With
Independence Day 2015 fast approaching, my independent mind keeps trespassing into
dangerous territories in an infinite loop. I am quite confident my mind-ventures
will find many other claimants although a significant number might find in this
post food for laughter. Either way, I intend to give a direct description of
one particular day in 2014. As they say, life is all about memories.
A year back, I was scheduled to leave for an Engineering college in New Delhi (No! not the IIT :P ). With confirmed tickets and a legitimate admission letter in my possession, only luggage-packing and a night’s sleep separated me from Delhi. I will be quite honest here. I broke down at 8 pm on the previous evening. Not only did I tear up the admission letter, empty suitcases glistened with my tear droplets. And when I cry, I transform from a human being into a lifeless entity, an open tap.
A year back, I was scheduled to leave for an Engineering college in New Delhi (No! not the IIT :P ). With confirmed tickets and a legitimate admission letter in my possession, only luggage-packing and a night’s sleep separated me from Delhi. I will be quite honest here. I broke down at 8 pm on the previous evening. Not only did I tear up the admission letter, empty suitcases glistened with my tear droplets. And when I cry, I transform from a human being into a lifeless entity, an open tap.
While a
handful of my classmates in St. Xavier’s from the batch of 2014 still reside in
the comfort of their home-sweet-home, having enrolled in one of the city colleges,
most are out of station. I have friends in almost all major Indian cities-Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai, Guwahati and Kanpur to name a few. It would not be wrong to
assume that they are enjoying their hostel life. Sure enough, conversations
with them have become infrequent over the past year but whenever I converse
with my 12th standard best friends (none of whom are in Kolkata
anymore), they tell me they are happy. Either they are “chilling out” with
their hostel mates, or else playing Counterstrike over the LAN. In the worst
case scenario, they are collectively cursing the water Dal they are
being forced to consume as food. Either way, the new found independence has
given them a fresh outlook towards life, after twelve years of school.
I have not experienced the independence of hostel life, but strange though it might seem, I do
not regret it one bit. If I had been a part of it, I might have rated it very
highly just like my schoolmates but since I don’t, I am afraid of it. Yes, I am
“afraid” of it. That particular evening is one of those events which will be
engraved in the interior of my mind for a long, long time. I was having a nice
little conversation with some seniors from the college I thought I was going to join in a day’s time. A few hours later, I
had made a decision which I rate as one of the best decisions I have ever taken
independently. It was my own decision,
known only to me at that point of time. If nothing else, it has allowed me to
stay at home with my parents for four more years, out of which one wicket has
fallen, which is exactly why my mind finds it hard to stay in one piece.
So, this is
July 2015. A year later, it will be July 2016. Two years hence, it will be July
2017. Unexpected happenings notwithstanding, I will have started my final year
in Jadavpur University by then. Time flies, and flies quite fast. So within the
blink of half an eyelid, I will have graduated (again, unexpected events
notwithstanding!). And howsoever I might wish to stay in Kolkata, I fail to see
that wish being fulfilled. But I will never regret not leaving Kolkata. It has
given me 4 years of bonus bliss. I wish time stayed still. I do not want to
grow older. Probably, growing older is a necessary sub-part of growing older.
Adieu!
