The journey to Planet-E and back: A walk down memory lane
A series
of blogs about my alma mater - Amrita School of
Business(ASB) located in the beautiful village of Ettimadai which we
Amritians fondly call ‘Planet-E’ and the happenings in the eventful two years
of my life there.
The last
one in the series.
The journey comes to an end
The
day is October 11, 2013. As I pack my bags and get ready for my journey to
Ettimadai for the convocation of our batch, my mind went back to that day two
years back when I was getting ready to go to my college for the very first
time. It was hard to believe that two years had passed since that day and I had
gone from being a student of ASB to an alumni of ASB.
All
throughout my journey from Cochin to Ettimadai, I kept thinking about my
college, trying to recollect those golden memories of the time that I spent
there. I remembered that first day in college. I remembered that first day in
class, when I was afraid to even step into the class. It all seemed like yesterday.
I remembered the classes in CR1, CR2, CR3, CR4, CR5, ECR and the SAPG sessions
by Udhayakumar Sir. I could not help but laugh when I thought about those
sessions when me and Dimple (fellow last bencher) used to struggle to stay
awake and wait for the session to get over to rush to the canteen to get
tea. ECR being an air-conditioned room, we really did have a tough time staying awake during sessions in ECR, the only exceptions were when Colloquia Talkies was going on, SBM/IMC classes, and yes the most dreaded "Marketing Summer Project" presentations.
I
thought about all the group projects and assignments that we did, especially the Marketing
Research project, the outings to city for the projects (with a hidden agenda of having food from outside), the project presentations, and the quarrels within the group. I remebered the trimester exams and me crying after
every exam saying it was difficult and my friends (Dimple most of the
time) trying to console me.
The
memories of the festivities in the campus were also vivid in my mind. I
remember participating in the Gokulashtami procession, winning the Bhajan
competition and yes wearing a saree for the first time in my life. I remember
'Utsav', the events in SKH, those early morning Badminton games and the
'Merciless Massais' winning 'Utsav-2012'. I remember lighting lamps in the lawn
and bursting crackers during Diwali, the musical chair and floral carpet during Onam, the DJ
nights in the lawn and the flash mobs. I remember Kalakruthi and how SKH used
to come alive during it.
I remembered 'Pragati' and the conference on Sustainable Development and how it bought out the best in us. I thought about the placement season - the joys and disappointments that it bought and how we supported each other through it all. I thought about my angelic professors (who were more of our friends than teachers) who were there with us through all our highs and lows guiding us. I thought about the smiling faces that greeted us when we used to go to the office room. I thought about the dignitaries we interacted with during the Colloquia sessions.
I
remembered my days in A-409 Gargi Bhavanam - the breathtakingly beautiful view
of the Western Ghats that greeted us every morning when we stepped out of our
rooms, the mess food, the announcements in the hostel that resembled railway
announcements, the evening discussions over a cup of coffee, crowding around
the night canteen, the midnight birthday celebrations, those sleepless nights
during exam time, and the most important of it all, those 14 angels who not
even for a moment made me realize that I was away from home.
It
hurt most when I thought about the last day in college - the farewell speeches,
the batch photo session at the roof top, DG Sir clicking away with his camera, as
the Ettimadai sky started turning dark. It was as if a curtain was falling on
one of the most wonderful chapters of our lives.
I was lost in my thoughts, when my bus stopped in front of the large hoarding of our university at Ettimadai. I was back in college after six months, though it seemed like an eternity to me. I had missed my college very badly. It felt good to be back in the campus, to be reunited with my friends and teachers, to once again take those long walks around the campus. I could see smiling faces everywhere; two years of our hard work and determination had finally paid off. We were all ecstatic about finally becoming 'Post Graduates'.
But the moments of ecstasy were followed by agony, when after the ceremony, everyone started saying their 'Goodbye's and 'We will keep in touch's and started leaving. If that feeling on that last day in college was bad, this was worse. Back then, we knew that we had a chance to meet during the convocation. This time around we were not sure of when we would get a chance for a reunion like the one that we just had. SKH which was bustling with students before the ceremony, now looked deserted.
With a heavy heart we bid adieu to our campus, to Planet-E, and to all the things that we had come to love about it over the last two years. So that is how my story ends, well this is not my story alone, this could be the story of an ASBian. We may have left the college, but the college will never leave us. As I made my way back to home in the Banglore-Ernakulam Inter City Express, I kept my eyes glued to the window to get a glimpse of our campus for one last time. The very first time I had seen the campus was while travelling in a similar train. As the train went past Ettimadai, I realized the journey had ended, at the place where it had all started.
