Missin ya ppl!

Three and half years spent in a college you loathe and would never like to go back to doesn't seem to be as simple as that afterall... Yeah, you hate it, you wish you had never gone there in the first place, you never intend to go back there.. but is that all? strangely, NO!
When I look back, I can't help but remember all the fun I had there despite the number of lows I experienced. The bad times I had to pull through might far exceed the good times. But surprisingly, I can only remember the good times vividly. I have no memory of the details of those bad times. It was bad... thats about it.
First year was amazing. It was then that none of us had any formed opinions and gelled with almost everybody equally well. There were no groups to start with. Life was one big party! But then slowly, all those fights and quarrels cropped up. For the short tempered person that I was, I seemed to be picking up one far too often. Even then, we could forget, we could forgive..... Afterall, we were away from home and needed to be there for each other... Some differences were inherent and inevitable. We learnt to live with it... To compensate for these were all those midnight birthday parties, birthday bumps, throwing cake at each other, getting caught by the warden, giggling through a round of firing, the treats, the photo sessions, the ghost- calling, year end batch party.... fun, fun and more fun!
Then came the second year when people were forced to stick to certain groups for ease of survival ( u've got to choose ur roomies!) Everyday parliament stopped forever now. A hi here and a bye there... this would do to maintain that line of friendship. One's circle became reduced to one's own room and may be one or two more. You live with them, you go to class with them, you party with them, go out with them.. its a 24*7 relationship. Now again, you've been seeing and sticking to them for too long. Minor differences are magnified manifold. All you need is a change. Afterall, haven't you adjusted enough? Also, you feel this circle might not exactly contribute to your intellectual requirements. Oh God! How did I end up in this circle at all?Bang comes a split.But you're not exactly sad; you needed it desperately...
And here.. you're now in the third year- the pre final! With new room mates, life seems to be easier. Now faced with the tough question of what to do next, you brainstorm every night prepare for one of those million exams that'll help you get through the next stage of life. Tension, tension, tension... but hey atleast you feel responsible! Thats when things suddenly change. You start questioning yourself, your ambitions, your principles and almost everything around you. Do you actually wanna go for what everybody else does? Dont you wanna live a purposeful/meaningful life? Then you drop all your previous plans and go on this new path that you've chosen.., and you're happy with it; only you lose a couple more friends. But it really doesn't matter. Its nothing before the satisfaction you derive from treading the path that you've chosen. You are satisfied with your life....
Finally, the final year. The campus recruitment fanfare marks the beginning of the year. You land up in a decent job at the very beginning and are very pleased with yourself. The preparation, interview and the post recruitment congratulations, you forget all differences and become friends with everybody again. You've gained your friends back and you're happy. Life cant be better. Each day moves with the thought that this is gonna be the last few months that you can spend with your friends and it only makes you all the more determined to have all the fun before the year comes to an abrupt end.You choose to ignore the differences, give up sometimes, avoid any possible arguments, choose to look at only the positives of the others and in the process, realise that you have your own faults too! This is one period that defines your entire college life, for you only want to make the best out of the available time and prepare yourself for the future challenges. This is one time which helps you understand that the differences could have been tolerated, the splits and the ugly fights avoided.... you realize that your friends are wonderful no matter what happened in the past, you come to appreciate that they're just like you are and that they might have yielded to momentary pressures and frustrations just as you did, you repent for all the lost time that could have been spent in their company.....Never mind! you now treasure them all the more! It is wonderful, you have no complaints, you even forgive your faculties(!) for wasting your precious time and brains.... Then comes the painful parting. Writing slam books, taking pictures... there's so much to do before we leave.. But with all these comes the promise that you'd always keep in touch and never forget each other. The last minute teary eyed hugs and kisses, not wanting to say bye, promises, hopes............ missing ya ppl!

NOTE: This is specially dedicated to my very special friends vithya, dhivya, priya, pops, mei, jaggu, raji, pavitra who tolerated me, accepted me and loved me( I believe they do!) with all my pluses and more of my minuses. I've been nasty to them at times, but deep inside, I love them all a lot. I know I couldnt have made it through these years without them. May be I could have, but then, they made it wonderful and they made it special!