world?? Am I the only one feeling this way?? Is this what people call 'real' life?? Fact: When i ended my four years in the temple, I knew and had connected with almost my entire batch and the batches below me. I still have 3 closest friends; the same 3 people??? We'll see...... ;)

Politics was a shock!! A big one at that.. I had been a sucker for merit almost my entire life, and when the bubble finally burst, I was disappointed. All the pieces were coming together- the regional fiasco's, the raw mean looks, the never-trust-anyone attitude- it all made me sick. You can blame it on my upbringing but I couldn't see injustice. It took me a deep thought of about 48 hours to gulp it all. The entire concept was alien to me and I hated it more.. But that was the only way it worked, it still does. I started to see people in an entirely different light altogether. It was as if they were wearing a tag or a uniform of their 'association'. The classification and the following mental discrimination was totally automatic. I began to loathe people whom i didn't even know! I had this cycle in my mind when i saw someone- boy->asso->positive/negative(explained later)->smile/frown.. Girl->asso->postive/negative->smile/smile.. I told you, the temple is full of horny guys!! :P

Elections- I still feel the tinge and the 'high' caused by victory. Surprisingly enough, I hated politics but I loved the elections. It was a completely weird case of cause and effect but it was true. The weakness that i felt while adopting the political system, turned into a newfound strength and a feeling of liberation after the elections. Our alliance of Local+GB+UP+Bihar+Orissa+Some others, came into power. I was happy because I contributed and did my bit for the asso. College suddenly seemed more fun and everyday began with a new aim, a new mission. Winning the election taught me a very important aspect of all the 'people' skills i possess. I came to know that convincing even a close friend to vote for an unknown third person was a daunting task. This is what I learnt from Vishnu sir. Whenever we approach someone for the first time, the general tendency is to introduce oneself in the grandest way possible. To be good at managing people, introduce yourself to be smaller than them even if you are miles ahead. This just takes you even further. :)

The elections and the after effects covered majority of the first semester. I was chosen to be a member of the magazine committee and was enthusiastic about it. The interesting part is, that I was a part of the sponsorship team. Being a localite, it as the most obvious committee to be a part of and I was excited about it. We are talking about the annual magazine of the temple, the magazine of an NIT! Sponsorship should be a cakewalk.. Isn't it?? To be honest, that one month working with the magazine committee was the toughest month of my entire college life. I made a fool of myself, sometimes publicly! But something told me to persevere and stick to it. A special mention again to Vishnu sir here because I feel he taught me a lot, and i owe him for that. Nevertheless I kept on getting insulted and shown the door, and by the end of that month, we collected around 20,000 bucks... which I later came to know was more than the collective amount of the coming two years.. :)

The spring came in full swing and I saw my first ever MindBend. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen and I was totally intrigued by the enigma of the event. Parnab Mukherjee as the quiz master was the icing on the most marvellous cake. For 3 days, I gave myself entirely to the event and explored the talent throughout the temple. I won a couple of paper presentations and I thought I would be great in them. For the record, I never entered that competition ever again. :P All those things that i thought i would achieve flew away in a jiffy. It just took one month to lose all that excitement forever! Ladies and gentlemen, SPARSH was here! :) :)

The annual cultural festival was the event which changed me forever. If mindbend was huge, sparsh was mammoth! I still wonder what attracted me so much towards it, but all i could see was colors everywhere.. Everyone was in a festive mood, the canteen used to be overcrowded with people-mostly to check out the female population who found a new meaning to their life in the temple. I'm not exaggerating even a nano bit, but girls have this thing for the spring season- they become so different! They start to come out in huge numbers, wearing the best of clothes and flushing with the cultural exuberance. Sparsh gave me a new mission, a new goal to look forward to. I had decided- IN MY FINAL YEAR, I'M ORGANIZING THIS! Boy was i determined! :) :P

Thats pretty much all I can remember from my first year in the temple. I still maintain that my 1st year taught me so much about myself than I had ever known. I was living in the temple, the pious temple amongst 2000 inmates from across the country. The Mahatma once said that India is such a vast country in terms of its cultural diversities that only God can understand the complexities. I think even God would find it difficult.

Each room, each face, each expression had a story behind it. I try to remember some faces I saw, I never knew their names, but I felt I knew them. There were thousands of rivalries building up every second, enemies being made. But a birthday and the midnight bumps brought even the fiercest of rivals to share the heartiest of laughs. The temple never slept, it always rejoiced with activity. Nights passed faster than days and days were spent in catching up on sleep. Crushes were born and destroyed every hour in the temple. I had 3 of them in the first year, all of whom are my good friends now. When I see the boot-cut jeans and the trendy tees from first year, I somehow don't relate to it anymore. The class room complex was the best thing about the temple and peek in there brings back all the memories. I guess the best and the worst thing about time is the same bloody fact- that it never ever stops! The nostalgia remains forever.... :)