A Life That Has Been..

The time in between passing out of high school and joining a college is like standing on the edge of the cliff, ready to jump. You know that there is water down below but you don’t know how far down it is or how choppy it is. It is at this very instant that the proverbial “life flashing by” occurs. The comforting thought of falling on solid ground while you were there now ceases to exist. It is replaced by the fear of the unknown. I now find myself at that same juncture. And yes, I do look back and reflect on the life that has been.

By far, it is the last 6 years that have made a huge difference to me. The first three of those 6 were spent in a place that I may never forget. I was in 7^th when I first came to Pune. At that time I didn’t know anything beyond what a 12 year old should know, but that first year there changed everything. Suddenly, I was open to all the things I never knew was possible for someone so young, and it was AWESOME. A lot of shit happened too but I’d rather like to keep it buried. 7^th passed soon and then came 8^th. Now this was when I found the best of friends. Together we thought we could win the world and nothing could change us. 8^th and 9^th were too good for words, full of pranks and football and fucking around a lot. We became such good friends that when I had to leave Pune after 9^th, I fought everyone who said it was for the best. At that time, you wouldn’t care for what was best as long as you were having fun, but in the end, parents have the final say, like they always do and thus I landed in Hyderabad at a time when no one would have considered moving. I was forced to join a special “IIT Training” tuition that gave me nightmares. And then there was school which was so frustrating that I convinced myself that I would end up a loner.

I tried to distance myself from everything. I was hostile to classmates, didn’t care for shit what they thought, bunked the iit classes and went gaming instead. I lied to more people that I would care to admit, but it felt GOOD. I was there fighting for what I felt was the right thing to do. Then the unexpected happened. I met 4 guys who turned it all around. I ended up having the best time of my life that year and even met D.  I’d like to think that I am very lucky to have bumped into K, S and D because let me tell you, you both crazy idiots have become a huge part of my life and I would never part with you.

11^th and 12^th are said to be the most important years of once life and that to us meant just one thing: “N”. it was in my mind nothing more than a factory that churned out IITians every year without fail. The timings were inhuman, atmosphere gruesome. It would come as no surprise that I HATE THAT PLACE. So bad that I wanted to run away (yet again) but I didn’t, because I had no chice, that much was certain. But as with DAV, this time too I met these few people. On reflection, it seemed natural because we were all chronic backbenchers and so had to have something common :P What followed next was another bond that I hope never breaks. Of all the people there, A, S and R were and continue to be my best friends. These two years have been a roller coaster but they made it worth it, from the inside jokes to the weekly football trips, every memory is like a diamond.

And now as I write this and soon going away, I look back and see what I thought was irreplaceable has been replaced. I never thought my time in Hyderabad would be more memorable than my time in Pune. And it is all thanks to the six people I hope I time would never steal from me. We may all go different ways in the next couple of months, but I feel sure that somehow, we will never be far away.