It’s the oldest story in the world. One day we wake up and plan for someday. And through the highs and lows that mark time between that day and now, that someday is today, right now, in whatever B-School destiny and you collaborated to get you to. And now that you’re here, away from your comfort zone, it’s possible that you don’t immediately fall in love with it. Maybe it’s a lot like your world, because you’re from the same state. Or, maybe it’s nothing like it, and you witness cultural differences and compare them to what you’ve seen in movies. But, if you really pay attention, you might see people who are actually a lot like you. People who are trying to make sense of this world, who are getting stuck at dead-ends too, who are trying to understand what they want from themselves. All this while, when you thought that you’re the one the universe is conspiring against, these people also nod sleepily in certain lectures, or get as frustrated as you do at something they’re barely getting through, and have a strength that doesn’t always substitute yours; Your peer group was right in front of you all this time telling you that the feeling is a lie.
Because we all need a little direction sometimes, someone to tell us why we should hold on and have the courage to face it all for another day, that tomorrow will be better - sometimes through music, or a shared meal or just a walk. It’s surprising how doing the simplest things together can lead to small insights which go a longer way than you’ll realise in that moment, like a picking up a new word, or an extremely common practice that you were oblivious to, a drastically different take on something you never questioned, a small life hack or a computer trick.
Of course you’ll really remember your peer group on the night before an exam, when a room is crammed with more people than it is meant to accommodate, when the air is thick with trepidation and everyone’s focus is on the Chosen One who’s supposed to guide you towards a decent score. Honestly, it’s a good thing that everyone isn’t good at everything, (because they’d make the lives of the rest of the batch quite miserable) and when it comes down to meeting your fate in the exam hall, it’s very likely that you remember the pompous voice of your make believe coach, the silly analogies and facial expressions or the most unremarkable doubts of your group that will stick with you in the exam to get you through.
Human beings have the capacity to be ironic, sometimes. Every once in a while, the most unlikely people can rise above themselves to come forward and help, and sometimes they fall short. Because it so happens that we lose track of what these two years are really about, and being bitter over life’s disappointments in the past and letting that interfere with your present warrants taking time out and thinking about what this really means to us. For the better or worse, our batch is another picture in the life of the institute.
“Class of 2019”
But do you ever wonder about the strangers in the background of that picture? We could have been a part of someone’s life when their dream came true or the reason that dream ceased to exist. Did we try too hard to get what we wanted or were we somehow destined to get it and the shot took us by surprise? The strange thing is, we don’t even realise how each of our lives collide in a span of two years, because our entire lives are like a series of photographs. Time flies by and as you grapple with deadlines as a team, you’ll realise how fleeting happiness is.
“Happiness comes in many forms - in the company of good friends, in the feeling you get when you make someone else’s dream come true, or in the promise of hope renewed. It’s okay to let yourself be happy.”