Something from long ago. When the Sun first started to set on a bright world, and winter began.
GMBA
Speech
Peers, Classmates, XLers, lend me your short attention spans;
I come
to pass gyaan, not to gather it,
The
gyaan that seniors give, lives after them;
The
work is oft interred with their jobs;
So let
it be with you. The noble CRISP
Hath
told you to make a giant CV:
If it
were so, it was a grievous fault,
And
grievously hath you answer’d it.
Here,
under the leave of Jittu and the rest—
For
Jittu is an honorable man;
So are
they all, all honorable men—
Come I
to cry in my funeral.
XL was
my school, harsh and vague to me:
But
Jittu says it will be alright;
And
Jittu is an honorable man.
He had
brought many students in to XL
Whose
loans did your CBI account fill:
Did in
this Jittu seem ambitious?
When
the the batch have cried, Jittu hath ignored:
“Alright”
should be made of transparent stuff:
Yet
Jittu says we’ll get placed;
And
Jittu is an honorable man.
You
all did see that on the brochure
We
thrice asked him about the placements,
Which
he did thrice ignore: Was this honor?
Yet
Jittu says we need not worry;
And,
sure, he is an honorable man.
I
speak not to disprove what Jittu spoke,
But
here I am to speak what I do know.
You
all did never know him, not without cause:
What
concerns you now, to withhold us?
O judgment!
thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And
men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My
heart is in the coffin there with this course,
And I
must pause till it come back to me.
But
yesterday the word of Abraham might
Have
stood against you at JLT; now lies it there.
And
none so brave to do him reverence.
O
masters, if I were disposed to stir
Your
hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I
should do Jittu wrong, and Mishra wrong,
I will
not do them wrong; I rather choose
To
wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
But here’s
a mail from the ID of Jittu;
I
found it in mine, ‘tis his promise—
And
they would go and kiss his ass
Yea,
beg a toenail of him for memory,
And,
dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing
it as a matter of joke
Unto
their leisure.
Have
patience, gentle XLers, I must not read it;
It is
not meet you know how XL fooled us.
You
are not wood, you are not stones, but men;
And,
being men, bearing the promise of XL,
It
will inflame you, it will make you mad:
‘Tis
good you know not that you are his trueborns;
For,
if you should, O, what would come of it!
Will
you be patient? Will you stay awhile?
I have
o’ershot myself to tell you of it:
I fear
I wrong the honorable men
Whose
daggers have stabb’d us; I do fear it.
You
will compel me, then, to read the mail?
Then
make a ring about the corpse of GMBA,
And
let me show you those that made the batch.
Shall
I type? and will you give me leave?
If you
have CVs, prepare to tear them now.
You
all do know this JLT: I remember
The
frst time ever we came on;
‘Twas
on a winter’s evening, in Shere Punjabaxi,
That
day we overcame the borders:
Look,
in this inbox came Jittu’s mail through:
See
what a rent the envious Mess made:
Through
this the well-beloved Abraham stabb’d;
And as
he pluck’d his cursed words away,
Mark
how the hopes of us follow’d it,
As
rushing out of doors, to be resolved
If
Jittu so unkindly knock’d, or no;
For
Jittu, as you know, was our angel:
Judge,
O you BM/HRs, how dearly Jittu fooled us!
This
was the most unkindest cut of all;
For
when our noble PlaceCom saw him stab,
Ingratitude,
more strong than Your powers,
Quite
vanquish’d him: then burst our faint hopes;
And,
in his office muffling up his face,
Even
at the base of the Admin building,
Which
all the while remained silent, great GMBA fell.
O,
what a fall was there, my XLers!
Then
I, and you, and all of us fell down,
Whilst
bloody treason flourish’d over us.
O, now
you laugh; and, I perceive, you feel
The
dint of pity: these are gracious laughs.
Hearless
souls, what, laugh you when you but behold
Our
loans invested wounded? Look you here,
Here
we are ourselves, marr’d, as you see, with traitors.
Good
BMs, sweet HRs, let me not stir you up
To
such a sudden flood of thought.
They
that have done this deed are honorable:
What
private motives they have, alas, I know not,
That
made them do it: they are wise and honorable,
And
will, no doubt, without reasons stay mum.
I come
not, friends, to steal away your hearts:
I am
no poet, as Dadlani is;
But,
as you know me all, a plain blunt man,
That
love my career; and that they know full well
That
gave me public leave to write and post:
For I
have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
Action,
nor utterance, nor the power of pen,
To
stir men’s blood: I only write right on;
I tell
you that which you yourselves do know;
Show
you sweet GMBAs’ wounds, poor poor dumb mouths,
And
bid them speak for me: but were I Jittu,
And
Jittu Gupta, there were a Gupta
Would
ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue
In
every wound of GMBA that should breathe
The
stones of XL to rise and mutiny.
Why,
friends, you go do you know not what:
Wherein
hath we this deserved your loves?
Alas,
you know not: I must tell you then:
You
have forgot the will I told you of.
Moreover,
XL hath left us in foreign walks,
Different
teachers and new buildings,
On
this side of campus; it hath left us,
And to
our heirs for ever, common trifles,
To
plead to you, and be isolated.
Here
was a XL! when comes that realization?
Vishal Gupta
6 Oct 2014
