Its weird how after three long years in this place, I still manage to confront ten new faces every next day spent in college! I mean agreed that IIT is home to some four or five thousand souls, but still every fresh cycle of 24 hours forces me to rethink if I`m familiar with a one digit percentage of the total local populace! And all this after I consider myself (perhaps vainly) to be one of the more social guys out there on campus!
I always thought networking, both physically and virtually, was the kind of stuff I`m more suited or inclined for. The notion exists with strong faith till today nevertheless. And not that I`m not doing it. Yes I am. A hell lot. But somewhere down the line, I get this restrictive detachment from the world outside, and more often then not, I tend to lay blame on the logistical organisation of affairs and obsoletely disguised policies in my institute!
Its like I`m hugely assertive of my networking skills, and know I`ve more or less perfected the art, but being clipped down in these 300 acres most of the time seems like a waste of the talent! It`s like one of the times when I tend to feel I`m the right person in the wrong place, or vice-versa! Well actually IIT is not one of those de-progressive institutes that binds you with some archaic set of rules, thus restricting your social life within its own boundaries. No, nothing like that. And still, most inmates prefer to narrow themselves to the confined realms of their rooms or maximally to other rooms in the hostel. A very small chunk dares to step out, and LIVE it, if not kingsize!
This thought essentially sourced from the event when I was referring to this Times Food Guide earlier this evening, trying to select some reasonably good restaurant for this guy`s birthday treat. And that was when my awkward ignorance in knowing the city I`ve dwelled in since last four-odd years hit me! I mean all we did was to merrily end up in one of those default nearby eating places everytime, in vaguely zombic understanding that our taste buds haven`t exactly feasted on the whole menu card items! And in the process, we ultimately failed to increase the horizon of our knowledge of kaleidoscopically inhabited life beyond a few square kilometers! And it hurts the most when you know you had all the time to experiment and get seasoned with places!
Just yesterday I was into a light-nerved candid conversation with this friend, and confessed rather sheepishly that I miss not being with the right set of people – by which I mean guys/gals/uncles/aunties who make sense most of the time when they open their mouth, and can make interesting conversation on any lithospheric point of contention. Later I realised she must have thought of not being in the niche club I was in want of in my talk! I mean friendship with all its quota of compromises and other sentimental issues etc is OK, but at some point of time, you need people with whom you can talk at lengths, intellectually. And looks like I`ve been rather unfortunate in this regard. Save for a few hostel mates (trust me, it is FEW), I normally don`t come across the aforementioned group of homosapiens! Which is again why I think IIT sucks, for having unintentionally thrown me in the company of rather nerdy individuals, who for God sake can`t let go of the supreme status accorded to the grades scored in examinatons! The more I write about this, the more indifferent I get towards academe here in the little overhyped premier school of engineering!
And I hate the Times Food Guide, for two outta three restaurants we tentatively zeroed on after careful deliberation into the copious database, had couple entries after 8 pm!
And I feel wild after feasting on a cocktail of non-veg foodstuff: lamb, fish and the ubiquitous chicken. All this despite the bird flu scare! Who cares? Life is short, I would miss not taking chances 😀
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