Stagnant Blog - Apology

The past two months have been quite hectic and I have almost completely failed to find time to write down anything. I've not written anything unless I've been asked to by someone else. I'll get back to writing during the first week of October and will try and come up with better write ups. Have a good two weeks people. 

Is it so hard to blend in with the home atmosphere even though we were dying to get here about a week back?

Just rewind your life two weeks back, when some people were biting their nails in tension, when some people were sleepless with too much left to study or mug up(which ever is applicable), when some people were more relaxed than ever just because they had lost all hope.

This brief period in our life – THE EXAM TIME, left us all bamboozled and irritated and the horrible food provided just made us even sicker. But then they very thought of mom’s cooking and the warmth and comfort she provides, gave all of us a ray of hope & a feeling of escapism.

So after all the hard work(if there were any) and the tensed exam hours most of us packed up and left to the one place we can always say as – SOMEWHERE I BELONG.

So after the long and tiring journey we finally get back home eager to taste mom’s masterpiece dish – and then we say something we never thought we would have to tell her – “MOM YOU’RE AN EXCELLENT COOK”. So you dig in and munch as much as you can the whole day. I can assure you our mother’s would have never seen such a glow of happiness in our eyes.  But the worse part is you may find it difficult to eat food with some spice and mirchi since you’ve been used to food without them fro a while now. So once you’re done with all the eating what would you do? FACEBOOK? OR SLEEP?

You’re not left with a lot of options from now on. You can’t go to your adjacent room and start blabbering about all the topics in the world except academics, you can no longer play cricket or football at 2 in the morning or 2 in the afternoon, you can’t kill a lot of terrorists on CS via LAN gaming.

So here I am in a spot of bother wondering what I would be doing for the next two and a half months.

There is no way now we can enjoy a game of football from midnight to that point of time when all our legs get sore,  there is no way you can stay awake till 4 or 5 in the morning at ease unless you have a LOT TO DO ON FACEBOOK, there is no way you can go for a walk past midnight with no question of safety, there is no way you can go out to have a snack whenever you feel like – It’s  obvious you can’t wake your mom at 3 A.M and ask her for a coffee or Maggi…!!! If you do you’ll either end up with a lot of scolding or she’ll smack you.

Mom keeps waking me up for breakfast and I have to keep reminding her “Mom I slept at 4 in the morning”. She thinks I’ve got to change but little does she know that almost all of us are nocturnal here and for  this very reason I can’t change because once I get back I will need to adjust my biological clock with KGP time once again.

Everyday on facebook or on phone I keep seeing and hearing people from KGP posting/saying something or the other related to “Boredom” .

No matter what home is home – Even without DC, without 2 AM snacks and early morning football.

So make the most of this holiday season and when you get back to KGP make the most of the nightlife there…!!!
SO HAPPY HOLIDAYS FRIENDS…!!!

One Year in a 2.2

May 26, 2010

It was exactly 2 weeks after the death of my grandfather and maybe it was co incidence May 26 happened to be his birthday. The day the JEE 2010 results were announced!

My rank wasn't the best but i was more than happy with what i got, because for those who knew me before college know perfectly well how much that means to me.

July  22,2010

Almost 2 months later - I set foot on yet another land under the Communist government, but it was different from the green land I hail from. The contrast was beyond the limits of explanation. Things changed when i had entered the IIT campus - it was a lot more greener, cleaner and student friendly.

Now let me go ahead with the story

My first week here was a disaster. I ended up at B.C Roy hospital with a 104F temperature and boy did i hate this place then & so i ended up missing my first ever class at IIT! After 4 days which seemed never ending i finally got discharged and i had made up my mind never to get admitted there ever again because the people there hate discharging the patients and keep poking them with syringes over and over.

My first class - THE PDS LAB

For someone like me who has no idea about C programming language was like a blind man at a theatre! The first thing that crossed my mind then was "I am doomed!".

Things got better as time passed though because i realized that i'm not the only one facing the same problem. I guess it's human instinct to be happy when we know that somebody else is also having the same trouble as we have.

The First Physics lab i can never forget

Before actually being at IIT I have always heard that IITians are full of geeks and i wanted to know if i could actually come close to knowing that and this. I suppose all of you remember the character Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. I actually saw a live performance of Miss.Granger during my first lab. There was this girl who kept on raising her hand at every question the Prof had asked and when ever the Prof gave her a chance to answer she gave a text book answer. Now the next thought that crossed my mind "I am gonna have hard time surviving here"

How things began to change

I still had not made a lot of friends here although it was now a week. Now to be true - My Hindi sucked during this period. I could understand Hindi to an extend but speaking was still a big issue and every time i said KHANA & GANA it sounded the same. It was during this time that some other fresher asked me the directions to tech market. I told him the way in English in my normal accent and speed, he looked at me as if i had come from outer space! Then i had to break down the sentence and recite it to him again! Phew! More bad experiences!

My first 3 friends here were 2 guys from the east - Alongbar Baglary & Sange Tenzin and Ade Gokul.

I was surprised when Tenzin had called me for his birthday treat, from there on things got better day by day! Soon enough i realized how "IMPORTANT" attending classes were!

So as time passed i made more and more friends and slowly but steadily i started to like this place, and thanks to the friends i started making i could now say KHANA & GANA  properly! 

August Rush!

One month had passed by in a flash. The fresher events and various programs here at the college kind of made it interesting and  i had also been able to find more good friends and i also missed my first ever Onam ( A huge festival in Kerala).

Wake me up when September Ends

I kept on listening to this particular Green Day track quite a number of time during this month, because September turned out to be very sluggish and boring all thanks to the Mid Sem exams!

After the end of the mid sems the entire focus now shifted on going home during the Durga Pooja holidays!

October 8, 2010

Two exams back to back, one that of Engineering Drawing and the other that of Physics Lab. I could hardly open my book, because my mind kept looming over the train i had that particular night to go BACK HOME!

Shaurya 2010

After 10 days back home were i gloated about my Hindi and College, it was back to KGP! The first college festival was the next interesting thing to happen!

Shaurya provided 3 days off total fun!

Diwali

This was my first ever grand Diwali celebration. For a South Indian like me and that too a Christian, Diwali was just a national holiday before, but things changed after my first Diwali at KGP! The Illu and Rangoli events were amazing and fun!

The Judgment Days

KGP was getting cooler by day and the end sems neared and this time i kept listening to the song November Rain by Guns N Roses. 

The first sem ends!

It was time to go back home and when i look back at the first sem i wonder how drastically my opinion about IIT had changed. How nocturnal IIT had made us. I enjoyed all those night outs, all those small meals at the night canteens and what made me more happy was that i could finally speak Hindi to an extend and after my first sem at IIT more people call me Joseph and not Naveen and i like that too. But statutory warning - You come to Kerala and call me Joseph you'll see a dozen heads turned towards you!

SEM 2 BEGINS

It was a completely different experience for me when i came back to KGP after the December holidays. I've never had to live in such cold climate in my life before. But i enjoyed it. After the New Year's eve and all it was back to bunking classes rather than attending them!

Spring Fest & Kshitij

Probably some of the best days of my KGP life so far. Enjoyed it to the fullest. It was not just the events that happened it was also the people i had been with during that time that made it special.

A lean patch in KGP life - February

Another month of exams that was what bugged me when February approached but little did i know that there was more to come.

A FRACTURED HAND - ruined my exams to an extend and also stopped me from doing a lot of things i liked!

But it did not stop me from giving my best friend here - Vishnu Anil a huge assault on his birthday!

The best month in KGP - March

Nothing could stop me from having fun during this month not even the fractured hand!

The Hall days were just too good - Almost a party a day. 

Then on March 18 - I had a painful and memorable birthday, thanks to the fracture, i managed to escaped alive from the assault that was unleashed on me during midnight!

Finally the day after my birthday i got my plaster removed and the it was time for HOLI.

Holi was awesome and yet again this was my first time at it.

April - 2011

I'm getting really home sick and sometimes frustrated specially after missing Easter and to add to my woes the end sems too. JUST DYING TO GO BACK HOME NOW.

Sneak - Peak into Year 1

It was just awesome. The friends i made, the sleepless nights, all the events that kept happening around us. The good and bad incidents on the way. I spent some of my time here trying to make a relationship - I tried and i failed(sad, but i have to admit the truth)but i realized that i had forged even stronger relationships on the way!

Hoping that Year 2 would turn out to be a better one...!!!

The Hostel

A home away from home that's what a hostel is
no, not at all
for me - it's like hell gone loose
that's a typical hostel at KGP

here positions are like Tendulkar on a Soccer field
just the name and no role to play
so we see no warden and hear no warden
and our parents sleep in peace thinking "my son is in safe hands"

let me tell you my friend, more about this place
where you find the extremities of "smoke"
one from the burning agarbati
after the morning prayer
and the other from the burning cigarette
from dawn to dusk or even more

but there is one thing that i am grateful for
never will i say "no" to home food ever again
and the only thing i have learned from the mess
are the principles of infinite dilution
so thanks to all the cooks
for giving me that lesson in chemistry

here night doesn't begin before midnight
and the day doesn't begin before noon
how ironic can it get
after all this is IIT
where we have all turned nocturnal

here resides some of India's best brains
and i would also add to it some of India's best Romeos
and for the group in between
they just say "dude this girl friend thing and studying are all pointless"

and then there is this one day
when the whole place rushes
to the rooms of the biggest book worm
like a swarm of flies
the judgment day that is
some seeking for help
and some wanting to know where to begin
and yet there are some who just want to put everyone in more misery

amidst all this chaos
its always fun to be here
you have your friends
and you have your celebrations

so here in this place some are set to rot
like corpses in a graveyard
and some are set to shine brighter than the pole star
but no matter what, this place
is what will mould you into "YOU"

Why?

This is to that someone special in KGP when someday that someone discovers how special that someone is to me...!!!
This are a few lines that came to me when i was writing it on a friends wall during our hostel day celebrations and thanks to the one who gave me the thumbs up to post it on the blog.


Why is it that when i'm with you
time seems to move slowly

Why is it when i'm with you
my heart misses a beat

Why is it that when i'm with you
everything else around me seems to dissapear

Why is i that when i'm with you
the days seem endless and the nights sleepless

Why is it that when i'm with you
i tend to smile for no reason

Why is it that when i'm with you
I'm just not myself

Tell me why...
is it that i am still with you?

The Hostel - Coming soon

Rooftop

The clock strikes twelve, the night is alive,

and i need to revive

so i set out on foot,

with no girl friend who'll loot

thinking "tomorrow i'll be more serious",

and even today that "me" is mysterious

on the way to my left and to my right,

i can see love birds all night

then again this is college,

where we came for knowledge

finally i reach this place,

which i thought i never would have to face

and there in scarlet red it's written "dedicated to the service of the nation",

and here i came for some inspiration

so i climb and i sneak,

and occasionally i peak

just to see that there is no one watching,

and on the roof - the cold wind has got me shivering

but the beauty of my college has left me breathless,

so i sit there fearless

not thinking of what might happen tomorrow,

because life is too short to be in sorrow.