Epilogue

I don't know why I started this blog. Probably it was a whim, as most things are with me. I don't know what made me sustain this particular thing. Probably it was ego. People have asked me WHY I did this. Some thought I wanted to improve my writing, though that myth would have easily got shattered by reading a few posts :D . Few speculated that I wanted to write a book. 

Surprisingly though, this WHY is one question for which I have always had the answer and which I had put up right on top of the blog - "Yoooo!! Am just another guy @ IIM Lucknow 2009-2011 batch. I intend to use this blog exclusively to keep track of what I will be doing here for these two years. May be some day, when I look back and read through all the stuff, I can refresh my memories and relive all the moments I spent :)" . Nothing more, nothing less. 

And it was a great moment for me when one of my seniors recently commented that he was able to relive some of the best days of his life, through my blog. What more could I ask for! :-)

PS: For people looking forward to join IIML (or any campus for that matter), I promise you that you are going to have some brilliant times ahead. In the midst of everything, don't forget to enjoy yourself! Here's a small video made by Nishant Shekhar, (a friend and a batch-mate and a super creative brain) which exhorts you to live your dreams and follow your passion!

Day 535:25th Mar, 2011 - So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Since this is going to be my last post, let me go beyond just describing my day and say a few other things I have wanted to.

2 years, 535 days. Feels like a long time, yet they breezed away like the shortest two years of my life. Sorry to make it sound like an award acceptance speech, but a big big hug and thank you to all my dear friends who made life happen here. I doubt if I'll ever go back to a place which sees so much intelligence, so much passion, so much energy.

Have now spoken the last of difficult goodbyes I had to. The last bit of uncertainty on this campus has been sealed with me finally getting a confirmed ticket, as informed by my travel agent. The last bit of essential stuff has been packed. And the last bit of some remaining fun / useful stuff has been given to my juniors.

Time for this one last post.

Good bye :-)

Day 534:24th Mar, 2011 - Last but one

Some random function ensured Kisaan's abrupt goodbye early in the morning (i.e. 12.30 noon :-p). Around the same time, Vanki left. It's getting quiet around here...

Did a little more packing; time spent on it directly being proportional to time available/time to be wasted. Gave off whatever stuff could be given to the facchas. Trudged all the way to the bank for my last teensy-weensy bit of INDEX work. And for the best time, got to see a monkey on the hostel terrace :D

As a bit of luck, even got to eat burgers in the mess. Stuck to our plan of going out in the evening, just to hang out one last time. Our first choice was Zero Degree since both myself and the madman hadn't been there. As luck would have it, it was pre-booked for a party :-S . Next stop - Mint. Strange quirks of fate, here again there were no seats inside! The Ind-Aus semifinal had turned out to be a proper crowd-puller! We settled for the outside seats, partly because we felt this would be the state wherever we go, and mainly because we just got bored to go searching again :-p . Decent enough experience, except for the mosquitoes! :-S . At least got to see all the places in Lucknow, which we had associated with 'timepass'.

Went at around 1am to Fauzi for a cup of tea, and they were pulling down the shutters on what had recently become a '24 hour place'. On further inquiry, the reason was divulged to be "lack of activity" :-( . Guess that's the effect of the sudden exodus of 350 full-time vellas...

Whiled away another couple of hours by watching this movie Taken. Pretty fast paced and action packed, worth one watch. After that, I have just got back after wishing Madman a goodbye, officially making me the wing's sole PGP2 inhabitant. 

Am in no mood for it, but I guess I'll get some sleep. One last time, one last night, as a proud PGP student of this heaven called helL...

Day 533:23rd Mar, 2011 - Endless Goodbyes...

When I came back after dropping my parents, I stayed awake since I had to see off Pachpan in an hour. When that moment actually happened, I myself was surprised by how hard it hit me. You are sometimes so used to just bang open the door of a friend, enter their room for anything - be it timepass, cribbing or advice. And suddenly you know, when you open the door the next time, nothing's going to be there... :-(

But anyways, the show must go on. Didn't feel sleepy after that. So I started off with this newly recommended series 'Death Note' - a Japanese manga. Seems pretty awesome! Went off for lunch to Aryans for one final awesome choley. Also the last time my Discover blazed the streets of Lucknow.

Had been trying all this while to get some cab person for our one-day trip, but unfortunately no one was available at that time. So it was time to indulge in all the usual activities of whiling time. Took the chance and went for one final swim in Umang. (The water is still so cold!) Finished all the latest episodes of HIMYM & TBBT. Got my bike packed and sent.

Point to be noted is I had had only around 6 hours of sleep in the past 60 hours :-p . I wish I had some mechanism to postpone all my sleep requirements over the next 2-3 days to later. But anyways, was feeling a little sleepy around midnight, but decided to have a movie session with Kisaan and Chatur. And once I had evaded that one phase of sleep, I went on to finish two movies Back to the Future and Ice Age 2. (Absolutely loved the latter one!). In between, bidding goodbye to Shomo and Bala as well...

And now finally, after sending my buddies to sleep, I think I shall pay heed to what my body is demanding and get some sleep. But for sure, am having multiple alarms to ensure I don't end up wasting my last few hours at helL .. sleeping!

Day 532:22nd Mar, 2011 - Convo & INDEX room painting!

Woke up at 7.00 (just 1.5 hrs of sleep) as I had promised my parents of showing them around the campus early morning. Was definitely worth it :-) . Took them on a half-way walk around the circumference, showed them the library, PGP block, my classroom! Even got to see a couple of peacocks on our way :-)

Of course, all this took a little toll and I dozed off when I got back. Got up straight on time for the convocation. First was the batch photo session - that was when I envied the ABM batch size :-p . I hope I can manage to spot the pixel which would represent me in the (abruptly taken!) pic. Anyways, was pretty excited given that I never had a convocation for my UG. Our chief guest, Kapil Sibal, could not make it, and sent a video recorded speech instead. Our chairman, Dr. J J Irani spoke really well, on values that we need to always follow. It was indeed a proud moment for me to go up the stage and take that degree :-)

Still a little tired, came back to my room after dinner with my parents and slept off. But in an hour or so, was woken up to do the customary INDEX painting (every outgoing INDEX Core team writes the names of all members on the INDEX room wall) ... :-) :-) . Man, and then I just kept wondering how every day night suddenly becomes SO VERY AWESOME! It was SO much fun doing that painting, remembering moments that we had spent, my most cherished moments on campus with my most cherished pals. And of course, the output was as legendary as can be expected from us :D

Over a finishing chai at Fauzi, I have decided to keep myself awake for some time, so I can go and wish good bye to my parents. If I sleep now, even an earthquake won't wake me up :-p

Day 531:21st Mar, 2011

A pleasant and early wake up call from my parents and sis to indicate they had reached the city and were on their way for their first visit to my campus. Excitement at both ends :-) . Also realized Pachpan was supposed to be have been back by now. Sure enough, I found him in his usual elements in his room, uninhibited in his praise for himself for his 'packing abilities' :D 

Quickly got ready and ran down to the guest house to meet my parents. Got them settled = dumping luggage in the room, so we could go down for breakfast. Showed them the "basic utilities" of the campus - the mess, Fauzi, JustTea, GnB ; made me remember my own first day when I consciously had to try to NOT get lost :-P . Since we were supposed to have rehearsals for tomorrow's event in the afternoon, I had my parents visit around the city + shop in that time period. The rehearsals themselves were a pain, mainly because of the afternoon heat (the free tropicana didn't help much :P). Trying to 'blast' the empty tropicana packs were a lot of fun though :D

After a brief period of rest (skipping PGP day occasion), I went off with my friends to the High Tea. Had a nice time there - generally talking amongst ourselves and also meeting a lot of my friends' parents. My parents came in halfway through (chikan shopping had taken priority :-p), and then it was my turn to introduce them to my friends. Luckily, there was enough mutual consideration to ensure appropriate behaviour :D

Went back to my room but was still pretty bored. So back to Fauzi with Pachpan and Shru. And that is when one of those absolutely random things happened which would become life-long memories. Arora had his car, and along with Buddhi and Kisaan in full flow, we went for a drive. An awesome drive, going to random places in the city (including DM Sahab's ghar), with Arora engaging in absolutely random but highly entertaining conversations with people. Of course, a special appreciation for his one-track mind :D. At one point, we were just 4 seconds away from consciously driving down a flight of stairs :-p . We came back for yet another round of the campus, even stopping to get pics clicked in front of our Diro's residence! Also saw for the first time Bodhigraha-2, the extension of the existing PGP block. Seems well made. A place that will soon beckon a lot many students in the coming years.

One of the craziest nights I have had in helL!

Day 530:20th Mar, 2011 - Guess whoz back \m/

Back after an awesome trip to Sikkim, and a (mandatory) impromptu deviation to include Bhutan, thus ensuring my first foreign trip :D . In keeping with the mandate of this blog, won't talk about that trip here though.

One thing is for sure though - wherever you go, nothing like home. And for now, no home like helL. Made our way back to the campus at 8am. After a little email and facebooking, I went off to get some breakfast, trying to stay away from all the pakka colors being used in the Holi celebrations. Of course, didn't manage to do that entirely, and consequently was forced into having a nice early oil bath. All this ensured a nice little afternoon siesta to get me kick-started.

Although I didn't really get what the kick-start was for. Most of my friends still weren't on campus and I mainly stuck to downloading stuff from DC and watching Heroes. No dinner in the mess today, and unfortunately all PGP2 bikes had been packed and sent off. Big bonanza day for Dominoes, including some little contribution from us. MadMan, Shomo, Bala and me had a pizza treat and a random discussion.

Met up with Kisaan at night. Made a visit to Gupta to compensate for the lack of night mess. And then, a little more Heroes to end the day.