Having moved back to hostel a few days back, I woke up around 8.30 am. My roommate wasn't there. I grudgingly climbed out of bed and rummaged through the junk of things in my shelf for my toothbrush and toothpaste. I grabbed them, put my slippers on and dragged myself out of the room. I opened the door to the common bathroom-place and endured the familiar stench of air. I opened the tap, washed my brush, put some paste on it and started brushing. I'm describing these mundane activities with such detail because I had reached a point where even if my brain stopped working, my body would automatically do all these things and my life would move on, without change.
Sleep. Eat. Workshop. Laptop. Eat. Sleep. Laptop. Sleep. Eat. Workshop. Repeat.
It was true that I preferred monotony over abrupt changes but my life was now going on borderline autopilot.
An hour later, I was cycling down the road, earphones plugged in, wearing a tight khaki shirt and pants that almost looked like three-fourths. That was courtesy of the short and small senior I borrowed them from. I was on my way to IRCTC / Suprabha canteen. The biggest decision I had to make that day was whether I should order a Masala Dosa / Filter Coffee combo or an Onion Rava / Filter Coffee combo. Masala Dosa had been tried and tested; however Onion Rava could be a welcome change. However, sometimes they don't make the Onion Rava well and they put a lot of those black, round and small ball like thingeys (It's called "kurumolagu" or something in tamil?)
I passed Pampa. That was my previous hostel. They'd put a tent up and I saw a bunch of parents, freshies and brand new cycles huddled about. There was some inexplicable sadness about it all. A song playing in my ear would always mean that my emotions were amplified. I remembered the time when I was there with my parents. Of course, the cycle was as old as ever but it was pretty much the same scenario. Excitement, tension, fear, anticipation. So much emotion. And my parents would be there, feeling some emotions themselves, watching it all happen. So much emotion, and now, absolutely nothing. It was ridiculous how things had changed over one year.
I suppose it was not just me. Of course, many people do a lot of different things and have lesser monotony in their lives but in a group of people, you can pick the freshmen out. They are the ones with most excitement, happiness, sadness, tension, fear or anticipation on their faces. Every other person on the campus look like zombies. Some of them even move like zombies.
I had my Masala Dosa and Filter Coffee and soon reached the Central Workshop. I parked my cycle and headed towards the entrance with songs still playing in my ear. A huge crowd of people headed out. There weren't the 8.30 batch of workshop students because they weren't wearing khaki. They were wearing bright, colourful, assorted clothes. Some of them were talking animatedly with others. Some of them looked like they were scared that they might break something. Some of them simply looked dazed. The emotions were palpable. I'd forgotten all about the orientation. They'd be given a tour of the campus. They'd displaying all its pride on the first few days. Another flashback moment. A very powerful one too. I'd exhausted my month's quota of emotions today.
I remembered being extremely outgoing when I first came to this place. I'd introduced myself to every person I could lay my sights on. I'd ask their numbers, given my number. We'd exchanged information about where we were from. I had been excited to meet new people, to be in a new place, to do new things. Why? What had gone wrong for the zombification to take place?
Another guy came from behind them and stood at the edge of the workshop gate, calling out to students to gather around him. Students obeyed with obedience that was laughable these days.
"Welcome to the Central Workshop of IIT Madras. I am the head of ......."
I smiled at the ridiculous similarity with last year's orientation. Same spot. Same person. Same words.
Perhaps zombification was not the right word. (Well it's not even an actual word but moving on...) Perhaps I just wanted extravagant things to happen in my life without lifting a finger and got annoyed when they weren't happening. I guess it was time to stop whining and enjoy things as they were. The past has always been a better place to live in and it was time to always stop thinking about it. I tugged out my earphone, cutting off the channel to the world of nostalgia. I walked in and greeted the first person I met with a smile. It was a much better day at the workshop...
Sleep. Eat. Workshop. Laptop. Eat. Sleep. Laptop. Sleep. Eat. Workshop. Repeat.
It was true that I preferred monotony over abrupt changes but my life was now going on borderline autopilot.
An hour later, I was cycling down the road, earphones plugged in, wearing a tight khaki shirt and pants that almost looked like three-fourths. That was courtesy of the short and small senior I borrowed them from. I was on my way to IRCTC / Suprabha canteen. The biggest decision I had to make that day was whether I should order a Masala Dosa / Filter Coffee combo or an Onion Rava / Filter Coffee combo. Masala Dosa had been tried and tested; however Onion Rava could be a welcome change. However, sometimes they don't make the Onion Rava well and they put a lot of those black, round and small ball like thingeys (It's called "kurumolagu" or something in tamil?)
I suppose it was not just me. Of course, many people do a lot of different things and have lesser monotony in their lives but in a group of people, you can pick the freshmen out. They are the ones with most excitement, happiness, sadness, tension, fear or anticipation on their faces. Every other person on the campus look like zombies. Some of them even move like zombies.
I had my Masala Dosa and Filter Coffee and soon reached the Central Workshop. I parked my cycle and headed towards the entrance with songs still playing in my ear. A huge crowd of people headed out. There weren't the 8.30 batch of workshop students because they weren't wearing khaki. They were wearing bright, colourful, assorted clothes. Some of them were talking animatedly with others. Some of them looked like they were scared that they might break something. Some of them simply looked dazed. The emotions were palpable. I'd forgotten all about the orientation. They'd be given a tour of the campus. They'd displaying all its pride on the first few days. Another flashback moment. A very powerful one too. I'd exhausted my month's quota of emotions today.
I remembered being extremely outgoing when I first came to this place. I'd introduced myself to every person I could lay my sights on. I'd ask their numbers, given my number. We'd exchanged information about where we were from. I had been excited to meet new people, to be in a new place, to do new things. Why? What had gone wrong for the zombification to take place?
Another guy came from behind them and stood at the edge of the workshop gate, calling out to students to gather around him. Students obeyed with obedience that was laughable these days.
"Welcome to the Central Workshop of IIT Madras. I am the head of ......."
I smiled at the ridiculous similarity with last year's orientation. Same spot. Same person. Same words.
Perhaps zombification was not the right word. (Well it's not even an actual word but moving on...) Perhaps I just wanted extravagant things to happen in my life without lifting a finger and got annoyed when they weren't happening. I guess it was time to stop whining and enjoy things as they were. The past has always been a better place to live in and it was time to always stop thinking about it. I tugged out my earphone, cutting off the channel to the world of nostalgia. I walked in and greeted the first person I met with a smile. It was a much better day at the workshop...
