(For Part-I of this post, visit http://hamstersqueaks.blogspot.in/2012/07/getting-fresh.html)
The lackadaisical lifestyle that dominated my first half at Munger very quickly gave way to frenetic- there's no other word for it- work.
I worked for 14 hours a day. I worked on Sundays and I worked from 11 to 6 in the night (or the morning, whatever) and just when it seemed to me that I was going to go the way of the dinosaurs, a convocation happened.
The lackadaisical lifestyle that dominated my first half at Munger very quickly gave way to frenetic- there's no other word for it- work.
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| I used the white board more times in three days than I ever did back in my hostel room in four years |
For a couple of days, I found myself back in the infernal institute which had bad food, erratic and mostly poor internet and with a penchant for cutting out the power on the eve of an examination. It was then that I had the most predictable epiphany.
You don't need great luxury if you can slouch all day with a bunch of basters.
Add the fact that I barely had a chance to bid farewell to everyone on my own terms (courtesy a broken fibula) and you'd know that I clicked a lot of photos.
Thank God for convocations; I'm waiting for my official batch reunion now
(which should come on some date in 2037).
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On the journey back to Munger, I was struck by the sight of a monstrously long queue awaiting the same train I was supposed to board. Easily running down a hundred metres or so, it was whipped into place by a few policemen who looked bored with the mundane task of handling scores of disgruntled passengers all clamouring for a way to slip ahead in the line, a lathi or two be damned. My attempts to take a snap were aborted when I noticed the anti-elitist stink eye I received from a fair few fellow travelers and I could only afford to lock away the image of that human snake winding its way down the platform in Howrah. The poor souls only wanted a square feet of area (or less) - enough space for a trip back home.
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I end this note with what I hope would be an enduring symbol of my experiences in the strange cut-off town that is Munger.
Is that you in the first picture? It might not seem like a pertinent question in the comments section, but I was just curious and confused.
ReplyDeleteAlso,Munger sounds like a cool name for a godforsaken town in Bihar. It sounds like the fictitious town one would read about in a Ruskin Bond book on a sleepy day.
And, the advantage of staying in KB is I wouldn't think the insti has "a penchant of cutting out the power on the eve of an exam" , but a lot of equally awful things, when I graduate!
Oh no, that's not me in the picture. I have not become so scrawny (yet). And you're right when you say Munger sounds like a place right out of a book. I had the impression that I was walking in a dream on many occasions, what with all the characters seemingly chiseled out of an imaginative author's pen or the constant threat of dacoits, Naxals and your neighbourhood thief, not to mention the mouldy remnants of the town's colonial past.
DeleteAs far as KB is concerned, I have very little knowledge of the state-of-affairs-that-be on this day, though I'd love to know!
Nice post and pics dude :)
ReplyDeleteBatch Reunion must happen before 2037 sometime, if I am not being that optimistic.
Nice one dude, specially idea of including pictures make it more lively.
DeleteNext time make sure to include your pics also
Thanks Bangu! And yeah, if we don't allow our insti to call the shots, we can hope to have a reunion a bit sooner.
DeleteAnd thanks Priyank! I'll try and add more photos of myself and maybe some details on what I've learnt, as you pointed out!
You don't need great luxury if you can slouch all day with a bunch of basters.
ReplyDelete_/\_
Yeah, I should have considered a Schlumberger clause! How are you?
DeleteIt is a sin, but I read it today. Badshah does not taste the same man. It never will.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, I'll come over on the day the Thomasonian is held. A trip to Baadshah then, maybe? It has really been a long, long time.
Delete