Speak Now!

Is there someone special in your life? Do you keep thinking about someone quite a lot of time? Does that someone light up your day or night? Do you dream about that person with eyes wide open? Would you like to be with them if it’s the edge of the world? Do you like their company? Do you love that someone? Have you told that someone about your feelings?

As you read these above lines, does a name pop up into your head? If yes, then that’s all I intended to do. So now that we have a name, we both know that how important that person is to you, right? Deny it and you’ll be lying to yourself. Go on whimpering that you’re not crazy about them but if all these questions brought only one name to your mind, then trust me my dear friend, you’re screwed! 

Undoubtedly, some of you may have come up with a slideshow of series of names and the images in their head. I must admit that you then have a really rocking life!

Anyways, coming back to where we left, have you said it to him/her?  You have? You haven’t? You did but the response was not what you yearned for? Or are you just happily committed to him/her? Or maybe just committed and withering by those daily fights and misunderstandings?

You’re afraid to say it? Thinking it might ruin the thing between the two of you.Well, I don’t know what the right thing to do is! Whether to wait for the right moment or to keep playing this wait and watch game forever. All I know is sometimes, that perfect moment might never come your way. Maybe the ball might never be in your court and you’ll be kept waiting for that golden opportunity. The things you’re trying so hard to put in place might never fit. Things might never be right! You’d keep waiting for things to settle down thinking in your head, ‘One more day and things will be alright!’, ‘I’ll take her out someday and open up my heart in front of her’, ‘I’m just in mess to deal with it right now’, 'He/she'll be with me if my destiny wants so!' and a million other reasons to hold your words back! It may work out for some, the gamble might pay off. But what if it doesn’t?

You think in your head that you’ll have a perfect date one day with that special someone and then you’ll present them with the garland of your feelings. You probably think saying it on the phone may not be the best idea to sort out a small tussle, so you’d wait your chance when you’ll see him/her in person. You think that probably avoiding the situation will put an end to it in a few days. Your perspectives may differ, your way of thinking might not match and you may pick up fights every single day on petty issues. But have these tussles and misunderstandings changed your feeling for the person you are thinking of right now? If you say you don’t know the answer, let me tell you one thing, you wouldn’t have been thinking of that person if you really didn’t know.

I don’t mean to push you or force you or persuade you to go and tell your counterpart anything, all I mean to convey is that if it’s in your capacity to tell the one you care so dearly for, seize the moment and don’t wait for the perfect one because no moment is perfect until you make it yourself by your actions. Don’t wait to hug them, kiss them or even bed them (if that’s what you’d like to do with them) the next time you meet them or see them. Don’t wait to hold their hand and tell them what they mean to you. Don’t wait for things to settle down because they never will settle down. Look them in the eye and make sure they know what’s in your heart and not what’s on your tongue for the statements differ sometimes! Do not leave things to their prerogative for they might not be as optimistic as you. Don’t keep words unsaid! Do not leave things to destiny for once at least! Don't relay all on hope just for once thinking they'll see it one day by themselves!

Don’t let these opportunities slip by for the regret that will come later will be very hard to deal with. You’ll be holding your head someday and will be thinking that why didn’t you tell them or made the move when you should have. The status quo is in your favor today my friend, it may not be so tomorrow; so make the best use of it before it changes! Speak  Now before it’s too late!

Half Engineer!

It still feels like it all started yesterday but the calendar on the wall speaks something else. It says 2 years have passed. Half the journey has been covered! I now realize that I’ve come down a long road. The memories are still as fresh as the morning dew though.

5^th August 2013, the first time I stepped into UIET, Panjab University.

‘It’s college life finally!’ I told myself.

It has been a crazy wild ride since. 2 years have passed like two months or as it feels like 2 weeks. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that these two years have pretty much showed me a demo of what life is all about. It definitely isn’t just about engineering for sure. That is the last thing we’re learning in this place! It’s about ‘the life’ we have learned being in college!

The first day in college. I still remember when I first walked into the campus. That rush of excitement, that tinge of nervousness, a little petrified, a little shy and what not! A plethora of emotions swinging inside me. With uncertainty of what’ll happen next to meeting and seeing new people come from almost all parts of the country with different cultures and different thinking!

The new found freedom of hostel life. Yes, something every college student 'should' experience once in life. The things learned in hostel are unimaginable! How strangers become brothers when we have to break some locks, how an India-Pakistan match becomes a matter of life and death in the hostel common room and what not! With hostel life comes the 'mess food'. Haha! All hostelers will know what this means. The dinner will seem almost impossible without a few curses about a few burnt chapatti or how bad the daal is! The late night cravings in that hostel room leading to hitting the places life PGI and NFS for late night snacks and paranthas! Night outs is something almost every hostel-er is acquainted! If you haven't had a nightout till now, you are NOT a true hostel-er! 5-6 friends sleeping in one room is more of an accomplishment rather than uneasiness! Borrowing stuff and never returning is the mantra in hostel! The hostel birthday’s with your ass being beaten to a limit where you cant even sleep on your butt is something we all have cherished!

           

The friendships! They say that the most people we meet between 16 years-22 years are temporary people in our life. It may be true, but yes it is in these 2 years that we’ve found some life long friends to keep who no one will ever replace. With almost the whole class being considered as a friend, from ones who’d just call you during exam to solve doubts to the ones who’d almost take care of every fucking thing that you have to do(assignments, files and tests). To the one’s who rarely talk but will never fail you when you are in peril, may it be when you get your face smashed in the very first semester of college or who may expect from you to support their allegiance in the upcoming elections and to those who may chip in to help you out in your day to day proceedings! ‘koi naa bhai, bike ka thoda hi kharcha hai bs apna facial thik karle pehle! xD’ They’ll come in all sizes with their own unique attributes which may sometimes be irritating but never the less, they’ll still be your friends! ‘bhai ke liye itna ni karega!’ ‘love you too bro!’ ‘abbe koi naa dekh lenge!’ ‘saale tu ch*tiya hai but jaisa bhi hai acha hai!’

    

The lecture bunks! One of the biggest achievement in college life is to make a mass bunk happen! The pride of mass bunking is something one can never get enough of! Though it’s an uphill task to make it happen as you’ll always have a nerd classmate for whom bunking is almost like a IPC 302 crime but nevertheless, you’ll still give your 200% to convince him/her with ‘Mat jaa yr, dekh koi bhi ni jaa ra!’

The spontaneous trips, movies and sukhna lake! It’s a normal class day and all of a sudden it turns out that one of you starts to feel a little notorious and a voice comes out ‘chalo kasauli chaltein hai!’ and in a flash of seconds all the class is emptied and WOOHOO here you go! ‘dekh yr kitna romantic mausam hai, chalo sukhna chale!’ ‘bhai imdb rating sexy aai hai bht, chor C ki class!’

That guardian senior! Believe it or not, we all have that one guardian senior we look forward to every time we spill some ‘raita’ in our college life. From general tips on how to score or nail a subject to the most personal advices, there is always a senior who knows you inside out and whose traits you always idealize! They’re your guardians away from your home! They are your Night’s Watch!

The first college crush! Haha! This is something that brings a big grin on everyone’s face! Remember your friends teasing you with the name of that girl/boy every now and then there’s a conversation about the opposite sex! Not only this, you still maybe are stalking his/her fb/whatsapp account every now and then no matter how much you say you are over them! The first college crush is always a cute memory! ‘bhai vo dekh bhabhi library jaa ri hai! Pakad le library me hi!’ ‘Bhai bhabhi aaj kisi aur ke saath ghum ri thi, bta uthwade saale ko?’ ‘bhai bhabhi hot ho gyi hai!’ ‘han han ab bhai se zyada jaanu pyaari ho gyi, dhokebaaz bc!’

The first college heartbreak! If you haven’t had a heart break in the first two years of college life, you have pretty much missed a lot! No matter how much it had hurt at that time, it all feels like a good laugh now! You become a butt of jokes among friends with the name of that boy/girl being called out to address you but it now all sounds funny! But these friends have always been there when you needed a shoulder! ‘koi naa bhai, nayi bhabhi dhundenge!’ ‘bhai train, auto aur ladki ke peeche kabhi ni bhaagna, ek jaati hai toh doosri aati hai!’

Exam time! ‘Bhai gye iss baar toh, bilkul kuch ni aata’ ‘bhai abhi toh start krna hai, aaj raat kaali karunga!’ Exam time are the most stressful times when the topper becomes the epitome of the almighty. ‘bhai padhade plz! Jo kahega vo karunga!’ ‘bhai important important hi btade bs, 50me se 50 thodi laane hai!’

   

                                                

The results! The grades which were sky high when we entered college are now hitting new lows. ‘bs iss sem pass ho jaun, agle se pakka padunga’ ‘hey bhagwan RE naa aaye bs, teacher ke pair padne padenge!’. No matter how rock solid the determination is to study hard the next semester, there’s always some sleep or a movie coming to spoil it!

Broken Friendships! As friendships were made, a lost came to an end. Some bitter, some mutual, some due to situations, some otherwise. Whatever it may be, we all have lost a few friendships which we never wanted to lose in these two years. Packs and groups which once felt like armours for each other crumbled to pieces when put against the test of time and character. Sometimes it was our fault which we failed to see, sometimes theirs! We all tried our best to give in the best we could but we may have failed. 2 years down the line and we still struggle sometimes to give our best to the people we want to see so dearly in life! Whatever we may say, deep down within, we still possess a small soft cushion for those friends who aren't their with us anymore and it won’t be an exaggeration that we may still have a small hope within of getting back together!

These 2 years haven’t just been about mere engineering! These two years have been about knowing life, knowing people, learning how to face life and situations in thick and thin! They have taught us how lovely life can be if we embrace it and how ugly it can seem if we decide to stay aloof!

Reflecting back upon myself, I could have been a different person, a better one no doubt! With a lot of wrongs that could have been avoided and a lot of new friendships explored! I don’t know whether it’s late for me or not, all I know is I have to be at my best! These last 2 years have been a learning curve for me, an unmatched experience! I would not call it a beautiful journey but I will surely call it a journey worthy of every minute! I don’t have much close friends but for me everyone is a friend who’d I’ll embrace with my arms open wide! I am not perfect, I've made mistakes, some really terrible one’s, but I’m willing to learn from them! These years have subtracted 2 years out of my 4 year course but have added something I will always cherish and hold close to my heart! With only 2 more years left, I hope the coming years may be even more wonderful as the two that have just passed with the different hues painting the canvas of my life and adding more value to it as I prepare myself for the gruesome world waiting on the other side of the road. Coming to the end of this article, I officially facilitate myself with the title of “Half Engineer!”

PS: Would end it with the famous RDB dialogue:

"College de gate de iss taraf hum life ko nachate hai..

Te dooje taraf life humko nachati hai! tim lak lak te tim lak lak!"

At the end, thank you to everyone, whether we now talk or not, whether we like each other or not, no matter what the status quo may be between us for making these past two years memorable and cherish-able! Take care!