Friday, April 4, 2008

Key learnings from 1 year at K ( Part 2 )

Alter egos, schizophrenics, Transformed egos, confused souls, Split personalities, Actualized ones, Inflated souls, deflated souls, Detached souls, Restored souls….These are some of the people doing the rounds in the picturesque campus of K, along with the normal mortals.

Act 1 – The arrival :

During the first term, the students just flow with the system not knowing where the tide is leading them to. The seeds of confusion are planted when they are not quite sure about what’s happening around them or where they want the time to lead them. These are the confused souls, who don’t remember what they were, how they used to be…

During this journey, some start behaving like machines, just performing some routine activities; not getting the time to take a pause in between. The gist of the script of each day’s play titled “A typical day in a B-school”, is the same as the previous day – only the circumstances are little different. If at all they pause, they get sucked into their world of complications n confusions. Compounded by the enormous “pressure”, insomniac tendencies n a multitude of other factors, new alter egos are born n start accompanying the original ones.

Act 2 – The metamorphosis:

Cometh the second term, there’s one wicked monster which acts as a catalyst for this entire process – The P word. The P time is actually fun time if you are willing to look at it that way, though as a matter of fact very few actually do it. Surrounded by the persistent and frequent visits, banters, advises etc of the alter egos and confused souls ( Visualize it like a camera zooming in and out of our face, which is surrounded by various creatures with just a head n two hands…..zooooom in zooooom out….zoooom in zoooom out…zooom in zooom out..zoom in zoom out) , many souls start transforming – these transformed souls may be for the better or the worse. This transformation can lead to the restoration of the original self that one was or to a different personality, with the extent of difference varying from person to person. This can also lead to detached souls, people who are comfortably numb, oblivious to the deterioration in the quality of life they are leading.

I know people, who were once kewl, turn into emotional wrecks during this phase. I ve heard about this geeky girl who took it easy n became a freaky girl during this transformation. I know a student who goes home during the weekend before the exams, but is still among the toppers.

Act 3 – The settling down:

As the year progresses, there’s more clarity as to who’s accompanying whom n who all have left the campus. There are the restored souls – the ones who have once again pursuing things they are passionate about. Then there are the actualized ones – the ones who are clear about what they want from the institute n live their life accordingly. There are the ones who are comfortably wedded to the split/multiple personalities which reside in their body. I know a hardworking, dedicated student who lives in harmony with the perennial drinker, his other self, who brings into light an entirely different aspect of his personality. I know a student who roams around with his vagabond ego n who has once again started pursuing his passion for writing (No prizes for guessing the name!!!)

Act 4 - ? :
Waiting eagerly for the arrival of new guests next year n the departure of some existing ones…

I m not painting a dark picture of the entire act, just took my liberties as a writer to imagine n exaggerate.

Looking forward to the second year…

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