The Transition

Well to start with I would like to say that, don't let the title fool you at all!!! I have already written a couple of blogs about the change from college life to the "professional" one and as I sit down to write this one, my intentions are totally different (WARNING: I may end up saying the same thing). As I sit here, at my home today, jobless and useless for past couple of months, I have had the time to think, which by the way few people complain that I do a lot! I have the benefit of hindsight. 

Most of us have already received our final semester mark sheet and the others are in the process of getting theirs. Soon the university will have a convocation and we will be officially declared as "engineers". This thought has unsettled me.

One day, I was just sitting at my home, lazing around, no worries, not tension and then some one asked me when will I come back to Patna next. I did not know how to answer that question because I din't have an answer. Earlier it was so easy to say summer/winter vacation but it struck me then that there are going to be no more summer/winter vacations. I would not say that its a bad felling all together, on one hand I am happy that I am going to be earning now, the whole idea of being independent is fantastic while on the other hand the idea of things changing so drastically is little frightening. So I though and I looked back and this blog is the result of that process. 

First year of college is always accompanied with excitement. There is a transition from school to college. In your school you were the senior most and now all of a sudden you are like a puppy lost in the crowd, left out there to fend for himself. I am sure college life is one thing which everyone looks forward too. First year was filled with getting used to the place and meeting new people. You had to brave the rains and then sit and listen to the lectures and also get used to the accent. I remember how everything sounded Greek initially, well not that we were not interested but how to you cope up when "M" is pronounced as Yuuummmm and "N" as Yeeenn. You make loads of friends in your initial days, some stay with you while you just move a little away from few. First year went in no time and before I realized I had loads on my hand.

Second year was the time when we moved into our respective branches. Our one big section was divided into smaller ones. It was this year that we cemented the relations we had formed and made a few new ones. You don't have any kind of tension in the second year, placements are still couple of years away and MBA is just a word that sounds good in news. Two of my friends, Rahul Sharma a.k.a Lallu and Jerry had already shifted out and it was at their place that we had the first house party. One hell of a night of which i still have some vivid recollection. Sidharth Singh a.k.a Sid (though my personal favorite is honey singh) graduating from boy to man and Mohit Morarka a.k.a Muru dancing like a fool with his broken arm (he always had one part of his body in plaster at all times) were the high points of the night. There was also this event of Abhishek Roy a.k.a Roy leaving us in the middle of the road and taking lift in a "shared" auto to get some stuff and never returning back. I remember how much Rohit Pandey a.k.a RP cursed him that day. So second year went in exploration which also included a couple of road trips. I say only couple of road trips cause at that time only Rohit Kumar (Roh) had a bike. So every time we planned something, we had to make like hundred phone calls to arrange for transportation. In class, Piyush (Poppa), Sid, Sarthak (Sexy), Divya, Saumya, Madi ensured that there was never a dull moment but then they were in a different section, in our section we had Mayur (MJ), Toshu, Roh to ensure we had all the entertainment required to cope up with the "difficult and tiring (read: boring)" course. Lot of times it used to end up on MJ, Toshu and me being on one side and taking Roh's case. 

Third year was the time when all of us moved out from hostel into "our own" place. We even got more vehicles and naturally the road trips increased. Personally for me it will always be a big year as I got a car, thanks to Papa and Kushal. Parents generally have this apprehension that once their kids leave hostel they are bound to get "spoilt". This made me laugh cause I seriously could not figure out how much more can we be possibly be spoilt. Jokes apart most of us did better academically once we shifted out. It was also the time when we had more number of parties and the secretary of our building was a constant nuisance. Third year was marked by people doing all sort of things. The definition of fun was changed and just when you thought this is it, everyone said, "bring it on". People throwing up in bathrooms, dancing till late, laughing for no reason. 

The beginning of the final year was a very unusual one. My brother, Abhinav, had decided to join MIT and I was to come with him to Manipal, full twenty days before my course was scheduled to start. To my relief I had MJ and Poppa for company there besides RP, Jong and Roy. Till date when Poppa and me sit together we end up talking about "those twenty days" at least once! Well I am sure Poppa would agree that this is not an appropriate forum to discuss those days. Final year saw us touching new heights in every aspect. We did all that one could possibly think of and before we realised placement season was upon us! The first company to visit the campus was Delloite. Only a few of us got into that! The placement season for us, "less intelligent" ones, opened with EMC. Morarka, got into it and gave us a reason to be happy! It was followed by Sid's Citrix! I remember us shouting "Sidhhhhaaarth Singh Sidddhhhhaaarth Singh" at KC! Soon all of us were placed and we then realised that what every any one might say, we did everything possible there and still ended up with a job in our hand. 

In the middle there were those random/planned trips to Goa. The number of road trips rose. We even played kabbadi at one of the beaches. Saraf's one liners kept us going even on the worst possible days. 

Today, when I pick up my phone to call any one I have to ask my self if he will be in office or not? The transition, so far, has been a smooth one. People have more or less settled down and have become comfortable with their new life. I just hope this is not the silence before the storm and that we continue to be what we have been! 

Cheers and Good luck!