Thursday, December 3, 2009

Changes

How life changes with time; was the thought in my mind as I logged onto my Gmail account to check the photos of my friend’s marriage. It seemed only yesterday that we were in our college uniform , a blue shirt and a Prussian blue pant rushing off to our classes in the engineering college, making maggi at night in the electric kettle and having it with coffee where one maggi was shared by four. And now my friends are getting married. Time flies it seems.

I sat and thought about the time when I used to go to the school, an all girls convent school, wearing white tunic with blue checks, carrying bags, tiffins and water bottles. Homework every day , PT period , dance classes , singing classes ( my favorite ), lunch break when we shared our tiffins with our friends, the wonderful year end prize distribution ceremony when I would go on stage every year to collect one certificate or another, the inter - school competitions where we would eagerly wait for the boy schools to come, the excitement to meet cute looking boys and getting to know their names ,class 10 boards and finally the farewell .

That period also reminds me of my grandparents in monsoon and winter season. My grandmother used to make pakoris in the rainy season and we would sit in the veranda and have it while watching the pitter patter of the monsoon rains. It also reminds me, of me all covered in plastic , sitting in a tri-cycle rickshaw and going to school on a rainy day , getting wet in the rain on the way back from school and the days declared as " Rainy Days" which were eagerly looked forward to as they meant off from school .

The winters in Lucknow are awesome. My grandparents used to sit under the sun , we ate lunch under the warm sun . I remember sleeping in the warm quilt with my grandma and her waking me up for school in the morning. Getting up was a humungous task. I loved the uniform of winters - dark blue tunic white shirt , dark blue cardigan and coat - how smart it was :).

The memories of the second school also make me smile as I met good friends there who are with me till date. First time in a co-ed was fun. Studying, talking , playing pranks in class , working together for cultural events , fighting , gossiping about who likes whom was total past time for us . Driving to school on my LML Trendy gave me a sense of independence. At the end of the day all the friends used to start from school together and then break off towards their own routes. That was school for me.

And then I grew up. Next was the college in Delhi. What fun days they were. No more uniforms. Colored clothes. Classes in which I hardly understood anything because I had taken up Physics Honors :P . Bunking classes to go for fests and movies. Wednesday long breaks which we would spend at the little restaurants and Archie’s across the road of Gargi College where I was studying. Gossiping about girls and their boyfriends and learning new things every day ;) was an unforgettable experience. And then engineering happened.

The most amazing time of my life comprised of these four years of engineering. The days are like a movie in my mind ; us sitting in a group and singing in the garden , watching movies together specially horror ones while sitting huddled together hidden under the blanket with just heads outside so that the computer screen is visible, going to Delhi all shoved in the Bus No 392, watching movies together in the theatre, sitting in ccd the whole day whiling away time , celebrating birthdays , going to Delhi Haat , eating egg rolls in atta, Centre Stage Mall , hot steaming momos outside CSM , roaming for hours in Atta market , having parathas outside college , maggi at a dhaba, fruit bear in Delhi haat, chaat at haldirams, summer holidays at Nani's place, trip to appu ghar, ramprastha hostel, funny dance by roopali gupta , travelling in Noida buses and six seaters to various destinations ,gossiping late in the night , trips to Ansal plaza with the whole jing bang lot , trip to batkal lake and our funny antics bring a smile to my face always.

The four years which taught me experiences no one can. Made friends for a life. Learnt who your real friend is and who is not , how people can use someone . Learnt tough lessons of life, the hard way. :)

Next up was job where two years were spent learning about the big bad corporate world, again met people from all walks of life, made friends who are now all married and settled.

Over the period of time I have realized that I have changed, the things I liked are not the things I crave for now. The conversations have undergone a change too. That has happened automatically but it is strange.

Then came MBA and it was an entire different experience.MBA was more of professionalism. It was a good break from job. Fun loving class, all the gyan, and PowerPoint presentations had become our life. New city - Mumbai which brought forth a completely different perspective of life The Maya Nagri taught me the life in fast lane. The job has taught me what a struggle life is here . But Mumbai has also brought a different aspect to my life , a happiness that I was missing before. :D

The journey of life is still going on with changes every day. I can feel myself and others around me changing. I do miss old times , the carefree days , the fun loving days when one has no worries but I guess that’s how life is . The only permanent thing in life is change . :O)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

very true!!! change is the only part in life that never changes. its good, its bad but then its the fun element in life...I am just curious y was food mentioned in this blog so many times...khana changes aapke liye zaada bada concern hai i think :P, chal lunchtime hogaya mera :) NICE!!!

Nidhi Modi said...

very nicely written..
i believe its every person's story.. just the names of the places would be different.. and it clearly shows from the way u wrote about your school days to how you evolved when writing about MBA days.. the change is so reflective in this writing piece as well..
Keep writing :)

vikram said...

pretty nicely written...tht was like a quick recap of ur life in some 300 words..