Strength

I met an old college classmate online last night. It's been 2 years since I spoke to her. I believe that everything that happens does so for a reason. Last night's chance meeting has left me stunned.

We were not very close in college. In fact, we barely ever spoke. I think we knew each other only because of the fact that we were in the same section. Honestly, I don't know all the girls in the other section. Thankfully, I knew everyone in mine. With about 35 girls in my class, I was close to only a handful. The friend I met last night had to retake the 2nd year in college. So, after studying together for 2 years, she went on leave. While I attended college in my final year, she stayed at home and studied. She rejoined after I graduated last year. I met her a couple of times in the vague visits I made to college to collect my marksheet and documents. It was nice to see her, but it left no lasting impression.

Last week I received a forwarded mail to an online group that I have subscribed to. While scrolling down the window I came across a few familiar names. I saw this girl's name there and added her to my messenger list immediately. Little did I know that she'd surprise me beyond belief.

She came online last night and as we caught up on our lives, I was left astonished. Not only had she picked herself up and moved on with her life, but she worked like hell and is now on her way to IIM Indore. The one year lost in between has been forgotten and she has more than redeemed herself. Strength is what I saw in her yesterday and I can truly saw that I have learnt something from someone. Inspired, I have realised how trivial my situation is. Instead of complaining and running down the system, I should channel all that energy into something fruitful. So L, it's about time I arrived!!!

The One That Scared Me

Ayn Rand terrified me as a child. The size of her books with the tiny print seemed like an invitation to hours of boredom. But now, having thoroughly enjoyed Atlas Shrugged a few months ago, I am ready to devour The Fountainhead. Surprisingly, I studied excerpts from Rand's books in my final year in college. Economics does expose you to a lot of good writing!!!

Rethinking My Choices

Probably the 1st anti-war novel I have read, I'm astonished at how much I'm enjoying this one. Perhaps my decision to stay away from this genre of books was a bad one.

Not Bad At All

Food, drinks and friends...what more do you need to make a party worth attending? And last night there was plenty of everything. The place was great ("he" and I would like to take credit for that!!!). The people were awesome. So finally some doubts that I had can be laid to rest. I missed "the beard" though. I wish he was there with us. I'll see him in less than 2 weeks now and I can't wait.

Ok, I'm going off on a tangent now. Back on track. The way I am, I would have mulled over the party for the next few days and then ended up writing about it once it had lost it's charm. But thanks to a new friend, I decided to do it now itself. In hindsight, it's not such a bad idea after all.

I think I'll start with the complaining bit first, so feel free to skip this paragraph. The music was bad, and was extremely loud. The music system was screwed up. The lights were turned off in between and I have no idea why that was done. Astonishingly, it was done just as everyone decided to grab a plate for dinner. Hmmmm...that makes me wonder about what was actually served. Alright, I realized I went too far. The food was good. But the one thing I really didn't enjoy was the "Intro" Session. Prior to that everyone was mingling and talking to each other. As soon as the microphone was brought in, the energy level in the room dipped to a low. It wasn't as much fun thereafter. Hard luck...but who am I to complain...I get to spend the next 2 years with these people and thankfully I'll get to know them without them dancing to "maar daala". By the way, I enjoyed the rendition!!!

I heaved a sigh of relief as I sauntered around the room last night. I hate the fact that I have to go through the process of making friends again. Don't misinterpret this. I enjoy meeting new people and making friends. So you can imagine how relieved I was to see normal people at the party. I ended up talking to quite a few, and I had a nice time. I'm not all negative anymore. Most of them seemed down-to-earth, which is great. Looking foward to the Rems now!!!

Party Time

Today's the day of the Alumni-Freshers Party. Someone with very bad taste decided to call it "Milaap". I think it's a very very corny name, and the idea of universalizing it is cornier. But everyone's entitled to their opinion, and since I don't enjoy the importance of deciding such things I might as well satisfy myself by speaking my mind.

The last meet was at Dilli Haat. That was more of an informal do. For the seniors it ended up being a reunion more than anything else. And the freshers seemed very overwhelmed by the whole idea of being associated with L. It was cute, though. I remember being tongue-tied the first time I stepped into campus. I had not had the privilege of being invited to the Party last year, so I knew noone there. Basically, I started from scratch.

I hope tonight ends up being more interactive than the last get-together. I'm signing off now to decide what to wear. I'll be leaving in about 3 hours. Is that enough time to decide? Honestly, there's never enough time, and I invariably end up feeling that I should have worn the other outfit/s I'd decided on. As they say - "WOMEN!!!".