THE LAST DAYS

 

   
!!THE LAST DAYS!!

  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 8^th 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 7^th semester & as expected it had finally disappeared in 8^th  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 8^th semester exams were turning out to be the 8^th 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:-