By Shubham Prakhar, Batch of 2014
Today, I, like many of my batchmates, stand at the crossroads of my college life. The four years that, they said, were going to be the most awesome of my life are half over. Am I happy with how the things have gone till now? Yes. Would I have liked them to be any different? Yes, again. On the surface, these two answers seem contradictory to each other and yet they are not. They are in keeping with how we live our lives. Always wanting more. It’s a good way of life too, for it keeps us from stagnating. But sometimes, we just have to accept things as they are and be happy that what happened, did. They say the world was created by God in 6 days. Sure, he would have preferred to get it done sooner, wouldn’t he? But the result is all the same. Sachin Tendulkar, today, has a century of centuries but he still has the hunger for more. Does he need it? That’s something only he can know. But what is certain is even today every time he gets out for a duck he hurts over it. I, personally, like to take things as they come and the last two years have brought me happiness and friendships which I hadn’t imagined. Some disappointments too, but I will put up my hand and say, “no regret”.
There is something about NSIT which gets to us all. We crib about it. We complain. We cuss and…. we fall in love with it. The best part of the journey is you don’t even realise when it happens. It just does. And sadly, in many cases it takes the inevitable farewell at the end of the 4th year to realise it. So, if you are in NSIT and happy about it, clap your hands. If you are in NSIT and waiting for that audi to be built or that swimming pool to come up or that library to be air-conditioned, don’t let this make you overlook the sheer joy that NSIT has been filling your life with ever since you stepped into the campus. All it wants in return is a little love. Show it. Be proud of being an NSITian. Don’t go about dissing your alma mater.
My mind swings to this summer vacation and as the title of the note says how this is the crossroads of my college life. About to enter the 3rd year in a month, all of my friends are doing something or the other this summer. In fact, this is probably the first vacation till now which has seen so many people being so busy doing some constructive work or the other. Some are doing internships, some doing some project, some have enrolled in certain courses and some even testing the waters on the entrepreneurial front but one thing is common, almost no one is sitting idle. Only last summer, we were all “free”. And now, oh, how the times are changing! But a strange thing is conspicuous by its absence, the complaining tone “yaar! kitna kaam hai!” / “internship ne laga rakhi hai!” and the likes. I figure it has got a lot to do with us doing some real work as opposed to the monotonous routine that had developed over the last 2 years.
Right now, we are about to enter that phase of our college life which has the potential to make or break careers. Suddenly, we will all be busy juggling balls – at times, more than we can possibly manage. Some of them will inevitably fall. But by falling off they allow us an opportunity to manage those which are left behind in a much better way. To quote Steve Jobs, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” And, it will in yours too. Have belief and work towards doing justice to yourself. And no, sitting back on the couch, flipping through the channels on the T.V. will not help in doing that. Neither will checking out the wall of that hot girl or guy on FB every now and then. Whether or not it is right to try to make someone like you is debatable but even if you think it is, you’ve got to first love yourself and respect the bucketloads of talent and character God filled you with.
Cheers.
Shubham Prakhar
Batch of 2014