Hear Hear! We have a Year!

Five Hundred twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes, Five Hundred Twenty Five thousand moments so dear…

Five Hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes, and we have ourselves an entire year. Anxious with anticipation, second doubting every decision, I left home in pursuit of a dream I wasn't sure of. Today, it has been a year since then and life couldn't be better.

My first year in college brought with it a number of other “first”s. It all started with my first train ride (one year later I have lost count of them), then came the first time I danced in the rain (such was my ignorance that I failed to follow the post rain ritual to the end that I fell sick for 2 days). Also in the list are first time I ate malpuha (YUM!!) and my favorite so far, my first fall from riding a bicycle (Confession: I still can’t ride a bicycle…yes I know, shame on me). Oh and one more! First time I saw a band live in action.

Law school can be a very dull place to be in. One week into the semester and the campus already resembles a zombie refugee camp. Feet dragging, eyes drooping and (in some cases) mouth drooling, student zombies lumber to slog in the library. The non-student zombies enjoy 55 minutes of feasting on remnants of  80 brains from smarter days of pre-law education era. The nocturnal existence commences. Imagination and creativity quickly get lost somewhere in the black and white lines of rigid reason.

And yet I find myself congratulating myself on my decision. When a person who was accustomed to a life of self dictated discipline and solitude finds him/herself in the constant company of a hundred others with completely different ideas that govern their lives, s/he is bound to introspect in retrospect. This, more often than not, leads to rediscovery and ultimately development of the self. I am not saying this happened to me. I am not saying it didn't. All I know is that as each day passes I fall in love with me more and more. Yes, my self love has grown to a creepy extent. Credit goes to quite a few people here.

Academically too things have evolved. Last summer IPC was very conveniently assumed to mean 'Indian Police Commissioner'. And now, it refers to an ancient document consisting of 511 ways in which your life can legally be ruined. Law has more or less treated me well. Breaking the NCERT chant did take some effort but time is a patient teacher. Moreover, at the cost of my English skills, I seemed to have acquired a reasonable amount of curiosity (to the effect that I have started following news.) Although, even time and experience can't change some things. Since joining here, I have mooted 4 times. My opinion regarding it is still the same as it was before. (remember Hoot Shoot ? )

In short, things are interesting. My "usual consorts", "colleagues", "islands", or as I prefer, "friends" ensure that. The question of becoming a lifeless zombie does not even arise with them aroud. And how can it when north India meets south India in a room in west India which is occupied by east India? All you get from this mayhem is 5 unforgettable years, unaffected by whatever destiny holds in store at the other end.