Looking back

I looked around at my class, and flashed everyone a tentative smile. I wondered who I'd be hanging out with for the next four years. The class was unevenly divided. The few girls in my class sat on the leftmost column of benches while the boys fanned out on the remaining. Nobody exchanged a glance. Well, at least not consciously.

First year. Fresh impression. Fresh start.

Knowing there were only 300 odd people to a batch, I decided it was in my best interest to NOT come across as snobbish, high maintenance or rude, if I wanted to survive the next four years amicably.

I think first year can be aptly described as being the "eye-opener". With equally clueless people around you, managing tests, workshop (which I truly enjoyed! I liked the whole weld/cut/make-your-own stool/compass box/carved wooden stand attitude), submissions, and teachers is a daunting task! First year goes by so quickly when you're trying to learn how to handle a chisel, drawing free body diagrams, figuring out the side view from a given front and top view, observing Newton's rings, and titrating liquids to find out strength of some given acid. And when that is done, come the much feared, first Pune University exams, where, as a rule, everyone has to come out cribbing. Those who don't are hated.

Frankly, besides drawing free body diagrams, I don't think I managed much of it gracefully. In my enthusiasm of handling a saw, I have broken plenty blades, and replaced them from other saws discreetly. I have accidentally sipped in too much of acid, and sat giggling for the rest of the day, and I have successfully managed to break metal tapes while surveying the basketball court from the parking lot. And in all the madness and embarrassment, it's surprising how many people start liking you and stick with you for the craziness that's in store. I look back at my first year with the fondest of sentiments. The amount of fun I've had then is still unequaled.

When I entered second year, I was pretty convinced that my branch, I.T. rocked, and had the coolest crowd. This conviction holds true for everyone, with regards to their branch, and the debate is an ongoing issue :)

Second year for me went from being the toughest to the most satisfying. Second year usually sees the birth of two leagues of people. One being the kind who warm up to "C" as if it were their mother tongue and the others who don't, and start feeling that their choice of engineering was indeed a very wrong one, and dread the years to come. The person who codes the best is everyone's best friend and any site on the Internet that offers code is bookmarked. Soft skills is the only thing that is seen as a sure shot at gaining marks, and I truly banked on it because I have full faith in my ability to gab and think it's completely justified that the University agrees I should be rewarded for the same. :p

By the end of the fourth semester, I had actually started enjoying the whole technical jargon. Somewhat. Microprocessor 86 wasn't my sworn enemy and I could accept that trees had another purpose than just providing oxygen. I also started liking writing assembly language modules, still cursed pointers, and began bonding with the other people of my class, who I had promised myself I would stay away from.

With third year, the comfort level with my colleagues and the faculty grew and so did my friendship with the computer. Submissions weren't as taxing, and we managed to have fun while writing sheets too.

Of course, the fun isn't limited to just the classroom! With Addiction and INC happening once every year, fun is served to you on a silver plate! The first time I took part in Addiction, we did a two minute dance sequence, simply because we were scared of being on the stage any longer. The second time however, we crossed all boundaries, and put six couples on stage. Choreographing this sequence was too much fun, though at the end of it, we had to redo it as we were told that the guys were dancing like the girls. (I'm going to be killed for writing this!) And on the final day, we confidently walked on stage, only to have a power failure mid way during the dance, and any attempt to remain inconspicuous was in vain, as our very glittery costumes made us very visible to everyone in the audience.

With Addiction satisfying our creative appetite, we had INC, which gave us a chance to hone our marketing, communication and PR skills. This event sees the participation of the entire college, making it a huge success and gives an excellent opportunity for interacting with juniors, seniors and faculty. It involves chasing after HRs of various companies, making everyone memorize statistics, negotiating money for "visibility", confidently saying P.I.C.T. is the best college in the world, and using the phrase "INC is a national level technical symposium" without any hint of amusement. As the ex-finance head for the event, I'd like to thank everyone who helped me in sticking bills. God bless you! And my sincere thanks also to our Canteen for providing the 4pm "chai". Work would never have progressed without it.

And with INC sharpening our industry-interaction skills, placement season gives us a chance to prove it. Bagging a job is a milestone in your engineering course. Throughout that month, all you'll hear is "Kitna package?", "Sahi hain yaar, congrats!", "Abbe treat kab hai?", "Criteria 70%? *$#*&%*@", "suna blabla company doobne waali hai?!?", "Sectional cutoffs kyun rakhte hai?", "GD mein you're on my side o.k.?" though both of you know that in a G.D everyone fights as if their lives depend on it, and the scene is similar to a fish-market where one claims his fish is bigger than yours.

And then with a job, and that indescribable feeling of "being almost through", comes the final year. Your project gains precedence over everything else and your project group becomes your immediate family. I remember our first fight over choosing our project sponsors, deciding the project definition and then meeting place, online conferences which discussed everything except the project, meetings with our guide and deciding milestones over "special chai", extending deadlines, celebrating the making of a deadline, debugging into the wee hours of the morning and then sleeping till afternoon, and finally ending it all by winning on home turf, at INC. I would never go back to it all (haha), but the memories are going to haunt me for a pretty long time. :p Just kidding, I've enjoyed every minute of the insanity!

And with that, I come to now. My last semester. I can't believe I'm the senior most in this college. And though I have longed for this, everyday, for the past three years, now that I'm finally here, something doesn't feel right.

Being in P.I.C.T has given me some of the best and worst times. I've grown to take failure in my stride, and congratulate myself on my successes. I've learnt to enjoy each day, and not worry too much about the future. I've met some of the nicest people, built great friendships, laughed and argued. I've seen great attitudes, been inspired, lent a shoulder, and then taken one. I've broken rules, done it right, screwed up and learned from it.

It's hard to put all the memories in words, especially now, when they all mix together, giving it an effect that I can best describe as nostalgia.

Three years ago, I entered P.I.C.T, feeling apprehensive, excited, anxious and eager.

Then each day slowly started becoming a memory.

The mass bunks, the morning after the mass bunk, the Addiction days, College on the first day of INC, last minute studying before an exam, lunches in the canteen, healthy discussions in class, a teacher acknowledging your efforts, attendance proxies, mini projects, seminar reports, getting files checked on time, so on and so forth.

Today, I leave P.I.C.T, with those exact same feelings, knowing that I will miss it all.