Reminiscence or Nostalgia.. Words fall short.

Some one has rightly said. Bad times go slow and good times jus fly by! The worst part is we realize this only when the good times are over or the bad times have just started. Irritating, unavoidable and harsh fact of life. At this point of life, when I am working in the corporate industry, having gone through all the school and college times. I seriously feel like going through them again and not many would disagree to this.

Looking back, going to K.G.-C of St. Xavier's High School Loyola Hall seems just like yesterday. Being the junior-most in the school, the cutest kids in the whole of the school gives a different feeling altogether, which I realized long after I passed K.G. At that time, it was fun with friends in the play ground, innocent pranks in the class, motiveless actions which annoyed the teachers to the core and little bit of studies! Being in a boy's school till the tenth standard, I felt that we always had that extra masti compared to the guys in the Co-Ed schools. Running about like unmanned cattle, shouting like rowdy hooligans in the corridors during recess, reaching the ground first so that the other team doesn't "capture" the ground before my team does, forming teams in the class itself, eagerly waiting for the class to end just to run to the other end of the class to discuss about the previous day's wrestling match between ROCK and UNDERTAKER with your friend, going for the early morning football practice, finish school early and rush for practice again, feeling proud when your name gets announced in front of the whole class, be it any reason, loads of extra curricular activities: SPORTS DAY, CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS, NAVRATRI, ANNUAL DAY, SINGING DANCING AND INSTRUMENTAL COMPETITIONS, the excitement of having the whole day free cause of any of these occasions, the walk to the Auditorium to celebrate Fr. Charlie's birthday, murmuring within each other even with the finger-on-the-lips, the constant fight with the GUJARATI MEDIUM guys to name the few fantastic memories.... Xavier's gave me an awesome Primary and High School life! Higher secondary, woh kya tha? Dekhte hi dekhte nikal gaya! LOL! Had it's own wee bit of fun. Physics, Chemistry and Maths ripped us apart though English and Computers tried their best to do some damage-control. Majority of the time in 11th and 12th was either spent at Shambhus or playing Counter Strike at the gaming cafes. Girls, who were a alien thing for us till now, weren't a hard thing to mix with after all, considering we studied in a BOY'S SCHOOL!! The boards jus flew by and God knows why but majority of us got into Engineering. 6 weeks into the college and we started realizing how badly we missed school and it's Bindaas Masti!

Nonetheless, as they say, desperate times calls for desperate measures. College main bhi maze dhundh liye. New friends from different parts of the state, new cultures, new thinking adding to the new type of subjects, different pattern of studies and what not. A million trips to the canteen, files, submissions, fights, relationships, groups, politics, inter department matches, Cognizance and Adagios, DJ Nights and Vrund, working late-night in the college, hostel life, midnight dinner at the Dhabas, world cup and premier league matches in the hostel TV room, rivalry while watching the matches and playing with the same guys in the same team for the college, ghost stories of the CHANGA village and many more…. Loyola Hall sent a innocent little devil to study engineering at Changa. Four years later, the devil was enhanced, refined and ready to face the rough and tough world. College gave me 4 years of unlimited fun, nothing of which I expected and so it came as a pleasant surprise after 13 years of schooling! Coming into the last semester made me realize that it’s over. The fun, the easy-going times, where tension was only files, submissions and exams, will be getting over soon. Time was running out and I so felt like freezing time, then and there. 

Helping seniors, lovely batch-mates and supportive juniors, what else did I need. It was like every time I felt that things will be constant now, Life was to be started afresh. 13 years of school gave me friends I bonded with so so strong and then it was a new life in the college. Made friends here too, close and best and now it’s time to start again. Just when all seemed lost, June 2010 had passed, PDPU gave me a fresh lease of life. Though Masters was never my cup of tea, I had no other choice for the time being. PDPU took me a run through the college I had just a few days back. Met people who were a reflection of my college life, be it sports, pranks or organizing events. Had loads of fun, every single day, trip to the mess, messages and calls for breakfast, lunch or snacks, going to Infocity just for a 2 hours lab and itching to come back from there as soon as possible, a “farewell” given to me which turned out to be given well in advance, hostelites, localites, Proscenium, drama, everything but studies, LOL ….

So, even that had to end soon. Come Dec’ 10 and I made the trip to Pune, entering the Service industry, finally becoming a WORKING MAN!! I don’t know how life will treat me but till now it has been fantastic. Every second, minute and day has been worth remembering which makes me smile today and will keep doing so till I breathe no more. Naming the people who played their part in my LIFE will get too formal and reduce the importance of the relation we share! A few pictures of some of the beautiful souls that I have met till now is all I can put up here. Time cannot be rewinded but memories are all that can make me live through! Thanks for being a part of what I am.

Dedicated to ST. XAVIER’S HIGH SCHOOL LOYOLA HALL, CHAROTAR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLGY & PDPU!! <3 <3 <3