FEELING OF NOSTALGIA...part 2(INFOMATHS)

....i walked down the round about of sector 34, with a box of sweets in my hands, as i had never gone infomaths since i took admission in PU.i came across the first market of the sector that was adjacent to the left of the state library. Tough the infomaths was in sector 35 there were still a lot of memories about 34. being the sector closest to 35 it was unavoidable to not come here at times. the very first thing i set my eyes on was Krishna Chaat shop, all of us would come here whenever we wanted to eat amazing goal gappeys, have a bite at the delecious tikki or any of the chat items they had and also just to the side of it was the a small trolly of american corns which we would love.  but i wasnt heding to this place... i was heading to infomaths...

   For people whom i am writing this require no introduction to infomaths , they know what it was and spent a  lot of time there but for anyone who didnt, well infomaths was the coaching institution in chadigarh for MCA. The fact that we spend so much time here made it like a second home.WE were always there or in the sector around it , attending classes, bunking classes, eating, having fun.. hanging out... it was unavoidable to not be in infomaths or setor 35 as it was so instilled in our minds that ... this is the most important year for us and we have to give it our all.And because i had so many memories there i just had to visit all the spots that we liked once again.

............On my way i took a detour and went walking streight towards my left instead of forward.. NO i hadnt forgotten my way... i just had to visit few more spots before i make it to  the final destination
.....and there it was... standing high as ever PICCADILY SQUARE.. ocasisonally there was just one multiplex in chandigarh that was centra mall which was ...well a bit far away for comfort but piccadily square was right there in the heart of chandigarh and hence easily accessible to all. It was a rule made by my friend Tarun...as he would say" ek maheene me ek movie to dekhni hai kam se kam" a.k.a. atleast one movie per month is a must:". And we would follow that rule with all our heart.And it was almost a tradition we had to follow.. that after a movie we would mostly go to eat  pizza in dominoes. and right behind was a small photocopy and graphics shop... where  a cheap photocopy was available so if we had notes in huge bulk we would go there and get a good deal on it.The dominoes was mostly crowded it was very rare you could find a seat on the get go . after a brief  look to the old places i went back to the place i had to initially go

.. i crossed the lights of sector 35.i hurried past the main market, tough i wanted to visit mc donalds for a quick snack... but i though maybe later..mc d and gopals were two of the places we visited  a hell lot during our time in sector 35 they were the most popular food joints and affordable too. mostly we used to get breaks in between classes at infomaths so we would all go for a quick bite over there and ocasionally enjoy aanchal choking over her ice tea. After i came to the first turn i realised there was still time left for me ...so i hurried to gopal ji confectionery yes this was different this was not the gopal you are thinking about it was different place...it was a small confectionary which had a good habbit of dishing out good food, the hot dogs, the plate of raajma chawal, or the pizza pattie it was all great to eat and pretty affordble too, so it made gopal ji an important spot for us as we would just sit there on bikes and activas...eat some great food and hang out. after a quick hot dog... i started walking towards the last 5 miutes of journey before i reach the destination,, why 5 minutes because in India we have a habbit of measuring distances with time and not kms or meters.

finally i reached the street where infomaths was supposed to be and just as i took the first turn over there i saw the parking that had been the closest place to my heart the longtitudnal parking with trees.. where i would normally b waiting to see a black access(mostly) , an activa, an eterno , or a black pulsar with two helmets hanging .  the infomath group wasnt very big .. but it was short and sweet with the added elements of spicy. But it was always FUN wether it was hearing Aanchal say " I ROOOOCCkkk", the comedic elements of  Tarun and Rohan which was so sharp you had to watch out to what you were saying ... or there was a joke or taunt coming your way., or bazzarness and sweetness of shivani nd ramneek, annoying the hell out of siddarth or watching ankit be ... well ankit.This was the little parking lot where we all would hangout and talk for ours after the classes or meet up before planning to go somewhere...it also had a guy who would squeese out fresh sugar cane juice  tough i couldnt find him there... i then turned towards the building and saw the  BIG BOARD OF NAMES and always wondered if our names would be displayed there someday an then started climbing up the stairs.

as i climbed up the stairs i saw another huge list of achievers of the current year, and started searching the names i wanted to see and luckily found them all to be there it read  Rohan, Tarun,Siddarth,Sanyam,Shivani,Roma, and all the other names that i had expected to see and felt proud that we did what we were trying to do for a whole year.. i went up the stair while a football came down and hit my head. I looked up there was Eddy he was mam and sir's son.. he was glad to see me as he expected me to bring my laptop with me so that he could play games .. unfortunately i didn't so i promised to bring it next time that i came. There was Amar waiting on the door shocked to see me after so much time he was a worker there , who always had a great smile ... and was very helpful also went in and met Monika maam the receptionist there... she is a very likable personality .. almost everyone in the coaching was fond of her very likable nature. And then i went in sir and maams room... i sat down.. and had a looong conversation with them, discussed all the old times, sir scolding us at so many occasions, various students, various exams, and so many things... that all i could remember.It felt great to be back at this place..and see all the familiar faces....ya we may not have liked them during the time we were studying, some were scared of the scolding and some were just pissed off due to the burden but in the end, i guess it was because of those things that today we all have came into good universities to pursue of ur studies. In the end i got up thanked sir and maam for the memries and the help they had given us through out the year. And went down back towards my house but there was one last place i had to go ..

as i glanced back for a last look i saw the blank doorway .. of which me and shivani were used to be scared off when were late because we knew there was a scolding waiting for us on the other side of the door , from Grover sir. I smiled and went down back to the street. I hurried to the smaller part of the market for one last thing as i remembered that was the place where we all would come and eat momos, it was a pet spot and it was almost a daily ruitine... untill shivanis doctor forbid her from having any more tough we all would still eat there just to tease her  .. and i just wanted to end it like it always did , by a small plate of momos... i came to the spot where we used to eat momos and there was no one.. i thought maybe u cant have everything in a day.... then i asked a person sitting next by where is the stand of momos that used to sit here.. he pointed me out to the new location and i rushed there... got a plate of momos.. asked the bhaiya to pose for the camera...ate some momos.. and headed back home... and in the way also took snaps of mc donalds and gopal ... and then quietly walked back to home with headphones playing yet again " let her go"

-guy with headphones

FEELING OF NOSTALGIA....Part 1 College Life

...STOP!!!..id card... said the huge guard standing on the gate of college, "i am a graduate, i have came to collect my character certificate. He moved his head up and down in acknowledgement, and let me pass in, here i was back after soo much time, back into SD college, i wasnt confused as to where i had to go , neither did i feel bewildered or amazed to see the old college back, it was still pretty much how i expected it, the crowd was exactly what i expected,i avoided all the eye contact and went where my steps first took me, i did not thought about it nor did i plan it, by steps automatically took me to our beloved place... under the mango tree or UMT. This was something as if instilled into my DNA , whenever i would used to enter the collge that would be the first place i would visit before any class or any place else, i generally knew what to expect waiting for me there..... my mind would know as i would walk towards it all my friends siddarth, tarun , saurav, vishal, anuj, deepak, b.sc group, my juniors, the NCC group or some other friends that i would ocassionally see around to be always there... for some reasons, in  the subconcious of my mind i expected to find atleast some old faces  at UMT, as i reached there my vision got clearer and my steps slowed down....there it was UMT, blank , uneventful and filled with faces i had never seen before.... i was not used to seeing UMT being so uneventful..... as it was one of the places i always expected to b filled with amusement.and fun. there was always something going on, either making videos for sanyam and saurav,  just wrestling around each other, playing UNO or chess, or even people bringing out guitars and everybody singing together, or a cricket match.. or something  but i never for once saw UMT being so quiet and deserted. I sat there for a while , just to remember the feel of it.... it was a typical summer day..but  a bit too quiet for my taste, i thought maybe i should just do what i came here for, get my character certificate. I remebered Vishal was still in the college, i messaged him to come and stood by the fee counter for my application of character certificate. It was still the same college in which i had spent 3 years in still something felt missing from it. Vishal came, i submitted my application he asked me to come to him at 3 as only then would i recieve the application. I sat in UMT with vishal discussing the old days, and all the crazy things we all used to do . after a long chat it was time for Vishal to go as his exams were going on he had to study. After that i just sat alone in UMT thinking about memories a if they were playing right infront of my mind in full motion video. I felt an extreme desire to drink coffee which is one of my addictions... i stood up and went to the college canteen.
        Now the college canteen and the UMT were the two primary spots in the college it was a mere matter of preferance which one you wanted... if you liked more quiet and and just personal time with your friends you preffered UMT if you liked being in HUGE crowd and merry environment you preffered the college canteen, but one fact no one could deny was it ocasionally produced some really good food and shakes. The chairs were customiseable as you would feel, i had a walk there ,took my coffee, and stood there for a while just analysing the view... i could see the show offs, the happy couples, the freshers who were still confused and bewildered by the fact that they were in a college, and many other type of people you would expect to see and i remembered all the time that i had spent on this place.

By this point the nostalgia had started taking me over, and i was lost in memories, i walked in the open field of the college just around the UMT remembered the countless football matches or cricket matches..the field was quiet too... and i could feel it in the untouched hot summer wind that was blowing around...i made way to the basketball court...and remembered all the time i spent there.. so many classes that i bunked for this ...and when not playing it still made for a great spot to sit around and chat.. it was also one of the prime destinations for the shooting of Sanyam and Saurav.

i looked at my watch...and saw there was plenty of time left for my certificate to come..so i thought maybe i should visit the IT department once and meet the old teachers, it was yet another familiar place of which i didnt need any introduction or direction... by steps took me quickly to the top floor....as i entered the place i saw Monika maam locking the doors and about to exit... i greated maam with a goodmorning tough it was afternoon.. some habbit just dont go... and had a brief chat with her ...she told today was the september exams so there were no teachers to meet...as all had left.. still she talked for few minutes asking me where i was and how i was doing.And said that praveen sir and paramveer sir were still there if i wanted to meet them so i went in to meet them and had talked to them just as well. After i came out i just took few brief moments to roam around the facility we had.... enter an opened lab... and just remember the feel of it.

....I went down....took my character certificate... went out of the college from the same old unorganised parking lot i knew by this time had figured out what made me feel so alienated in this college today... despite spending last 3 years here

.... i plugged in my ear phones... and went walking towards the 32 sector market anyone spent time in this college would have by default spent a lotta time in this market.I went to the place we would all normally go for a quick lunch called Flames... i remember eating a lot of chana chawal there the food wasnt of the best quality but it was satisfying when you had so much to do and so little time for anything...and right behind it wa MTW where would go for ocassional chats , tikkis and other stuff... and just spend time there sitting on the chairs talking and stuff..also there were nukkar dhaba and some other eating places ... the  famous sweet stre called CANDIE and also a subway joing which i loved but most of my friends hated.

 I went to the bus stop and just sat there waiting for my bus home... the song let you go by passenger started playing in my phone.. it had some beautiful lyrics saying

Well you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

there was the answer to my question i din know how much  i would miss my friends untill they all went away and in seperate ways...not the most perfect of bunch but a bunch that filled my life with much needed colour...and the reason why my college felt so alienated to me was because there were no friends with me there to cheer my mood up and to back me up in all the crazy thats  the reason everything felt so uneventful. 

i pulled out my phone scrolled my way through the contacts list to call mom.. "Mom i would be really late today, so dont wait and dont worry, bie". Then i got up from the bus stand and started walking towards sector 34, I was soaking in memories and there was one more place that I just had to visit before the day ended,  I scrolled down the contacts list and pulled out the number that read"infomaths -2"........(to be continued)

DARKEN THE CIRCLE

... I looked at the clock ticking at the top of the computer screen. Then I looked at middle of my screen and saw the question I was supposed to do , it was a mathematical question  and i had kept it for last as Maths has always been my mortal enemy. After struggling through some theorems and logic i got the answer and clicked on the answer that that i felt was right among the given four options. I again glanced at the clock there was less than a minute left. At this point i really did not  want any kind of pressure on my brain, I had done all i could and 1 more minute wont get me anywhere , i thought to myself. Kept the pencil down and looked at everyone in the classroom still with their heads buried under there computers still trying to get everything out of the last minute and squeeze out every last second from it. I thought maybe i should feel worried after seeing their dedication but then my laziness won the battle in my mind. I kept the pencil down took a huge sigh of relief and eased myself into my seat and watched the counter go from 10 to 9 to 8  just like a new years counter but there was no party and merry making after this count down ,after this countdown ends there would be broken dreams and eyes with tears. As i saw the countdown count itself to zero i thought to myself ..since when did this mad race start. because as far as i can remember i have always been competing in some or other kind of exam. there were all the BIT's all the NIT's the central universities the IIT's the AIEEE's , Matirc board examinations and class 12th board examinations or some other kind of examination that would always be breathing down my neck and i didnt only had to perform good. No sir, you had to beat every other student who was competing with you to that one last seat in the BIG college  or to the top rank.A mad rat race that leads upto even more competitive rat races.These enterance examinations are also followed by fake promises telling " you know son/ boy/kid  all you gotta do is  give it your all this year then its a whole life full of relaxation and enjoyment. And to be honest that period of promised fun and relaxation never really comes. Also our imaginations and dreams are plagued by movies.All we can see in these movies is how you get into a college and suddenly meet the love of your life, how their is no pressure of studying everybody seems their are big parties where everyone's dancing with similar choreographed steps and you become the superstar rockstar genius you always dreamt to become.  But that is not the case the truth is when you get into a school or college of you choice you have no time to party go out hand out date or fall in love rather you are handed a bundle of books and given a new shedule, and then someone comes along and says you know what  all you have to do is study hard this year or for these many years and forget everything else and then you will have all the time in the world to relax and enjoy. When i see a romantic scene on some Karan Johar movie the first thing in my mind is , seriously mate dont you have an exam to study or some project to give tomorrow that you are here holding hand with that cute girl in those beautifully constructed garden.  While i was into my imagination i realised the exam had came to an end. And everyone had started to get up and leave. And now was coming the part that i hated the most when everyone would discuss their examinations and compare the number of correct answers for some reasons this part of an examination always depressed me. I got up their was pretty girl sitting besides me and i asked her hey how many questions did you do correct and she replied 56 questions only and made a sad face.  I nodded generouslly and showed that i felt bad for her but secretly inside my mind i was smiling because i knew i had done better i had done 68 questions and felt maybe i would get into this college if only everyone attempted the same amount of questions as the cute girl, then i headed out of the examination center there were my friends Shivani and Aanchal.  .  Aanchal was yet to give her examination but shivani had given it in the same time slot as me and i asked her how many did you do . Smiling inside me hoping i had done more than her she replied with 86 . And for a second i was awestruck. But then i thought so what thats only one person and i should always hope good for my friends. Then another friend of mine Rohit came out and i asked him how many did you do and he replied with 82. At this point i realised the odds wernt really in my favour so i decided i am not gonna deoress myself any more by asking this question. This is also an age old tradition where everyone dscusses their marks and correct answers and i absolutely hate this part because i always get few wrong answers and it makes my mood go bad. When you are asking questions i believe people are divided into species
And the Catagoreis are:-
species 1==> The honest people, they would tell you exactly how many questions he did right or wrong with no drama attached whatsoever

species 2==>The cute girl, generally a very cute girl who would in the most cutest possible manner tell you how badly she did in the test and then will expect some sympathy from you

species 3==>The depressed, he or she would come out of their examination depressed like their whole world depended on it( which may be true based on how much pressure is put on students nowdays and how  our education system works) they will not talk to anyone about the exam , will sit on a lonely corner and make sad eyes to the question paper as if trying to say"what did i ever do to you , why are you so mean to me"

species 4==>The sarcastic one these are the people who you would like to punch directly in the face because they would be the one who would have answered the higest number of correct questions is  are probably gonna top the exam and then they come out of the exam and say " yaar i got only 98 correct out of 100" and then make sad faces as if they are trying to mock us right in our faces. And when you tell them how badly you have performed they will say " dude you are so gonna make it". ye I personally hate this catagory

species 5==> the Lier they would come out of the exam generally depressed looking and would say he has gotten lets say 40 questions out of 100 right. But when the result comes out their number of correct answers is around 80.

species 6==> Last but not the least you have the Thank god the hell's over type people they wont talk about the paper, wont let anyone discuss it , rather would say you " lets celebrate because the hell is finally over".
.
I too meet these species in eveyone of my exams and this one was no exception. In the evening as we loaded ourselves back in to our taxi and i took the back seat of the innova and again went into my imagination. ya i seem to do that a lot and i am very careless because of it,but back to the topic i thought if this mad race ever end ever will we achieve the talked abuot myths of relaxation and fun and joy...... and i realised the answer was NO , no matter what you think , no matter what the adults say, no matter how many false promises people will make with you no matter how much misleading the movies can be the truth is "LIFE" is an enterance exam you have been competing since the day you were born, you were competing for someones effection , maybe for a toy, then you compete in sports then for grades then for schools and college seats and if you think this long chains is going to be over anytime soon  you are wrong my friend Most probably even after you get a job  , you with be competing for promotions with other companies , you would be giving enterance examinations for love .., or for something else, but these examinations will never end . The burden and stress will always be there no matter how much you try to shake it off. But that doesnt mean you will never enjoy your life because if you have an excellent group of friends that make your life crazy and fun and support you through it and family which will be there for you even when everyone abandons you , those people which after an exausting day you will come home to you will always be happy and content with your life. And just enjoy the "little little" things of life . Because generally in the long race of life the winner is the one who makes most out of the smallest things.
thats all for now folks.
-catch you guys later
-guywithheadphones