Room No- 58:- A Tribute To My Seniors

 Its been over a month since my last blog post. You can put down the reason for that as laziness. But yes this time around it wasn't laziness alone. I really had been busy this past 1 and a half month with my PG classes, both due to academic and non-academic reasons. I did however received a lot of comments about my last post both on and off the web (sadly, none of which were made inside the blog itself! :( )

This post is a bit different from all other I have written yet. Its more personal than my last few posts I've written. Its about what we actually have, what we value and what we are left with in the end. What we hold on to in the end. Its about the people who left in this period of only 2 months. Oh no, I didn't meant from this earth! But have gone a bit far than I would have personally liked. It started with an elderly Bengali brother who was a Ph.D pursuer in Marine Microbiology but left for New Delhi to start a new chapter in his life, IAS officer. We all wished him best in his life, we all are happy for him. But that said and done we all were fond him and you know even staying in touch with someone isn't equivalent to having their presence in your daily life. That was about couple of months ago. Then came the time to say goodbye to one of my favorite M.sc teacher which in a way or the other was a bit more tougher than I had expected. More for Rahul than for me though. 'Cause for Rahul she was the only teacher who has influenced the way he conducts himself as a student, as a responsible M.Sc post graduate scholar, a constant source of inspiration..
Am i sounding too selfish?

Because I don't know you anymore
I don't recognize this place
The picture frames have changed and so has your name
We don't talk much anymore
We keep running from the pain
But what I wouldn't give to see your face again


Let's go back a few years, (4 years to be precise). You know on the eve of the start of my college life, my brother, being elder than me, lectured on how important it is to stay away from all the troubles ragging may bring upon. And also about the roles the seniors are going to play in my college life. To be fair the second point was quite non-existent. During my B.Sc days my immediate senior year students were absolutely non influential in almost every field. And we cared quite less about them. But yes my brother was right seniors have really played an important role in my life. May be not then. But definitely now.
I had never lived in a hostel before in my life.  And the first time I lived in hostel has been during my PG days. And that to in a different state, in a different part of the country altogether. My hostel life was going to be a crucial part for me for rest of my life, that was what I had thought. I was welcomed in my hostel Sarovar by mine seniors- Swapnil Chatterjee, Soumya Subhra De, Srikanta Acharya Chowdhury and Swarup Saha. Ragging was always in the back of our mind, we knew it was something we were bound to face. But you know, when you are away from home, and you have those with you who can speak your language, can understand, it does not take much time to become fond of them. Same happened with me. And as far as that ragging is concerned, it never came.. Instead we were made comfortable, with ourselves, with our surroundings even with the language and culture we were going to face.
We never got to see much of Swarup Saha as he left Cochin 2 months after we got admitted. But the other three kind of became the part and parcel of our life. Swapnil Chatterjee was the youngest of three (1 and a half years older than me) was pursuing his M.phil after completing M.Sc; Srikanta Acharya Chowdhury was doing a job in a leading Ornamental Fish export firm, while the eldest of them all, Soumya Subhra De was halfway to completion of his Ph.D.
This had been the most memorable one year for me Much of which I owe to these guys. And somewhere some part of me always knew that someday these guys would have to leave us. Leave this hostel. Leave this city. And go ahead in their life, and I/we should enjoy whatever time we get. Easier said than done!
How do you get over the hangover of seeing your seniors leave, with whom you share your day to day life? I dont know. That's an answer I would like to find out myself. I have been having a tough time keeping track of all the people who have been getting a farewell. Especially those whom I value quite high in my life unfortunately. So to answer my first question do i sound selfish? I guess I do.

But yes I will never forget this 1 year. I will never forget these 3 people. For that matter any of those people who bid goodbye in some way or the other, last few days. Till I complete my M.Sc, till I stay in this hostel, that room will always keep on giving me those fond memories. Room No 58 may not be having any of these 3 seniors but to me it would always stay as the room of my seniors till the time period I am here. That's the way I would like to keep it
Lastly, I know these is the most unorganized piece of post that I've ever written. I guess that's what happens when you write with your heart, and you can't think straight, cannot think with your brain. This haphazard account of my seniors would never be considered as a testimonial in any sort of way. Neither would I want that. Nor would they. But to me, this is my way of paying tribute to these fantastic guys (which I know is not even nearly enough), to whom I would never say a good bye, ever. Just a..................


"Thank you. We will meet again. Best of Luck. Till then...." :)

Happy Days :)