Optimism is simply hoping for the best, finding hope in the direst of situation. It's good, but over-rated. At the end of the day, nothing happens in the mind apart from the mere ground-work. Creating constructive activity out of a plan gone wrong is far better than telling yourself that it isn't quite that bad after all. Which, in turn, is better than ruing over it, followed by a prediction that the rest of your life will contain several similar instances of failed plans which you inferred from the fact that your life till now has been so. Well, so has most of ours.
So, it is on a quite boastful note that I tell you, my (sparse) readership that I wasn't supposed to be free right now. My college literary club called for the third meeting of the year, the first two of which I had missed. The email was curt, crisp, and requested us to bring a pen and paper.
After wandering the corridors with a pen, paper and tired hands, I revisited the email to find that the date mentioned was that of yesterday. Oh Drat!
The perennial opportunist that I am though, I thought I will use the time to finally write an extensive post about my first month at a new college, a residential college.
Hostel life is new and strange to me. Strengthening my initial claim about the mind having a small role to play is the fact that it did take me quite a time to adjust despite my nearly two-year long preparation (mental) for living in a hostel.
To be fair to myself, like I always am, I've done a fair job so far. Signing up for several clubs, attending class diligently, tackling my first bout of illness away from home without breaking down, finding new friends, eating the mess meals without causing them to defy gravity, improving the fluency of my Hindi, attending cricket practice (which I've pragmatically decided to quit), reading books and in the midst of this, studying as well as having fun. Phew! Now I'm finally updating my blog.
The first week when I arrived here, it was like a splash of cold water on the face. Startling but rejuvenating, It was a blaze. Like life had suddenly decided to become vivid. A sea of new people, a crowd of boys and girls just like me, a campus that was like a world within a world, a city within a world. And for me, a life within a life.
So, it is on a quite boastful note that I tell you, my (sparse) readership that I wasn't supposed to be free right now. My college literary club called for the third meeting of the year, the first two of which I had missed. The email was curt, crisp, and requested us to bring a pen and paper.
After wandering the corridors with a pen, paper and tired hands, I revisited the email to find that the date mentioned was that of yesterday. Oh Drat!
The perennial opportunist that I am though, I thought I will use the time to finally write an extensive post about my first month at a new college, a residential college.
Hostel life is new and strange to me. Strengthening my initial claim about the mind having a small role to play is the fact that it did take me quite a time to adjust despite my nearly two-year long preparation (mental) for living in a hostel.
To be fair to myself, like I always am, I've done a fair job so far. Signing up for several clubs, attending class diligently, tackling my first bout of illness away from home without breaking down, finding new friends, eating the mess meals without causing them to defy gravity, improving the fluency of my Hindi, attending cricket practice (which I've pragmatically decided to quit), reading books and in the midst of this, studying as well as having fun. Phew! Now I'm finally updating my blog.
The first week when I arrived here, it was like a splash of cold water on the face. Startling but rejuvenating, It was a blaze. Like life had suddenly decided to become vivid. A sea of new people, a crowd of boys and girls just like me, a campus that was like a world within a world, a city within a world. And for me, a life within a life.
It will be for another 4 years at least, barring spectacular events, good and bad.
And now, nearly a month into the new academic year, my new life, what was exciting and fascinating has now become mundane, monotonous. Well not quite everything. I refer simply to the hostel life, living on my own. Keeping track of my clothes in the everlasting cycle of wearing, washing and drying. Adjusting the timing of my bathing and morning pilgrimages so as to least inconvenience others as well as myself. It's a fine balancing act.
And you end up picking up unique skill sets. I, for one, have learnt how to eat keeping taste buds inactive. When a sense organ constantly lends negative feedback, it learns to shut down gradually at the right time. As my tongue does when it sees the same mess food on the plate.
I can wake up half an hour before class and magically end up in class on time, dressed completely, stomach full. A super-power I've acquired in this month.
Hostel life is slowly yet steadily shaping me. I can see it, but I cannot stop it. The wonderful environment buzzing with like-minded souls has a mesmerising effect, the first time I have ever been a part of an institute of such a large scale. I'd love to go through the first month all over again.
It makes you selfish, highly competitive, opens your eyes to cultures of your country that you never knew. Above all, it makes you opportunistic.
Right now, it makes me glad that I ventured out of my comfort zone, away from my beloved Bangalore.
And now, nearly a month into the new academic year, my new life, what was exciting and fascinating has now become mundane, monotonous. Well not quite everything. I refer simply to the hostel life, living on my own. Keeping track of my clothes in the everlasting cycle of wearing, washing and drying. Adjusting the timing of my bathing and morning pilgrimages so as to least inconvenience others as well as myself. It's a fine balancing act.
And you end up picking up unique skill sets. I, for one, have learnt how to eat keeping taste buds inactive. When a sense organ constantly lends negative feedback, it learns to shut down gradually at the right time. As my tongue does when it sees the same mess food on the plate.
I can wake up half an hour before class and magically end up in class on time, dressed completely, stomach full. A super-power I've acquired in this month.
Hostel life is slowly yet steadily shaping me. I can see it, but I cannot stop it. The wonderful environment buzzing with like-minded souls has a mesmerising effect, the first time I have ever been a part of an institute of such a large scale. I'd love to go through the first month all over again.
It makes you selfish, highly competitive, opens your eyes to cultures of your country that you never knew. Above all, it makes you opportunistic.
Right now, it makes me glad that I ventured out of my comfort zone, away from my beloved Bangalore.