An advice in waste...

27 March 2013.

Travelling to Delhi with four other friends, and conversation started with two other co-passengers too. As it happens with young men, discussions started revolving on love life, while mutually teasing ourselves. And as some of us were busy on mobile, supposedly with someone of opposite sex, girlfriend or not, medical analysis on mental stability of each of us in rotation also became a topic. And I was also visibly obsessed with my mobile.

All of the above is just an introduction, to a statement, made by one of those co-passengers as a suggestion to me while parting, which I thought of making a note of.

"Never give your heart to anyone, it'll give you nothing but suffering."

Sigh.

I don't know why I don't understand this. But what I know, is that, probably I will keep on failing to understand this, and keep on doing just the opposite, till the day ends.

Pity. Feeling sorry for myself.

my Durgapur chronicles...

This post is the first of it's kind in this blog. It relates to several chain of incidents, hardly in direct relation to the actual objective with which one joins a PG course in NIT. Life is being gifted with new surprises, almost every other day, in and around the campus. Sometimes good, sometimes bitter, but really these are creating a bunch of memories, which will be wonderful to look back to at some point of time in future.

The post would remain incomplete without mentioning the characters, but better to prefer anonymity for present. The first couple of months went by without any incidents worth mentioning in this context. Those were the days of first acquaintance, which became closer when all were involved in organizing cultural programs involving the teachers and students on 5th September. But by the time of the first mid-semester assessment, a cluster of six was prominent in the class of twenty-three. A group trip to the nearby kumar mangalam park added lots of memories, the videos being quite an asset. And after the October vacations were over, the core of four was even more prominent. Myself, and three others. Consider them as B, K and S for anonymity. And probably that is the point everything, that I intend to mention specially in this post, started.

This was the point my liking for B took a turn towards emotional attachment. I love her, she knows it, though probably the feeling is not mutual(?). And there is again some such chemistry going on between the other two(?). Nevertheless, this made the bonding in the core stronger. Probably we four became one of the widely discussed topic in the student as well as faculty circle. It was funny, and to certain extent saddening and irritating too, that, every other person, other than we four, considered us as two couples. It is not their fault, anyway, anyone would make that guess from the way we four are together, in class, in library, in front of the ladies' hostel, and the frequent cycle rides in and around. The yummy fuch-cream at the front gate made several afternoons of our stay dearly memorable. And majority of the long never ending chitchats involved B, K and S making wild guesses on my relationships with the faculty members.

A misconception started growing among others from this point, that I am the sole driving unit of all the studies in the group. Even some faculties were under this impression. True, I help B in her project. But it is also true that I help others, outside this core four, during off hours, with lab, assignments, and related things. Still this misconception led to the point of us two being called by a junior faculty for cheating in the mid semester exams.

Also, this was the time when B was the most suffering among the four, with her promising project under a not-so-promising guide, and her troubling health. The yucky mess food, and the gloomy room K and B shared, which was again an unofficial arrangement, added to the discomfort. Two back to back incidents one day, S getting almost mowed down by a running bus, a cycle gone waste in the accident, and still we all travelling to an adjoining town the same day. The 1st semester went by, again the core and crust getting prominence during the exam, with both the faculties and students. A day post exam, B and myself were adding up marks for our own semester answer sheets, and several comments from one particular faculty made the day find a mention here. Another late night in December, we four having dinner at roadside within the campus, since the mess at both hostels are closed. And suddenly getting chased by a senior faculty from some other department, with his crazy objection was that one can't have food at the roadside in the teacher's residential premises. Sharing food, from the girls' hostel for me and S, and sometimes the reverse too, was wonderful.

The second semester started, my birthday being a day worth mentioning, described in details in one previous blog. One night, just parking cycles in front of the girls' hostel for long hours got us in trouble with the security staff. The wonderful lunch at the girls' hostel, shared between the four of us, on the occasion of saraswati puja, and entering an otherwise restricted zone, was memorable. The return trip was also there from the girls. But trouble was not far. B and K got late one night to return back in hostel, got caught by the warden, and spending too many upset hours, thinking on the compromise they would have to make if their unofficial staying arrangement revealed. Luckily the incident was resolved the next day without much trouble. This was on the night of 13th Feb. This day was also memorable for me for another reason, this was the first time in my life I spent on a valentines card.

B was again down in health, adding to the trouble were some rebukes from a faculty, she being upset and making quite a scene in the class. Within a few days, K and S got quite a reprimand, from two don't-know-who person, for being close together in front of a tea-stall within the campus. Another common day, my guide calling for my attention to mention something, and B pulling at my t-shirt at the same time, and two other faculties watching the scene wide mouthed. But such actions probably had little impact here, by the number of times we were noticed as a pairs in and around the campus. The evidence came from the friendly question from another faculty, 'Is this the first time?' And my sad reply, 'not my first, and also not what you think'.

I was out for 5days on a trip to Corbett, in the end of March. As it happens, I missed a special weekend class, unintentionally, and K and S missed it too, intentionally. To my utter dislike, B had to attend the class alone. The event, however, did not end here, it continued like a butterfly effect well into the next week, and I missed a total of 3 sessions in total, contrary to my plan of missing only one. My return from Corbett was remarkable, B, K and S coming to station, to the platform, to receive me as I disembarked.

Few unrelated points to mention here. By this time I had thrice been to movies in Durgapur, but never with any intention of actually watching the movie. And in two cases, I was out before spending 20% of time inside the hall. The food stalls in front of main gate had been our recent destinations, as we were taking care to avoid chatting in the department as well as in front of the hostel. The bengali end year shopping was done by all of us, this being the least satisfactory for B.

The second semester exams were lurking by, and like engineering students true to their heart, we were nowhere near studies. Study plans are easy to make, but sticking to them is surely a tough job. Firefighting is not new to me, and my stakes are low too. But that is not the case with B, S and K. B was quite upset on missed deadlines in study plans, and again I was the one who wasted an entire day, both her and mine, on some useless pending assignments. A humid day, bad food, uncomfortable seating, and wasting effort, while others are just relaxing and waiting for the fruits, is truly irritating. Also, few misunderstandings grew between me and B, and the next day also went by, mostly on phone calls, without any visible progress in studies. The exams started, with sleepless nights for B and K before the first exam, not for study, but due to their crazy roommates. Strangely, there had been a close similarity in how B faced the first exam in both the semesters.

Also, summer days were approaching. Shortage of water was common, resulting in night rushes inside campus to fetch drinking water from department or the girls' hostel. Frequent power cuts added to the problems in hostel. The life in college was slow, with only a few project guides willing to stay back in the department and  utilize the free time. Results were out, with an overall improvement, but not at par with individual expectations. The results were followed by a long journey to S' home on account of his niece's first rice ceremony. The day was memorable, mostly from all of us teasing K all the way through with her relations with S and her first experience with the future in laws. K reminded us that she will never forgive any of us for making that day so memorable for her. We missed the train where we had reserved tickets on the return journey, and had to avail a passenger train. B and K had a tough time during this period staying alone in the second floor of their hostel, mostly because their staying period did not match with each other. Finally they shifted to a room in the ground floor, accompanied with new experiences with new roommates. B had an accident at home, with cuts in wrists and legs from a broken glass table. What added to the discomfort were useless journeys between her home and Durgapur due to her unmindful project guide.


P.S.  a note, and disclaimer, to myself (the first reader), and other readers:

The post is unfinished. This is where everything stands right now. I might add things consecutively in future, in that case this note will be removed. Or I might keep this post as is. Will decide on that later.

A lot is missing in this post. Trying to recollect incidents that are worth mentioning. Will add more if time and mood permits, and so does the people involved.

All incidents are true, but opinions are purely personal. Never intended to hurt anyone.