Inter IIT

I never thought I’d be missing the Inter IIT so much. Yes, it’s the Inter IIT Sports Meet. It is a proper noun for us, almost as though it were a person. And I miss it as though it were indeed a person. 

While skyping my team-mates Sharada and Anvita yesterday, I realized how much I longed to be back there, with them all - may be not play, but just be around - cheering the teams and lukkha-ing otherwise. Every morning since the Inter IIT has begun, I find myself eagerly waiting for yesterday’s results. And before I sleep, I always wish them luck for today’s match! It’s like I am in sync with IST, just for this little while! :)

Those were the days, really. Inter IIT practices went all the year round (well, at least all the odd sem round), but the Camp in December was the most enduring and perhaps the most fun part of the sem. All work and no play - just the definitions of work and play changed :) Rather, quoting from the movie ‘Iqbal’ - they became one! Daily schedule used to be - play, eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep... ad infinitum. To add to it was the unending lukkha, cheerful treats and prolonged chit-chatting about anything and everything. Probably that’s why us team mates were all so close. And still are. I remember the really really senior members of the team calling to wish us luck before finals, to scold us at times, and in the end, treat us :)

I have not been much of a player, in general. I did play badminton at school but that was it. For recreation. Maybe for exercise. But these guys (and girls) showed me what competitive badminton is like. When I saw them preparing before the match - both warming up as well as planning, during the match - improvising and keeping up their spirits, while maintaining ultimate composure, and after the match - well, for them it was almost always a victory, but at some mishaps - holding their head up as they congratulated the winning team, huddling with team mates and resolving to better their records next time.. I was happy to have met Real Champs. Their sheer love for the game and their passion for victory were enough to inspire me every day, to do my bit for the team. I can almost hear Mittal shouting ‘tez, tez, aur tez!’ whenever I think about Inter-IIT practices!

And it was not just about badminton. All teams practised really, really hard for the Inter-IIT. It was like the educational institute suddenly seemed like a Sports Club or a Sports Academy! Meeting everyone for lunch and dinner, listening to them discuss this year’s plans, chatting with the senti senior members of the team and motivating the freshies (while intro-ing them a lil :D) - it really felt like we were one contingent. One. And it’s a feeling that comes not because of the chant (or war-cry) we have, not because of our similar tracksuits, not because we walk in a cluster behind the IITB flag holder and not because we all look askance when the IITB contingent leader shouts ‘Dahine dekh!’ It is a lot, lot more than that.

Even as I write this, I know they’re all up there. Trying to do their best. Kicking, smashing, racing, bowling, sprinting, spinning, tackling... Vying for the Championship. Keeping up with the spirit of sportsmanship, I’d only say, ‘May the best man win!’

And here's to the baddy team (2011) :)

Some things won't change...

Exactly on this day, four years back, I was horrified at the sight of Hostel 10, IIT Bombay. With the paint coming off, the stuffy rooms, unclean corridors, grim looking - shrieking - and at times abusing [:D] - seniors roaming in the building, I felt it would be such a punishment to being admitted to B.Tech Electrical Engg, and having to stay in that.. something called a hostel, for four more years. Little did I know four years down the line, I'd cry like a child separating from its Mom when I left my hostel. Yes, that's probably why they call it alma-mater - mater being Latin for mother.

IIT is a world in itself - self-sufficient of sorts. In four years - the home away from home, the food unlike home food, the friends different from school friends, never ever seemed unfamiliar. There was always a feeling of closeness, oneness, togetherness which overcame the biggest of problems, deepest of worries and smallest of doubts about oneself. Whenever I remember IIT, everything flashes before my eyes - the main gate (which I never liked, it should be grand-er!), the trees on both sides of the road leading to my hostel, the faculty bungalows nearby, the INFI corridor (yes, it's actually infinite, thank the japanese for that :) ), the various departments (quite silent most of the times), the huuuuge playground (my first love at IIT ;)) and then the majestic hostels 12 and 13... this was it. The 600 acre awesomeness :)

Once at IIT, it's difficult *not* to fit in, in the campus culture, which appreciates everyone's uniqueness. You see the weirdest of people, the wisest of people, the lukkha-est of people, the gifted of people, sometimes the most rebellious of people and truly, the best of people. To be more correct, you adapt yourselves to the culture so well, it all becomes an integral part of you. I remember joining as a meek, serious, extremely sincere and quiet novice. I now laugh as I remember myself not talking to my roomie but reading books (well, not only academic, even others :P) or sitting quietly on the mess table, whilst packs of seniors tried to make us talk, or shying away from hostelmates I didn't know and so on. All of that changed in no time. My days after the freshmen year always began with waking half the others up for class, gobbling away plateful of breaker, scooting to class almost on time, only to sleep midway between and be woken by the person next to me, returning after a coffee at shack with Tf/Avanti/Music/random junta, lunch and either scooting to lab again or watching sitcoms :) Evenings were spent working for one of the aforementioned activities or playing baddy while nights were reserved for some of the most exciting of times - sharing experiences, cribbing (nah, I didn't say bitching!) about this-n-that and if unlucky, studying for the quiz the next day. Ah, I miss all of this so much now...

I miss the people, the familiar surroundings, the huge trees, the clear roads which only get crowded when there's a festival going on, the new and the old baddy courts, the playground (need I say more about it?), the helpful seniors and of course, my friends. I think it hasn't even sunk in properly yet. I am yet to realize what it's gonna be like to live in an apartment with 4 strangers, cook my own food, live on my own while holding on dearly to those exponentially decreasing number of notifications/mails/messages of my 'former' collegemates. Agreed, I will meet new people, my friends will meet new friends, we'll all be happy in our new worlds, probably never meet again (let's just hope the world is a small place and this never happens but anyway...) and everything will settle down. Life will go on.

What won't go, however, is the little place everyone has in my heart, the half moment I spend thinking of them when I do something I always did with them and the smile that follows this thought and the little prayer I say to God - to keep them all healthy, wealthy and wise.. well actually, to help them realize what's best for them, lead them to their dreams and most of all, keep them all happy.