Through Those Hallowed Corridors …

What comes in goes out! To collect the reminiscence of the past we look back and muse on what were the gains, what productive use did I make of the time I invested there, the package that I got and of course, the most significant qualifying term of the time “ROI” but on the very second thought, the memories associated with the college, the belongingness and attachment to that college sets in a silent, soft smile which is far more satiating than the highest of returns we might have calculated on the previous one.

To reckon of my alma mater, IIM Shillong, it would bring in the chill of the swooshing wind rushing though the pines, the fragrance of the motley greens around, the white of the skies, the unexpected drizzles, the divine warmth of the long awaited sun in the teeth clattering winters and the winding lanes tracing which we all went through the terrestrial highs and lows living each moment with the glees, shrieks, fun and fights.

They say, “With time it is important to let things lose” but few, I believe. What holds us to a place and brings back those memories again and again to our minds is not the tangible returns but the exquisite delight and ecstasy that seeps in with the remembrance of those stations and “addas”. Within a month at IIMS, I am already addicted to the post-midnight coffee at the night canteen followed by a chit-chat and healthy banter, the imitations of the class pranks, the fooling and pestering of the very same selected targets almost every night! The so called collective study became more of a get together with “getting something to eat”, “let’s go for coffee” sounding every half an hour or even more but still the lessons learnt in those little frames of attention became life-saving antidote to all in the terminals.

Amidst all this, the mess was where the interaction brought people close, not just the batch-mates but the seniors and juniors where they taught them the lessons to be followed for the two years, words like DP and tag lines for each are coined, the heated up arguments on Manchester United and Chelsea or Cricket matches, and then the sight of one’s crush, the “Hi” that would make a difference for the day or a sigh of disappointment at the neglect of it, all of it. So nostalgic would that be to regain in memory, I can just imagine that now. To live these moments of excitement and stress, all at the same time, make me muse and I can just promise this:

To feel those moments of fun and joy, I would certainly come

To remember those moments of stress and pressure, I would certainly come

To bring back the sound of “Wait for me” echoing in my ears, I would certainly come

To relive the chaos at the mess at dinner, I would certainly come

To hold on to those pranks, once played with my friends, I would certainly come

To perceive those smiles, taunts and tantrums of mates, I would certainly come

To hold those hands once again, I would certainly come

To feel the aura and the eternal bliss, I would certainly come

To pass through those hallowed corridors once again, I would certainly come

I would certainly come…    

Umang Kulshrestha

PGP11 

Posted in: alma mater,memories