The word ‘last’
Sounds quite poignant yet fascinating , especially when it is used as a
prefix to some special words, which seems to be a chain of event, to
which every one feels connected & bonded .However, despite of its gloomy nature, the word ‘last’
has lightened up those moments which were lived by 54 students of a
class and being as part of those 54 souls, I can say with firm conviction that this ‘last’ isn't last in itself .Somewhere, it contains seeds of a tree which will grow with its endless
branches of new relationships, some of them will be common & some
will be individual.
For the past few months i have been seeing & feeling something left & right of this enigmatic word ‘last’. Now to make it sound meaningful I must share streak of events which will weave some glorious memories for us in future.
It was the beginning of 8th semester of our engineering when the magic of ‘last’ was about to prevail among all of us. So the classes were started with an untold acknowledgement -“finally this is the last one!”.
The days were passing & time too. We were attending the classes
more for fun & less for studies. All it could not happen without the
smiling support of our special faculty, who were inflated by HOD deptt,
everyday & with the same dedication deflated by us as they enters
into our classroom. We were not only connected with our faculty by sms
or phones but also by networking sites which is still on. Now one can
assume that how it could have been possible to maintain the same decorum
in class & decency with our ‘friend- faculty’ then. All it was happening spontaneously in the backdrop of that magical angelic word ‘last’.
Though the air of ‘last’ was blowing in final year classes but it was a hurricane
which was roaring in our class. Amid all of this, a gentle breeze of
nice change was blowing too. We have had advanced from just knowing the name
of our classmate sitting next to us to maintain some dialogues at least
once or twice a day .The wall of hesitation & childish ego between
boys & girls was declining in 7th semester & as expected it had finally disappeared in 8th semester.
This resulted into a built of new understanding which was direly needed
to create & maintain the ever cherished memories of a class, which
lived for three years collectively.
As I said in the beginning that the word ‘last’
has unbound potential & magic to turn an ordinary event into a
memorable one. So how it could have been deprived of being used by crazy students of our class. In a broad view, every event & function during our last year was entitled as ‘the last’. For instance,’ the last college fest, ‘the last annual function’ (well! We saw it first time ever happening in four years) ‘the last semester’ (obviously) ‘the last
exams’ blah! blah!. So all this was quite understandable but the limit of craziness had
been crossed when we didn't even spare the months, seasons, festivals
& moreover the birthdays to engage with ‘last’. One could hear those special words yelled or murmured by my emotion driven fellows during odd hours of classes such as-‘my last winter of engineering’, ‘my last diwali of engineering’, ‘ my last January of engineering’, ‘my last
birthday in engineering’. Apparently all it may sound quite hilarious
& crazy but way beyond this, knowingly or unknowingly we were trying to
reveal the true colors of a very common bond with our class for the
first & last time .
It was beyond my wildest dream that this ‘last’
could have this much charisma which turned the things around &
unified those strange faces into a single one which was hidden somewhere
in all of us.
It was almost end of the semester & we were partially
free from all do’s & don’ts of college. In other words, last semester was
academically ended & we were ready for our ‘last’ university
exams. But the million dollar question was this whether were we ready
for exams or not?. Instantly, I would say ‘no’. But this ‘no’ was not
tagged with the girls as they were ready again without that much
hardship which was being faced by boys. Neither were they mentally
prepared nor equipped with the hard copies of materials for exams. It
was unforgettable time when all boys (including me) were running here
& there for each single copy of material. All it was not less than a
war.
This 8th semester exams were turning out to be the 8th
world war in which our lives were severely at stake & we were
trying to confront with our enemy(exams) without weapons (studies) .But some how or the
other, the entire class managed to sail through these horrendous moments
& exams, as I did not see any doleful face coming out from
examination hall.
The final semester exams were over & we still had one month in
college for major project which was turned into a ‘fun project’ by us. Meanwhile we had a party in a resort located in the outskirts of city, in which I believe we got the ‘gist’
of all four years. It was the first time ever when we got together
unofficially & thrilled entirely. That night we all shared some bit
of our truth & lies with our friends. It was a moving
moment for all of us as we were listening an unheard silence from each
other which was remained unheard in the clamor of everyday hitches.
Finally, we were free from books
,syllabus & not bounded to come to college everyday but
surprisingly, all we were yearning to come to college despite of
scorching heat of summer, just to attend a class which was no more in
existence but virtually was on. It was a class of mutual understanding
& openness, which was giving new shine to the very common bond among
all those who were remained unknown from each other yet.
Since all it happens with every
graduate, one may find this article just another superficial or
merely a lackluster description of college days. I admit that there is
nothing new in the story or in words but these are the days which were
lived by your father /mother someday in their college time in a
different way, which became an integral part of their life, probably not
shared with us. These are the days which we have lived just a while
ago. These will be the days which will be lived by our son /daughter
someday in future. Definitely the story is same & old but it becomes
unique & new when lived by an individual. I am sure that one day
sitting in an armchair, inspired by our last days in college we will
ask from our newly graduate son/daughter, “So how was your ‘last’ day in college?” & evoking those memorable time we will be murmuring alone, “those were the ‘last’ days, passed very soon!”……………………………
SAS:-
