Today as I was sitting in my cubicle, I happened to glance at the bottom right corner of the task bar. The date read ‘7/3/2008’. I realized it has been more than a year since I had left my college. 28th of june 2007 was my last day at the college. Since then a lot of water has flown under the bridge. This preceding year has probably been one of the most happening years, the other ones being my experiences at kota right after class 10th (that was a hell of a experience for me) and then 1st year of engineering in which I was a bit overwhelmed by the change from school to college. But this transformation from college going student to corporate professional stands apart from the others. This transformation has brought with it so many big and subtle changes not only as change from getting pocket money to getting salary but also in the way I think and approach life too.
Right after college I got into job and was required to go thru a training of about 3 months which I had described here. Then I got into production. As far as my work life is concerned, that has been ok sorts without many hassles. I have leant a lot about corporate culture too. One thing which I have noticed based on the experiences of some of my friends not only in our company but also in general is that one must try and take only so much work and responsibility, which he can handle easily in the long run. Even then if things don’t turn out well, then it’s your luck, accept it and get along with life.
After college we start taking life a bit seriously. There are some new challenges and more responsibilities which need to be taken care of. We cannot afford to be complacent. The list of to do things becomes quite long and never ending. We start giving due value to many things which hitherto haven’t been taken care of due to our ‘चलता है’ attitude. We also realize many of the past mistakes whose brunt we have to bear now. But then as the saying goes ‘experience is the best teacher’. So it’s always good to not rue about these mistakes but rather learn from them. I think that’s sounding a bit too philosophical. Let it be.
This corporate life has added to the freedom which we got after entering college. When I joined the company I had made up my mind that first 6 months it will be total fun and indeed after coming into production i.e from oct to march I had a splendid time. Now I am concerned with some serious issues and I am working towards them. Let’s see how things turn up.
Another thing that pinches me is, though we say that distances don’t matter in friendship but practically, I feel that apart from some very good friends, it’s difficult to be in contact with majority of others. I still try and call most of my friends at least once a month but the calls have become too few and the ‘friendship’, ‘good morning’, ‘have a great day’ forwards from the same friends have increased to such a number that they have lost their vitality. The forwarding of such mails has become so perfunctory that some of the friends have just become an entry in our mailing list. When you get any such mail, in reply you just fwd a mail or two to your mailing list and you are done with your part and free from the guilt that you feel for not being able to be in touch with so many of your friends.
But whatever it may be, the college will be the best time of my life. Though I was a day scholar at college but some very good friends and a brief sojourn of about 45 days at hotel ensured that I had my share of fun I college life. Even now when I come across some pic of college days in any of my friend’s orkut profile I tend to become a bit nostalgic. The pic sort of teleports me to the time and place when it was actually taken and adds to the nostalgia.
The general mood in all the friends who have been thru first year in job is not very heartening. Most of the people don’t seem to be happy and enthusiastic. But that is just a feeling may be because we all miss our college days. But with time i think we all will get whatever we want but not without required effort.
