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As usual, the environs of the college were lively and happening. Students could be seen scattered all over the campus.
There seemed to be no dearth of activities. Some of them could be seen reveling in the beauty of the water fountains. A couple of others seemed to busy scheming on the pranks to play on their friends. Some of the girls could be seen admiring the two geese recently brought to the campus. A sizeable number looked to be in great hurry as if they had just realized the deadlines for submitting their assignments happened to be the very day and they were yet to begin.
On my side, I had free hour in hand and so I decided to spend time at the cafeteria awaiting the arrival of my friends. In doing so, my attention was drawn to a group of friends seated at a table not far from mine. They were in good spirits and were cracking jokes that revolved around the college’s name and they were laughing loudly. May be I could be accused of eavesdropping but they were speaking out so loudly that no one could ignore their jokes. I could have heard it even if I had covered my ears. Interestingly, I also fell in that category not so long ago. There jokes struck a chord and I almost took it personally. It was as if I was being reminded of the wasted times.
That time, five of us were seated at the same cafeteria and would be engrossed in such cheep talks like the group next to me.
“Here is one masterpiece listen to it,” said Komal staring at the message in his mobile. Well the masterpiece was nothing but another joke made on college’s name. The after effect of the masterpiece brought and long and sustained burst of laughter accompanied by the exchange of ‘high fives’. I guess high ‘fives’ is not something new but for the uninitiated, it is when you raise your hand and clasp against the other person’s hand to show the intensity of your reaction. The harder it hits the more impact it has. No wonder students around us would be distracted and in return they gave a surprised or rather curios look. But we were least bothered as Jyoti continued with another masterpiece, the theme of which was teachers. This time our laughter and ‘high fives’ elicited not surprised or curious looks but angry and irritated stares.
Coming back to life in my final year of college, it seems nothing has changed.
As I was refreshing my memories, I saw Deepak and Menuka heading towards my direction a trifle surprised to see my expression. These two are also among those who love to read masterpieces though they have stopped now. In fact I noticed amongst many of my friends, they have stopped making or entertaining any such masterpieces anymore. Nowadays, our free time is mostly consumed by the talks on career opportunities that the GCC Placement Office is offering and opportunities for further studies. We were not shocking more running away from responsibilities. Earlier, we used to love our college so much to the extent that if we failed in the exams, it was the teachers who didn’t teach us well. If we were late for the class, it was the guard who didn’t let us in for trivial reasons. The two hour power failure was a good reason for not doing an assignment. If we couldn’t answer a question asked in the class, the immediate answer would be “I was not present on the day the subject was taught.”
I know many of us are still shying away from responsibilities and blaming it on the college. If you think you are the one I am talking about, then wake up before it’s too late. I am happy that my friends and I have come to the realization that had it not been for the college, we probably could never have met. If not for this college, we would not have got the opportunities to shape our destiny. If not for this college we would have never been the responsible people we are today. If not for the teachers here, we would not have realized the worth of this institution.

Reflections