All good things come to an end

My friend circle was limited initially and I barely had any interaction with other people in the class. In the first semester we all stuck to our respective groups and healthy rivalry prevailed for quite some time. Second semester was the season of revolution. Protests were held as the issue of degree was taken up. An interesting & eventful first year came to an end.

CMS became a deserted place in the second year as not many used to turn up for the classes. First year’s charm withered away. Third semester saw many ups and downs. The perceptions we had about one another changed, from being bitter rivals and foes, people became friends and from being friends, some became acquaintances. Some drifted apart, some came close. Ours was a lot of regular students in journalism. Corp commites also used to come and so the camaraderie among us began. Fourth semester was a rollercoaster ride and we were all taken in for a surprise. The unforgettable trip was its highlight which brought everyone close.

I know it sounds clichéd to say this but yes I do wonder how fast the time has flown by. I feel terrible now as the countdown has begun before it all gets over. The clock is ticking and time is slipping away quickly. When I had set for this journey, I had no idea what shape things would take. I know people in my class who would be more than happy to get rid of this place as they never liked things here. Yes, things were frustrating at times and they did get on my nerves. We all had our share of disappointments; dirty politics sucked big time, the system was fucked up badly. But still this place will always be special to me. Every corner of the college will remind me of something. I know some of you won’t agree with me on this. A few days back, Megha told me she won’t really miss the place as she didn’t really come to college that often but she would miss the people and times she spent with all of us. But for us, it is different as we will equally miss the place. I fell in love with this place gradually as I spent most of my time here. The place worked for me because of the people who were around me. I came across some amazing people, had a great time, laughed till my stomach ached & tears rolled down my cheeks, had some silly fights & pulled one another’s leg, played pranks, annoyed one another with our mischievous acts & now there is a feeling of uneasiness as it’s time to say goodbye.

You guys became a special part of my life in such a short span of time and now I have such fond memories to live with. I have so many things on my mind to say but I’m falling short of words to express myself. Some of us are going empty- handed from here but not me. I’m taking so many beautiful memories which will always make me smile and cry at the same time.

So far, this journey has been superb. I’ll miss each one of you guys. I don’t know about others but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There were small things which touched my heart and filled it with immense happiness.

Things that I’ll miss the most:-

1. Old classroom and all the masti we did there

2. Talking, eating and sleeping at the back bench while the teacher used to teach

3. Watching movies in the studio or classroom or tutorial

4. Sitting and chatting in the sound lab

5. Having chit-chat sessions over a cup of tea and snacks while spending time sitting in the ground

6. Having lunch together in the canteen

7. Having Ice-cream after lunch and looking for a Bakra who would be willing to pay for everybody’s ice-cream

8. Playing music at full volume and dancing as if there would be no tomorrow

9. Working under tremendous pressure in order to meet the deadlines and running from pillar to post at the last moment to make up for all those days when we were busy having fun

10. Exploring new places & experiencing a different world with Group-A and Group-C while working together

11. Hurling abuses at one another out of love and affection

12. Playing pranks and pulling one another’s leg

13. Working in Group-A with a bunch of crazy people who drove me nuts as we did street play which never really had a script, did puppetry for which we never re-hearsed and blah, blah ,blah...the list goes on... but all said and done I loved my group and if I were given a chance, I wouldn’t have switched to any other group

14. Working in Group-C which was always a pleasure. We all ended up having a good time while working

15. Mimicking all our classmates, teachers and staff members at USMC

16. Pummy bhaiyya's ginger tea

17. Ambrish Sir's grilling sessions in the morning

We found solace in small things and took pleasure in simple things that life had to offer. At times, it was just a cup of coffee or soup in the chilly winters, or a plate of maggi or momos that was enough to fill our empty stomachs. At times, it was the never-ending silly conversations or simply chilling out with friends. No matter where we all started this journey from, the best part is that we all became friends at the end of the journey and things are ending on a good note.

How it all started

When I look back at the times which have passed by, I realize how things have taken a different turn. Life always has some other plans for you in store and surprises that you can never really think of. When I started of my post-graduation, I had no idea how things will change. At times, I wonder how from being complete strangers, we developed a strong bond of friendship and came along such a long way. I still remember the first day when I had come to college.

Mohit  It was drizzling outside and I met him on my way to the class. He was wearing his camouflaged shorts and a white tee. He asked me the way to the department, not being aware of the fact that I was heading there too.

I was feeling a bit uneasy before stepping inside, so I stood out and enjoyed the rain for a while. I saw Aakriti and Ritika peeping from inside to see who all were entering. I entered the classroom and took a seat at the end of the row. I don’t remember much who came on the first day. Then I saw a guy in green shirt with white stripes sitting in the front and he was Rohan.

After lunch I was sitting all alone, then came Anu in her Aladin pants and sat next to me. First day was kind of hard as we all got a lecture from Ambrish Sir and I was thinking how long this torture would last. Second day was quite eventful. We had a class with Sweta mam in the studio. Mohit was damn funny and he did earn himself a reputation of being a loud person. A hell lot of things happened on the other day. Anu started off with the zodiac signs thing wherein we had a chat about the characteristics of a person. Rohan was sitting right next to her and seemed a little out of place. On my way back to home, I bumped into Pramod. I got to know that he stayed near my place and that’s how we became friends.

Danish  Usually, I used to sit with Mohit. Then one day, Danish came and sat next to me. We didn’t talk much. I had barely interacted with him till the time Campus Buzz hadn’t started. We were in the same group and that’s how I got to know him once we started working together for Buzz.

It took us some time to get to know one another. Me, Mohit, Danish, Pramod and Rohan used to sit and eat our lunch together and that’s how we became friends slowly. After some time, it was just the four of us and Pramod changed his seat.

Tanya  I hadn’t noticed Tanya in the class initially. But I do remember her purple t-shirt and her black and blue Reebok floaters that she used to wear. I remember Pramod telling me once that it was difficult to distinguish one girl from the other in their group as they all looked alike because of their fair complexion. I noticed her for the first time, when we had gone to puppets’ museum. While exiting from the museum, I was having a friendly chat with Gitika and there Tanya was busy wearing her floaters and waiting for Gitika to quickly wind up her talk. The same evening we all had gone to watch the play “Hamlet”.

Then I spoke to her for the first time when we attended the Sufi concert. My interaction with her was limited initially. Once their group had to stay back late in the evening, working for the Buzz thing. Me, Mohit and Nidhi had gone to drop Tanya to the bus-stop at night. While working for the practicals, our interaction grew. We became friends quite late while working together for organizing the farewell party.

With Ujaley, Mustaquim and Mohnish I hit off well during the AIR days. As days passed by, I saw Ujaley was quite contrary to the image he had in the class. I found him a decent chap.

Ginni  I took no notice of Ginni in the class. Her presence wasn’t felt until “Above the line” happened. Pramod and Ginni were asked to anchor the event. That was the first time I interacted with Ginni. She seemed to be very coy, reserved and naive when I first had a word with her. I got an impression that she wasn’t able to adjust herself to the fast life of Delhi and its culture. Little did I know at that point of time that looks can be so deceptive? She was a different person altogether at the end of the first semester and was way ahead of me.

Charlie’s Angels  I became friends with Garima, Ratika and Megha in the third semester as they were the only souls apart from our group who used to wander in USMC. Our interaction with them grew more as they used to come to college regularly. All of us used to chill and spend time together and so, we became friends.

Prequel to the trip to Jim Corbett and Nainital

I’d like to share my experience about what it actually took to make this trip happen in the first place. When the talks about the trip began doing the rounds, everybody wanted it to happen as this was the last semester of college. We had no idea that it would take so much of pains and efforts to get through with its preparations. Things kept on getting delayed for some or the other reasons initially.

February was coming to its end and talks regarding the trip were nowhere in the picture. Mohit, our front man had also suddenly disappeared from the scene and he wasn’t actively taking part in its preparations. On 24th February, we had to fix up dates 5-9 March as Mr C.P. Singh told us that Alumni Meet was in the pipeline and so we were supposed to get back by 12th which barely left us with anytime in our hands. We announced the dates publicly on Facebook considering the time limitation in mind. The next day we had a word with the juniors and they seemed unhappy with the dates. We, as we like to call ourselves “The Organising Committee members” were under tremendous pressure on Friday, the 25^th as the situation was quite chaotic and was in a mess.

Already, we were in low spirits and the cold response we got from our juniors further dampened them. Mohit dropped a bomb on us when we got to know he wouldn’t be coming. Things were not clicking at all; we were falling short of numbers and the tour operator needed the final headcount to give a go-ahead green signal. By this time, Mr. Rohan had taken the baton from Mohit. There was no stepping back as Mr. C.P.Singh had given us the nod. No notice was out yet. In addition to this, we also had some doubts about the operator.

When we came back to the class and saw Garima’s reaction, my heart further sank. Rohan motivated all of us and assured that we would get through with this. On Saturday (26 Feb), we started looking for an operator. Luckily, we found one but were not quite sure that he’d actually turn up. At the back of our minds, we had to finalize things on Monday if we had to leave on 5^th. Rohan got in touch with two operators to be on the safer side. On the other hand, we were also in talks with Divya as she knew one operator.

The status on Facebook initially didn’t generate any positive response. I was almost on the verge of getting publicly embarrassed, had the things not worked out in our favour at the end.

On Monday, the 28^th, Rohan began counselling sessions to convince more and more people to come for the trip. One by one, he was addressing everybody’s problems from seeking parents’ permission to dates clashing with a relative's wedding and all that jazz. The journalism’s tutorial room was in a state of utter mayhem as all the girls began to talk simultaneously. Rohan was patiently listening to Ratika, Garima, Divya and Rashneer while Danish was engrossed in documenting the whole scene. Tanya and Ginni were busy fooling around. In the evening, luck smiled a little on us as the dates for the trip were re-scheduled and got pushed to 8th March. We took a sigh of relief as we got some more time to organize things. Wednesday was an off and to our dismay, no notice was out on Tuesday (1st March) which took us back to square one.

As soon as the notice was out on Thursday ( 3rd March), a ray of hope flickered. We took pictures of the notice and tagged each and everyone on Facebook to make them believe that it’s official. But this didn’t change things for our juniors and they were still less in numbers. Mohit took one copy to his home and came back smiling the next day with the permission to come on the trip. We were back on track, although, the clock was still ticking for us.

There was no change in the response of the first year students which was a major disappointment. We were also clueless about the teachers who would accompany us and things still seemed quite vague at that moment. The clauses, terms and conditions put by Mr. C.P. Singh were also a cause of concern for us and we crossed our fingers that he doesn’t disapprove of the operator on any grounds. 4th March, Friday was the D-day. Meeting with the operator was fixed at 6:00 in the evening. Rohan got a call from him around 5. Mohit and Rohan left to pick him up. But god as usual wasn’t that generous and kind enough to let things run smoothly for us. We were all left red-faced when we found Mr. C.P. Singh missing from his room. While calling him up, we got to know that he had left a few minutes before. The OC was furious and highly embarrassed in front of the operator.

Somehow by beating around the bush and cooking up some silly stories, we kept the conversation going. But, it wasn’t a futile discussion by any means and we were convinced by the operator’s assurances that things would work out. The very next day, the operator got changed. I missed the action on Saturday (5^th March) as I had come late in the evening but was shocked to learn that the operator had been changed at the last minute. Eventually, Divya’s operator was brought into the picture.

Sunday, the 6th was the final day. Things could no longer be delayed. I didn’t go to college as I was busy shopping for the trip. Even though I was out, I was uneasy and restless as no positive news came about the trip. Mohit told me over the phone that some clauses put by C.P. sir had led to a deadlock. High level talks were doing the rounds inside Mr. C.P. Singh’s office. I was constantly calling up these guys to get any new updates related to the trip. After an eventful day of negotiations and tough decisions, the OC finally did it.

At night, I got the news that trip is on... things had been finally set in motion. The hard work had been paid off; my happiness was beyond imagination. Positivity began to step in on Monday (7th March) when everybody turned up to give the money and I pinched myself just to see that it was all for real.

A new dawn awaited all of us the next day & the positive energy around really pumped us up. Danish, Mohit, Rohan and Divya were occupied with a lot of work, while I was just fooling around. This trip would also not have been possible without Ujaley, Mustaquim, Rashneer, Mohnish, Garima and Ratika who lent their full support. These people stayed back till late in the evenings, came to college on Sunday and were the backbone of OC . Apoorva deserves a special mention here as she was the only one who kept on calling me throughout to know the trip’s status.

P.S. It was worth taking all the pains to make this trip happen!!!

Metro is a boon and a bane for us at the same time.Of late,It has become really hard for women to commute in the Metro as it is extremely over-crowded so much so that sometimes,there is no room to stand and breathe with ease.Whenever I travel in Metro,I feel very uncomfortable as anybody can breach my personal space easily.I have a hard time travelling in Metro,considering the fact that there are some perverted men around who exploit the situation to their advantage.I was delighted when I got to know about the women's coach and I thought it would be a big relief for us.But, I had forgotten that this is India, wherein, people are so reluctant to the idea of change.Things can never be smoothly implemented without any hurdles.I fail to understand how some men can be so shameless that they continue to travel in women's coach.I can give benefit of doubt to some of them who may not be aware of this latest development in the Metro. But I have seen that there are literate men also who travel in women's compartment.One thing which irritates me to the core is when some women ask these men to leave,they start murmurring among themselves, "Oh, what do these women think of themselves"! It hurts their ego so badly that some of them just start acting stubbornly & are not ready to budge at all.Instead of giving way to logical reasoning and understanding women's perspective,they tend to act in a rather insensitive manner.Men shouldn't think that this is a war-like situation, wherein, women are trying to show their supremacy by fighting for their rights.
Why is it so hard for men to understand a simple thing that their own daughters,sisters,wives,mothers who face harassment while travelling in the very same metro?It is not possible for these women to commute safely without men's support & co-operation.Although I know,our (Indians') reaction to change is very slow & we are not exactly regarded as a law-abiding nation.I would still expect men to realise things & act a little responsibly.

My heart is brimming with pleasure

Amidst so many controversies and criticism regarding the Commonwealth games, people were sceptical about the games but we still managed to pull the Opening ceremony off. Just when almost everybody had started to lose hopes,this kind of a grand opening was needed to lift up the spirits and to boost India's morale.This will perhaps set the example of "Action speaks louder than words".Till now,a lot of negative publicity has already been done.Now is the time to put aside our own differences about the games and to work towards making it a success.Yesterday's Opening ceremony has again instilled faith in us that we have the potential to do something big.

This doesn't mean that one can simply overlook the massive corruption and the careless easy going attitude with which the preparations were carried out.We cannot deny the fact that it has seriously tarnished our image.There is a need to hold people accountable who have brought shame to our nation.But,the need of the hour is to look beyond this and save our country's face by leaving no stone unturned.Yesterday,India put up a good show and I wish the games turn out to be well in the coming days without any glitches.