Days Of Thunder

"As every second passes by, I cling to these dying memories that gave a new meaning to my existence."

The 4 years are going to end. After this a new phase of life is going to begin where you take a backseat and your job and family become your main priority. A phase that introduces you to the maddening race of survival on the planet and you get inducted as yet another racer. But as I bid adieu to a phase that I prefer to call "Days of Thunder", it would be worthwhile to ponder over the time that made a me out of myself. It wasn't long back when I entered this stream. Far from the care and love as well as the pressures of my family, I got admitted to this hostel. It was just the beginning of what was going to be an era of rediscovery. The initial period was a period of regrets spent entirely lamenting the missed chances and blaming luck for landing up here. It was only later that my being here gave me the purpose to fight back and excel. It re ascertained my faith in myself and helped me prove my worth in front of others. This 4 year stint has taught me a lot more than I bargained for. In these years I have seen things that only others know happen in this world. I have made friends, made enemies, maintained neutral stance with some, seen the magic of love enrich some, seen the surge for love destablise others, had enemies come to my rescue and friends leave me in the midst of a crisis, been ecstatic to become the part of a group and with equal satisfaction left the group to become what I am best at - loner. I have seen hatred, love, companionship, sacrifices, betrayals, groupisms, conspiracies, fights and many more. There have been occasions when I have been made the scapegoat, occasions when the world has celebrated my victory, occasions when my friends have conspired against me and betrayed me, occasions when the unexpected people have stood by me. I have seen the effect of wrong decisions made and wrong people I befriended, rued over people with whom I could never ever have a relationship, been proud of people who kept my faith in them and cursed others who didn't. In all these years I have seen such various makes of people, I feel I have entered the real game of life.

In fact these four years have glued with them such weird kinds of memories that will never ever vacate my thoughts. Those late night TT matches using Reading Room tables and diaries, those late night movie marathons, the nightmarish birthday bashes, the awful tasting hostel food, the AOE, UNREAL,FIFA,CS,ROGUE SPEAR matches, the numerous classes bunked, the proxies that got the profs baffled, the XEROX money collection for mischief purposes, the discussions ranging from the scary experiences to the malicious politics to the latest technological innovations, the late night quizzes to die for, the desperate night outs for studying few days prior to the exams, the frantic search for shared items on the LAN, the everlasting hatred for management and blaming them for all our shortcomings, the various college rumours and gossips, the outstanding group ideas/plans and trips, the late night search and recover patrol for availing food stuffs from any room possible, the slipper and water bottle thefts, the cricket matches in the basketball court, the routine window shopping, the delicious charm of Madhuban , Hot Spot, Tandoori and Udipi, the addas at the chotta canteen, Rabi Bhai and Juice Center, the juniors who made for applaudable companions and hated enemies at various times and many more to name. I doubt how this much energy flowed through us during this period!!! Where ever I may be it will be tough to discard this part of my life as just another one.

These experiences are part of a syllabus taught nowhere else but life's university and these memories are assets worth preserving. I may never be able to repay what my friends have done for me nor forgive those who have betrayed me or hurt me but one thing's for sure I will never forget these Days of Thunder !!!