I came back a happy man. Did I miss something? Oh sure I did. The Gatecalls. They are a symbol of an era gone by. The ANC Chai hold, it’s gone. So is a beautiful game called Worms World Party. (There’s still an orkut Pilani community for it) No one knows that on a PPW you must put a couple of kitkats. But worst of all, I saw a disease that’s creeping into Pilani. As we were being trained as Mitr Volunteers in Bangalore, we were always worried about the effects of the lack of human interaction within students, a reason why IIT Bombay started filtering internet activity on their campus. We lived in happier times. Even though there were crazy Quake III, AOE enthusiasts, we always had time for our wing, our departments. We just never disturbed couples. But today, many BITSians prefer staying closeted in their make-believe virtual reality. Classes get gussed, not for reading Camus but for playing AOE.
Anyway, I never predict the future (except when I used to debate a lot in Calcutta) I do not know whether I will ever be back on campus. I’m not even thinking about it. I just wish that if I ever go back, I should feel the same homecoming as I did this time. As the bus started, I looked back at Shibanka and Uddip. Psentisemites should NEVER wake up so early, yet they were there. The bus started. I took a completely new route back to Delhi, a route never travelled before...
A conversation to end it… finally…
X: So I heard you went to Pilani. You must have felt bad with none of your batch mates or wingies there on campus.
Me: ???????????????? I missed them but why should I feel bad?
X: Ah, it’s so nice. You have grown out of Pilani. Wish I could do the same. Doesn’t happen even after so many visits.
Me: Dude!!! You want to grow out of Pilani. I KNOW Pilani is a part of what I am. That’s the difference between us.
Anyway, I never predict the future (except when I used to debate a lot in Calcutta) I do not know whether I will ever be back on campus. I’m not even thinking about it. I just wish that if I ever go back, I should feel the same homecoming as I did this time. As the bus started, I looked back at Shibanka and Uddip. Psentisemites should NEVER wake up so early, yet they were there. The bus started. I took a completely new route back to Delhi, a route never travelled before...
A conversation to end it… finally…
X: So I heard you went to Pilani. You must have felt bad with none of your batch mates or wingies there on campus.
Me: ???????????????? I missed them but why should I feel bad?
X: Ah, it’s so nice. You have grown out of Pilani. Wish I could do the same. Doesn’t happen even after so many visits.
Me: Dude!!! You want to grow out of Pilani. I KNOW Pilani is a part of what I am. That’s the difference between us.
PS: The posts in this series ran into a lot of pages on my laptop where they are still saved. And somewhere within them I found two people fighting. A BITSian circa 2001-2005 and me of today. The posts often became a journey of self discovery and hence had to be edited. That might be a justification for the lack of continuity in some places. But whatever is written is written straight from the heart. The problem is like me, it also speaks a lot.
PPS: If you ever find a 'J' anywhere in the posts it would just mean :-)
