A FEW DAYS OF NOSTALGIA & ADULATION (Part 2)

Its been quite a gap from my last post, thanks to the grinding i've been going through the last few weeks. This will probably be my last post in which I'll reflect solely on Kgp, more so because I probably won't be visiting the place for a long period of time to come. There are a number of reasons why I say this but the most important one is that, come May, most of the threads attaching me to that wonderful place will be broken away; for the few who will remain, their tug will always draw me towards the place, but hopefully the pull other way will be stronger.

I'll start of this post with a short diary of my trip -
Feb 2: Reached Kgp in the evening, missed Manik Sorcar's show and bhaant-ed throughout the night with my ex-wingies and hall guys.
Feb 3: Early morning reached the Kshitij arena and stayed there till pretty late before catching up with some sleep. Back to the arena in the evening; caught up with some of my professors late in the night. Watched the Robo-soccer show followed by another night of bhaant in Gargi.
Feb 4: Missed the train in the morning thanks to the long night sessions (no inner meanings please :)!!) but managed to take the afternoon train back from the village.

Even as those 116 odd kms kept decreasing, my mind flooded with to all those poignant moments in Garden Inn, the leaking bathroom of CFW and the broken ceiling of the Gymkhana, among so many more. As platform 5 came to a stop, a voice from somewhere within welcomed me back home. The 8 months away from the place seemed like aeons but everything in Kgp seemed to have remained in suspended animation since the day I took leave - the same colors, the same smells, and the same old chaotic noises of various human and animal forms. Of course Lallu Avenue seemed to have grown wider (and more uneven) but the souls traversing the road seemed to be the same, just a generation younger.

Hi-s and hello-s from everyone around aside, the gate at the end of the avenue seemed to be somewhat lonely; only as I went past it it suddenly seemed to light up with the smiling faces of 13 people about to leave to GI for a treat. There, however, seemed to be a veil somewhere giving a detached feeling to the sorroundings; the realist from within kept telling me this was over, it wasn't worth trying to cling on to it. It was a strange feeling, where a part of me wanted to go back and re-live the two years and another kept convincing me to pull away.
Perhaps this resulted in a rather quiet night; not to say that I did not enjoy the session but the conflicting thoughts kept bothering me. It may have given others the impression of a changed man sitting with them and I'm still confused whether that was partially true. My apologies to all my friends.

The visit back to the Kshitij arena the next morning was like stepping back in time. Last moment preparations, arena design, heads and volunteers running around frantically again re-instated that time indeed stands still; and I'd guess that even a decade down the line one would probably see the same thing.

The following night again saw me the quietest in the entire group but somewhat more talkative than the previous one. Again a night full of reminiscences and memories; it indeed is surprising how you never get bored going over incidents that you have lived through less than a year back and even after leaving your home you somehow associate so easily with everything in it ... guess thats what makes a home "sweet"!!

As life moves on, one goes on to make new friends, new colleagues; life itself throws up a lot more and different types of challenges and in the process you get to learn so many new things. But for me the most important lessons will forever remain rooted in those hallowed walls of IIT Kharagpur.

For those who'll pass out this year the feeling you get when your friends from Kgp contact you is something unpennable; and I consider myself lucky to be able to experience that joy and pleasure.

This trip was indeed special in so many ways as I mentioned in the start of this post and will thus, forever remain in some corner of my heart. Maybe some day our paths will cross or merge somewhere, but till then a small request to all of you ... please do keep in touch.