It happened again. I foresaw it. My clairvoyance in this matter has been spot on. I had been summoned to Kgp last year. By the uncanniest of chances, Kgp summoned me once again. And how was my dire need!
Duur ek gaon hain, wahan thandi chhaon hain, behti nadiyan hain, jaana hain nadiyan ke paar. Kare mera intezaar, mera bichhara yaar, mera bichhara yaar.
- Courtesy : Strings - Album Dhaani
The above lines from the sublime album by the Pakistani band sum up all the emotions of that night. As it is, when it comes to Kgp, I have always let down my guard. The flight landed at Kolkata in the night. It had been a weary day at work and I thought this time, Kgp would be arrived at in the thick of night amidst slumber. Again, Kgp showed how immature I was.
It was a magical journey from Kolkata to Kgp in the taxi. The stop at Sher e Punjab at midnight was just enough to calm me down. As Kgp weaved its magic from far off, all weariness evaporated. This was 'The' time, the lone hour journey from Kolaghat to Kgp, where I reminisced over the past year. There was a chill and a fog that night, at certain areas, the fog was thick enough to render seeing your hand in front of your face, the driver got all of us through unscathed.
We pulled into Kgp, the familiar roads being trod again. So silent they were in the thick of the night, so calm and serene, as if time had also frozen with the cold. It was then we approached Puri gate. I turned my face towards the famous Hijli tower, it was shrouded in the mist. We drove in through those gates and lo I was back.
The last time I had been to Kgp, it was more of a walk down memory lane. I had always pondered how would I approach Kgp the next time, after all rummaging through your memories is not refreshing every time. I had thought this visit to be a purely professional visit, a presentation, hand shakes and come back home.
Kgp swiftly dispelled all my preconceptions. As I walked down from the guest house to the department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, I felt a sense of amazement. With no particular emotions attached, it was complex to describe.
The venue for the seminars was none other than the senate hall. Another landmark breached, I mused. Soon, I was perched on the seats of power, cushions on which the destiny of IIT Kharagpur had been and indeed still is planned and executed. There I beheld an amazing picture. The unison of generations. Professors of the dept, professors (retired faculty) who had taught the present batch of professors, history could be visualized, as the past, present and future of IIT Kharagpur unfolded itself before me. I passed out from Civil Engineering, but was never so nostalgic as I felt on that day surrounded by members of a sister department. I have grown old I feel.
The afternoon and the evening was solemn, december always meant that there were few people on the campus. Gautam met me in the evening, it was a quiet walk down memory lane again as we sipped coffee in the swank new CCD on the campus. I went down to the department of Civil Engineering in the evening. Again the old pleasant times came back, grades of the autumn end semester exams had been pasted on many of the doors of the faculty; reminded me of the good old days.
The foyer was populated by three security guards who asked me which room I wanted to go. I smiled and walked away down to the place where Dipak Da used to serve us 'Veg fired rice'. The new canteen is a poor substitute for the previous one whom we considered our daily mess.
Gautam took over in the evening, Inter IIT was going to be hosted by Kgp this year and the new Gymkhana building conveyed this amply. It was funny looking at the scoreboard which had been set up. During my times, there used to be seven rows corresponding to the seven IITs. Now there was more than double the number. Jnan Ghosh stadium looked serene in the night with its floodlights. Enough nostalgia, we were famished. Hotel Park was the next stop, the food has deteriorated but we had our fill.
I will always remember the evening next day. Conference things done, I was waiting near TOAT, for Gautam to appear. He was held up by some meeting in the Department of computer science. It was late evening and I had to kill time. I walked down to the canteen near the railway reservation counter. The effect of inflation was evident, prices of the items on the menu had increased. The cups of tea at the canteen in backdrop of the patch of tress ( which used to serve as the SF arena in our times) doused out the exhaustion of the past few months. I was rejuvenated, I was healed.
The journey back home was again scintillating as we sped on NH6 towards Kolkata. I had a full armoury of songs with me this time. These combined with the sight of lush greens on both sides of the highway were the best bit of relaxation one could ever wish for.
As Gautam said (maybe in a sense of pun), 'You don't choose to go to Kgp, Kgp chooses you'. May I be chosen again soon.
I recommend a hearing of "Freebird - Lynryrd Skynryd"
It was a magical journey from Kolkata to Kgp in the taxi. The stop at Sher e Punjab at midnight was just enough to calm me down. As Kgp weaved its magic from far off, all weariness evaporated. This was 'The' time, the lone hour journey from Kolaghat to Kgp, where I reminisced over the past year. There was a chill and a fog that night, at certain areas, the fog was thick enough to render seeing your hand in front of your face, the driver got all of us through unscathed.
We pulled into Kgp, the familiar roads being trod again. So silent they were in the thick of the night, so calm and serene, as if time had also frozen with the cold. It was then we approached Puri gate. I turned my face towards the famous Hijli tower, it was shrouded in the mist. We drove in through those gates and lo I was back.
The last time I had been to Kgp, it was more of a walk down memory lane. I had always pondered how would I approach Kgp the next time, after all rummaging through your memories is not refreshing every time. I had thought this visit to be a purely professional visit, a presentation, hand shakes and come back home.
Kgp swiftly dispelled all my preconceptions. As I walked down from the guest house to the department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, I felt a sense of amazement. With no particular emotions attached, it was complex to describe.
The venue for the seminars was none other than the senate hall. Another landmark breached, I mused. Soon, I was perched on the seats of power, cushions on which the destiny of IIT Kharagpur had been and indeed still is planned and executed. There I beheld an amazing picture. The unison of generations. Professors of the dept, professors (retired faculty) who had taught the present batch of professors, history could be visualized, as the past, present and future of IIT Kharagpur unfolded itself before me. I passed out from Civil Engineering, but was never so nostalgic as I felt on that day surrounded by members of a sister department. I have grown old I feel.
The afternoon and the evening was solemn, december always meant that there were few people on the campus. Gautam met me in the evening, it was a quiet walk down memory lane again as we sipped coffee in the swank new CCD on the campus. I went down to the department of Civil Engineering in the evening. Again the old pleasant times came back, grades of the autumn end semester exams had been pasted on many of the doors of the faculty; reminded me of the good old days.
Many of the professors were yet not in at that time of the evening, I took the walk down further to the Nescafe near VGSOM to kill the time. A walk alone, clad in formals and a tie. I have always presented myself as a detached, unemotional guy, but that walk probably broke all the
layers built up over the past couple of years. The evening broadened up my spirits, a candid talk with Prof LSR and then I went down to HJB - the place which I deem to be my second home.
layers built up over the past couple of years. The evening broadened up my spirits, a candid talk with Prof LSR and then I went down to HJB - the place which I deem to be my second home.
The foyer was populated by three security guards who asked me which room I wanted to go. I smiled and walked away down to the place where Dipak Da used to serve us 'Veg fired rice'. The new canteen is a poor substitute for the previous one whom we considered our daily mess.
Gautam took over in the evening, Inter IIT was going to be hosted by Kgp this year and the new Gymkhana building conveyed this amply. It was funny looking at the scoreboard which had been set up. During my times, there used to be seven rows corresponding to the seven IITs. Now there was more than double the number. Jnan Ghosh stadium looked serene in the night with its floodlights. Enough nostalgia, we were famished. Hotel Park was the next stop, the food has deteriorated but we had our fill.
I will always remember the evening next day. Conference things done, I was waiting near TOAT, for Gautam to appear. He was held up by some meeting in the Department of computer science. It was late evening and I had to kill time. I walked down to the canteen near the railway reservation counter. The effect of inflation was evident, prices of the items on the menu had increased. The cups of tea at the canteen in backdrop of the patch of tress ( which used to serve as the SF arena in our times) doused out the exhaustion of the past few months. I was rejuvenated, I was healed.
The journey back home was again scintillating as we sped on NH6 towards Kolkata. I had a full armoury of songs with me this time. These combined with the sight of lush greens on both sides of the highway were the best bit of relaxation one could ever wish for.
As Gautam said (maybe in a sense of pun), 'You don't choose to go to Kgp, Kgp chooses you'. May I be chosen again soon.
I recommend a hearing of "Freebird - Lynryrd Skynryd"
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