Those were the best days of my life….

Everybody wanted to stay for some more time but one by one people were moving out. The hostel rooms which were always filled with vigor and enthusiasm were all empty. Nobody was playing cricket in the hostel lobby, music was not being played in any of the rooms. I was one of the boys who left the hostel when approximately 90% of the people had already left after the completion of the final year. I was sitting in the lobby, watching the sun set and remembering the good old days.

“Raah dekhi thi is din ki kabse
aage ke sapne saja rakhe the na jane kab se
bade utavle the yahaan se jaane ko
zindagi ka agla padaav paane ko
par naa jane kyon, dil mein aaj kuch aur aata hai
waqt ko rokne ka jee chahta hai”

Yes, I really wanted the time to stop so that I could live there for some more days. We used to crib for everything we had. The teachers, the labs, the library, the facilities, everything was bad. But now when I think the opportunities the college gave me it makes me feel proud. How fortunate I am to be a student of this college.

“Jin baton ko lekar rote the
aaj un par hansi aati hai
na jaane kyon aaj un palon ki yaad bahut aati hai
kaha kart tha ..badi mushkil se chaar saal seh gaya
par aaj kyon lagta hai ki kuch peeche reh gaya “

When we got ragged, when we ran to the classes chanting ‘kao kao’, when we ragged our juniors, when we went to out teachers house in the midnight asking him to cancel the test, when we calculated the grades to be 9 point something and it actually came out to be 7 point something, when we played badminton for the whole night and bunked the first class for sleeping, when we took the Xerox of the circuit diagram because we didn’t have time to draw the diagram, when the ‘farras’ were photocopied, when we played Holi with ‘mitti’, when one of our batch mate teased the wife of our hostel warden by mistake, when we beat the shit out of the PCO owner when he slapped one of our colleagues.

“kahi ankahi hazaaron batein reh gayi
na bhoolne wali kuch yaadein reh gayi ”

I miss all my friends and we still spend a lot of time remembering all of them. I can still remember how people made groups to make fun of someone, how all of us got united when any of us faced a trouble, how we all went to our teacher asking him to be lenient while checking the examination answer sheets, how the people cheated during the exams, how some people slept while sitting in the first row, how we used to tease each other, how we prepared ourselves for the Lanka trip for a cup of tea, how we used to wake up for the whole night so that we can go to the ‘The Ganges’ and see the sun rise, how some of my batchmates acted after drinking ‘Thandai (with Bhang)’.

“kaun fail hone par dilasa dilayega
kaun galti se number aane par gaaliyaan sunayega,
aise dost kahaan milenge jo khai mein bhi dhakka de aayein,
par fir tumhein bachane khud bhi kood jayein,
kaun kahega chadhe tere joke pe hansi nahin aai,
kaun peeche se bula ke kahega..aage dekh bhai,
Kaun mujhe ab class main jagaega,
Is khadus manager se ab kaun bachaega,
mere certificates ko raddi kehne ki himmat kaun karega,
bina dare sachi raay dene ki himmat kaun karega,
raat ko 2 baje pooch khane kaun jayega,
6 gilaas lassi peene ki shart kaun lagayega,
achanak bin matlab ke kisi ko bhi dekh kar paglon ki tarah hansna,
na jaane ye fir kab hoga“

Wish I could live that life again. Wish I can meet all my batch mates again and play all the pranks again. Wish I could go back in time.

“keh do doston ye dobaara sab hoga
doston ke liye professor se kab lad payenge
kya hum ye fir kar payenge "

The lobby was still empty, silence prevailed everywhere, and the sun was already set. Somebody called from behind, “Kakke chal dinner karne”. I thought that perhaps all of us will not be together again but “THE MEMORY REMAINS”. You turn around and it comes back to you.

“bahut kuch likhna abhi baaki hai
kuch saath shayad baaki hai
zindagi mein milne ki fariyaad karte rehna
agar na mil sakein to kam se kam yaad karte rehna
chahe jitna hanslo aaj mujh par
mein bura nahi manooga
is hansi ko apne dil mein basa loonga
aur jab yaad aayegi tumhari
yahi hansi lekar thoda muskura loonga”

I pulled the chair inside the room (room number 205, Morvi Hostel) locked it and went out for the dinner.