A. If there ever was a genie in real life who could grant me a wish, I would have wished my school life back. It’s not the place or the studies but the fun, friends and the memories that makes our soul crave for those times of our lives. When I reflect upon my childhood, I don’t remember the subjects that I studied nor do I remember how much marks I scored in which class, what stays back with me is the memory of seeing my friends empty my tiffin every day as I entered the class during the break, what I remember is my friends throwing that ball of foil on my crush to whom I was always too shy to confront. It’s not those small PE periods on the grounds that bring a smile on my face but those small sessions of cricket with a foil ball and a notebook between the classes that makes me want to turn back time. Be it testing our agility while playing dodge ball or starting a foil-ball fight between the two corners of the classroom, these are the memories that make us realize that what is gone was the best time of our lives. It was a time when our mothers used to shower us with love which was measured with how tasty our tiffin was, and oh! How can one forget that extra bite that was always there for your best-est friends in class? As I flow through these streams of nostalgia, there is one constant that always made these memories even more memorable. That one layer of protection for my food, that one piece of silver paper that got molded into so many shapes whenever I needed it to, that one piece of silver sheet that made so many memories worth remembering – freshwrapp foil paper from Hindalco has truly and unknowingly touched and made my life in a way nothing else could have. For all those beautiful and cherished memories, thank you ABG!
B. Nowadays, life always seems to be like a wave function, going up one moment and going down the other. What most of us take for granted during the small-small struggles of our lives is the role that our parents play in making our lives much easier than expected. My life took a 360 degree turn when my parents had to shift to a foreign country while I was pursuing my under-graduation. It was when I was pursuing my summer internship at Bangalore that my parents had to shift. My grandparents could not do the same due to visa issues and their responsibility came to me. I was about to enter the 4th year of my engineering when I had to step back and re-prioritize my short term goals in life. I had to reject a well-paying job from a Fortune 100 company at Bangalore and look for offers in and around Gurgaon. At the same time, CAT was just 3 months away and I was expected to pay frequent visits from Patiala to Gurgaon to my grandparents during the course of my 7th semester. A job offer from an on campus summer internship meant I was also signed out from the placement process on campus. With my parents living in a foreign land, with potentially no source of a future job and no guarantee of a good performance in CAT coupled with added responsibilities of running a house and completing an engineering semester with good scores, I probably had too much to chew from on my plate. However, things gradually worked out. I managed to maintain a calm head, made good use of LinkedIn, developed contacts, got myself an even better job in Gurgaon. I eventually managed my time, studied for CAT, scored a 99.78%ile while juggling between my college and home. What seemed like the toughest of times in life, turned out to be an experience that made me better prepared for the future challenges that are yet to unfold.
