Hello friends…This post now takes you to the next phase in my life as I show you a new dimension in my life from the various other facets that surround me. How strange it is to write back on your own life in the written form when you know that there are certain things which cannot be explained by writing them out, but clearly you got to feel them and experience them as they are cherished later on – also, this experience throws up many answers for what I did in those days and what I didn’t do…
So, in a way, I would strongly recommend you to read these posts but not make any impression or judgment of what I am and what I have done. Some things cannot be solved easily, they remain complicated and as a result, mysterious.
So, in a way, by giving a kind of a disclaimer initially here, I begin my new post by telling you how I spent the next 2 years in my junior college – Ruia College, Mumbai – one of the top colleges that you can get admission into, after your school. Getting there was itself a matter of pride and a feeling of success crept upon each student as they cut through the competition and made it to that college.
Of course, in those days, competition was in terms of who would get admission in Ruia or Ruparel College – as these were the top 2 Institutes in the heart of Mumbai city.
Getting 86.67% in SSC helped me in joining Ruia College – that too, for a vocational course on ‘Computer Science’.
Let me tell you first something about my long-standing affair with computers – the first time that we met was when I was the third standard and MS-DOS, LOGO were the first so-called technologies that we learnt in those days. Seven years of affair in school with the PC was good enough an attraction to go for this vocational course. I was hell bent on getting that course as I saw myself doing well with computers. We didn’t have any computer at home in those days and so, it was the computer lab at school or in my junior college where our love affair blossomed (talking of course, about the PC).
The 2 years at Ruia College were remarkable – a sudden transition from spending 12 years of education in a boys’ school to joining a college which had 70% girl students. YES, such a huge difference.
The initial few months were a nightmare with so many girls all around. I was repenting that why so many girls are here??? God, please help me. I used to run away if a girl came nearby and even before she started to talk. Studies were going on great and I was doing well in exams, as usual. But there was this so-many-girls syndrome that I was facing. Not that the girls are going to scare me but when I look back and reflect on my past, especially these days, I laugh a lot to know that I was behaving like that too.
There was this one girl whom I liked and had a crush on. We knew each other earlier, before college started. She thought “kaisa ladka hai, baat bhi nahi karta hai, yeh toh bahut bhaav khaata hai”. I managed to explain to her before those 2 years ended that I was simply shy and scared to talk. She laughed at this and thought I was kinda cute.
Later on, I started talking with her and then her friends but I used to talk very limited – rarely uttering some words. My friends saw this and these guys then started teasing me – as what happens each time a guy talks with a girl – the other guys simply pull the guy’s leg.
The height of teasing came in later during the month of December where the college had organized an event – name??? ROSE DAY… I had pre-decided that I won’t even step out of my house that day and go to college or else, I’m dead. I knew my friends would be waiting for me. But, as it turned out, they came to my home and took me along despite me making false excuses of being sick. My Mom told them that I was well and nothing’s happened to my health and so, I was caught.
They took me to college and as expected, took me to the grand concert in college which was going on. All my friends started dancing and enjoying while I was watching them and trying to pacify them by quietly stepping out of the crowd and looking at them dance. It’s not that I don’t like to dance but in those days, the typical dance that we did ever was in Ganapati celebrations.
Then, they saw that girl and her friends. My friends came to me and insisted that I have to give the girl a rose. I told “No way boss….are you crazy? I’m not doing anything like that or else, I’ll get slapped”. They didn’t hear anything that I had to offer and were simply adamant. I somehow got rid of them temporarily by telling them I’m going to the washroom. I went to a friend’s place instead (he lived in front of the college) and I was hiding there. As my friends found out that I was missing, they started to call each other in their network to find me. They got the news where I was hiding and they told that friend to bring me back to college. He made sure I came back to college with him.
Then, they handed over a rose to me and told me to get ready as she and her friends were coming out from the auditorium towards the garden area where people were meeting each other for giving roses. They themselves then were hiding in other places and watching what I’m doing. I was so nervous. I could see her coming and when I saw that her friends are also coming with her, I turned back and signaled to my friends that it’s not possible that I can give. Her friends were along with her (all of them were girls – her friends). But they were not listening to any excuses now.
Finally, I took a deep breath, prayed to God and took the first step (literally, the leg going forward was so difficult – I was like almost a statue). I walked and she and her gang were coming in my direction. I stopped her by calling out her name. I put forward my hand and gave her the rose. She stopped for a second and thought. I was sure that I would get slapped and was getting mentally prepared for a tight slap on my cheek.
However, to my surprise, she accepted the rose, smiled (a wonderful, beautiful smile) and said “Thank you Rohan”. Her other friends (girls) were looking at me, giggling and whispering something in the background. But all that didn’t matter in those few moments. I was looking straight into her eyes and was literally standing there as still and cold as a statue.
She asked me if I could join her for the concert in the playground and I nodded my head in the affirmative.
Later on, I spent time with her and her friends as we enjoyed the concert and my friends then came in and joined the group. All of my friends were winking at me and giving me that kind of an expression that I was feeling embarrassed. But when I think about this incident today, I cannot stop laughing on myself to realize how shy and timid I was then.
Later on, after that day, she accompanied me to all college events and that was the start of the first relationship that I had – struck by Mr. Cupid’s so-called blessed arrow. After that event, the rest of my junior college life was great. All-round activities were going on - be it exams, movies with friends, going out with her, events at college, partying, playing sports, etc.
Time passed by at a fast pace and at the end of 2 years, I can conclude that these were the years that sparked off the previously unknown abilities that I had within. I surprised myself by being able to come up with so many new things that I hadn’t ever thought of, in my school life. Junior college days were full of excitement, fun and plenty of happiness – spent together with great friends.
Finally, it was time to bid adieu to Ruia and move ahead to the next phase of my life – an Engineering College awaiting me to spend my life’s next 4 years in there.
Gradually, I lost touch with this girl after junior college as we got admission into separate colleges and then our lives that were intertwined earlier, now became separate. We stayed in touch for few months initially but then we got busy in our own schedules. After engineering, I came to know she had gone to US for doing her MS and since then, I was very rarely in touch through email. But then, even that stopped. She’s in my past now although we shared many wonderful moments together, worth remembering even till date. However, I was over the entire episode a long time back and of course, the next phase in my life made up for many more exciting days which were coming up in the future.
Getting back to the moment where I was leaving Ruia. As I moved out of junior college, I looked forward to what life had in store for me at that time as I took the first step into the long, gruesome journey of 4 full years in the infamous and harsh world of Engineering Colleges – where I had heard that people get grilled and only after going through the harsh, rough and tough times – does one become what it takes to be a guy with a B.E degree from Mumbai University.
Concluding the post now at this important juncture. Putting down all the memories together and that too the junior college days isn’t easy as how I’ve realized by now. If you feel that I’ve missed out on anything pertaining to my junior college life which I could have covered in this post, kindly provide your feedback and I’ll make sure I’ll write that too.
Signing off now. See ya, friends!
