19 March, 2011

But The Moon Is Still There

This one's dedicated to three very special girls. I thank them for teaching me two very essential things to know about life. One, that there's nothing more richer and more pleasant than life. And two, that whatever may be the situation today, life has one very nice thing about itself, it goes on. Cheers to the CG triology.

But The Moon Is Still There

Walking by the woods one day,
I saw a little girl play
I knew not who you were
But I knew I needed to stay
Watching you there, I felt I needed to know more
I knew you saw me too
but neither made a move

I took the first step, a calm greeting was all I could
That day, forgotten in the pages of the story
I know we still cherish, and revere the memory
what if, I wouldn’t have stopped
what is, you hadn’t noticed me
what if, after I greeted you, you’d have replied lame
as though I were just another shepherd, who happened to pass your way.

But you replied, and so it began
a story of two souls divine
what began as strangers in a world of bane
slowly became, each other’s greatest strength.

People say, what a small world we have
but I’d rather have it small
than to have missed knowing you
‘coz I fear to imagine where I would have been today
had it not been for you.

I remember the time
when you saw black days in life
and somehow, you thought of me in the time of peril
I know not what I did, but perhaps I comforted you
It was the first time you said, that you trust me
it meant more to me than anything before that ever
because one may like or love or idolize a person
but it takes a lot of courage to trust another being
and I was determined to live up to it
And it was the very first time,
that you asked me for something…
to take care of you.

I remember how, you wished me one day
feeling glad, that I was born
thankful to have me in your life
hopeful, that I feel in my heart, as time passes on
how much I mean to you
you said it, from the bottom of your heart
may my good times multiply
till they’re flying of the chart!

One night I called you, when I was mournful
I didn’t tell you what my enigma was
but you only knew that I was sad
that, was enough for you to know, and you needed no more
you came to foster my happiness
that’s when you said, ‘remember,
no matter what fate brings for you
you wont let yourself down
because someone cares for you a lot
and will always be there for you.’
That was the first time ever
someone had said that to me
and I knew it was the first time in my life
someone had meant that to me.

Slowly between those late night chats
those little smiles and well-done pats
between funny things and things difficult
I realised our lives, were to be sewn as one
we knew it both and we knew it well
we knew it when we talked
we knew, it between the silences
we knew it when a sudden smile would cross our lips
on the utterance of the other’s name
we knew it when we prayed, for the other in sickness and in health
when we would know, that the other is not well
without even seeing the other’s face
we knew it when we would just know, when the other was about to call
we knew it between those endless talks,
which seemed to pass in moments
we knew when we’d work hard for entire weeks
just to reward ourselves with a talk with the other
when God would intervene, to make our ends meet
and I knew, that it was you, when you said, ‘I’m there for you.’

Even today, I carry a bit of you in my heart
though we had parted our ways
but I know that memories always stay
I hold on to them, ‘coz even when everything changes
memories do not
I choose, not to regret the loss I made
but to cherish the memories I had with you
it used to be enough for us to know that we share the same moon every night
even though we were miles apart
I do hope, of you forgetting me
but I know you can’t, just like I can’t either
and I wish, I hadn’t told you that I’ll be always there with you
because now, you have trouble in letting me go
and I know, that one day, my special friend will return
because even though we live in a world where nothing lasts forever
but whenever I see the sky
the moon is still there.

-          Vishal Gupta
February 4th, 2011

11 March, 2011

Second Options - Epilogue

Continued from Second Options - Part 6

            Every corner of Netaji auditorium drowned in a sea of cheer as my Hall rejoiced. As soon as the judge announced the winners, Ishenam Chamatkari jumped beside me and before I could think of what just happened, I was hugged by Juice. Everyone jumped on the stage and congratulated each other. Every person who lived under the same roof with me was overjoyed with the feeling but I felt a bit out of place at that moment. I did feel the sensation of a hard-earned victory but I could not understand what made everyone so excited about the win. Maybe being the kaata seccy, I did miss something. I saw Chamatkari again and his nose was bleeding most probably because someone had hit him while all that jumping and humping, but Chamatkari didn’t seem to care. At that time the most important thing for him was the victory he had deserved and earned. Soon I even came face to face with JJ. For the first time, he did not give me a dirty look and I went ahead and hugged him. Nitin patted me from the back and I actually lifted him up in my arms. After all, who could play a better dragqueen than her him. We all gathered up outside Netaji to fill the air of IIT Kharagpur with the name of our Hall. Then everyone marched back towards the place which had bonded us all close together.

            I didn’t go. I found a bench mid-way and stopped to think, would this have been possible had JJ not been strict with us? Perhaps he was not wrong in tormenting my life. As a G. Sec, he had the responsibility to ensure the work is done and he did his job fastidiously. Though it did create hinder my own personal works, but that didn’t mean that his job was wrong. People wouldn’t have bonded so well had they not worked in those hard days during Illu. Had Satyaraghava not brought me tonight, I wouldn’t have witnessed the grand celebration where happiness was oozing out of every square inch of our bodies. Had JJ not scared me into it, I would have stayed back in my room and missed the fundae of elocution which has been passed down by generations of IITians in my Hall and I’d have remained a reluctant speaker. The Hall wouldn’t have been united to work towards the common goal of winning the Inter-Hall General Championship which not only taught us the technical aspects of our work but also the principles of working in a team.

            I got up from the bench, and walked towards the elated family which was waiting for me in my Hall.

            With this, I end my tell of tales this year. Second Options will always remain close to my heart as the memoirs of the year when I learnt a lot in life and I’m sure that not only for me but for all my friends reading this, this series would be a special one which they shall all cherish an unforgettable year which passed through their lives. For my juniors reading this, I’ll say that no Jaishith is ever bad. He’ll just do his work and he’ll do it as finely as he can. If your work conflicts with his’, and if he does his work better than you can defend yours, you’ll have to comply with his wishes. That’s why every JJ and every Gambheer is chosen very selectively, because they have the responsibility to keep the Hall going. They are the reason that you can hold up your head high and feel proud of your Hall.

            Lastly, I’d like to thank all the patient people who went through my work, gave me feedback, complemented, and commented. Specially Gambheer, JJ, Juice, Satyaraghava, Shin Chan, Tanmoy, and you.

            Tanmay, this last article was dedicated to you. I hope you enjoyed it.

            Shin Chan, loved the daily debates with you. Always gave me food for thought. Hope we keep it up for long.

            Satyaraghava, thanks for all the great comments and support. It always helped me to keep writing against all odds.

            Juice, my friend for all seasons. Thanks for all the support you have shown. Though I wouldn’t mind if you could curb down on your menta spree a bit, but that’s now a part of who we are, isn’t it?

            JJ. Thanks for showing such a sporty spirit. I apologise for all that I wrote.Just consider it as an innocent hobby of a junior who respects you a lot. As for the tempo, keep it up. J

            Gambheer. You were the best roomie I ever had dude. I seriously miss you. No one could be a better G. Sec HR than you man! Kudos to the God of DTJJ.

            And You. For sticking by my till now.

Curtains

04 March, 2011

Second Options - Part 6

Continued from Second Options - Part 5


            It was one of those days in the life of an IITian when he slows down his fast pacing life for a while, looks up in the sky at the beautiful clouds and thinks, what is the meaning of life? What is he doing out here? Is he living for a better future? Is he contributing towards the great nation? Has he made it as large as he wanted to make it? Does he have a good girlfriend? Why does everyone seem to think that he is a jerk? Why did he have problems with all three of his roommates? Was he the problem?
            It was one of those days in the life of an IITian, when an Aerodynamics test was waiting on the other side of the night and all I could do was to look at the watch, and then the calendar, sensing my pulses as the terror of time slowly engulfed my soul. I looked at my notes; there was a lot of scribbling and stunning patterns which could put even Georges Barbier to shame. Nonetheless, they could not help me in my test the other day. I opened some e-books which I’d downloaded earlier for reference, but after struggling with them for 15 minutes, I would find my true calling and get back to browsing through the junior batch’s girls’ profiles on facebook which would surely take much more than just 15 minutes. Slowly, I was reaching towards my goal and by that I mean the syllabus for the test. A girlfriend still seemed like a distant dream. Though there was a slight chance with… but no, I needed to focus on my test first. These things could wait (or so I thought). It was around 8 P.M. and I geared up for another night out when Jaishith entered to my room.
            ‘What are you still doing here?’
            ‘Ummm… studying? I have a test tomorrow!’ I replied.
            ‘So do I.’
            I knew what was coming next. Whenever Jaishith too had the load, it meant load for me. I waited for him to continue.
            ‘Hindi drams. Netaji Auditorium. Now!’
            I looked at his face. It’s not that I hadn’t guessed what he was coming at, but with the test the other day, I wasn’t sure if by guilt conscience would let me go cheer my Hall’s Hindi dramatics team which would surely take atleast 90 minutes of my precious time. I knew that in those 90 minutes the maximum air flow I would be able to study would have nothing related to my test. Still going would mean my guilt eating me up and compiling to Jaishith’s wishes, which I was reluctant to do. Jaishith was still staring at me while I was lost in my dubious thoughts. The sound of the “ping” from my laptop added to his advantage and my guilt. But it was another reason for me to stay in my room near my laptop. I told Jaishith I’ll come after sending an “important mail.” The truth, as you would guess by now was that I wasn’t going to go.
            Ten minutes later I was carrying Satyaraghava on my cycle for Netaji. I still wonder how he talked me into it but as far as I remember, there weren’t very many words on his part in the conversation; and whatever words he used were distinct, clear, short, focussed and reminded me of the Jaishith of the old days. Even the empty wing and mess contributed to his cause. If I didn’t go, I’d be the loner who remained behind to mug while all his batch-mates went for a cock-a-maniac cause. It funny how at some point of time, the seniors train your batch-mates so well in tormenting you that the seniors themselves have to do pretty less to control your life. After all, peer pressure works way better than power pressure. The seniors were geniuses of this art and I was slowly learning the tricks of their trade.
            My Hall occupied three full rows of the Netaji Auditorium. Satyaraghava set up his camera from the best angle possible and got ready to capture the history my Hall was about to make. It turned out that Jaishith’s ‘now’ had a different definition than what had been taught to me in primary school as there were still two Halls to perform their act. Jaishith came beside our rows, I wanted to ask him why he had called us so early but then decided against it. He commanded us to hoot at the time of other Hall’s performances and to stand in between the rows as bouncers maintaining proper decorum in the Auditorium when our act was underway. Somehow, he managed to give me a reason for calling me early without being asked. But this was certainly going to take more than 90 minutes. As I stood up to leave, Gambheer called out,
            ‘Something wrong?’
            ‘No. Why?’
            ‘Why are you standing?’
            With 50 pairs of Azadian eyes looking at me, I replied, ‘nothing, something stuck on my seat. Manav can you shift a bit?’ And with that I gave in this night in the name of my Hall.
- After 3 Hours -
            I guessed that since I waited for so long, it wouldn’t harm to wait till the results. There was a little dispute over the results. One Hall had performed a splendid act but left some mist in the air making it hard to see and breathe in the Auditorium. That Hall argued that technically, they hadn’t broken any rules but the judged finally gave them the penalty of a 15% which eventually cost them a podium finish. The judges, after a little studapa of their own, finally announced the winners. My heartbeats paced up as the bronze winner was announced. We didn’t get that. I could hear the blood in the veins of Tanmay rush up as the silver prize was taken away by some other Hall. Now everyone waited for the biggie. The judges, enjoying every moment of their footage took their time and then finally opened their mouth to announce the winner of the Hindi Dramatics. It took them four seconds to announce the results and in those four seconds, a plethora of emotions rushed through me.
            ‘And the…’ I looked at the face of Jaishith. I could see the fire in his eyes. This was the moment he was waiting for. HIS defining moment. The moment for which he’d worked very hard and he deserved the call.
‘winner of Inter-Hall…’ I looked at the Hall team. Weeks of hard work and missed sleep was showing on their faces. This was something they had earned. This was the moment they were actually alive in. They were living every passing moment of this.
            ‘Hindi Dramatics is…’
To be concluded