Things I like most about this year in WIMWI

Nothing can probably beat my first year of junior college (class 11) in terms of the fun I had and new experiences I enjoyed. But this year in WIMWI does rank quite high on the list too. After the rather pleasant interruption yesterday, I shall continue with some of the better things I experienced in WIMWI.

Talking with friends. Opening up from the obsessively secretive person that I was right until the middle of engineering college has made life more enriching. Little did I know the pleasures of being able to let friends know whatever was bothering or exciting me and sharing details about myself before coming here. Actually, the process began in 4th year of DJ Sanghvi itself, but it was here that I was finally able to talk about things candidly. Of course, the help and understanding I received from everyone whenever I got into trouble was simply amazing. My dormies and study groupies especially deserve a special thank you.

Hanging out. Life in a hostel means being in the company of friends 24/7. Being the non-socialising type, at home I would often spend 2-3 days (during study leave) without meeting anyone or even talking to anyone. Here, it is impossible to spend 12 hours at a stretch alone. Seclusion has its benefits and I still hanker for quality alone-time. And meeting people just for the sake of meeting them is something I was not accustomed to. But when I am sitting in my room at 2 am, and suddenly Kammo Dbabs asking to meet for coffee, or I decide to walk next door to Chhedi's or upstairs to Khajoor's room and talk nonsense for a while, it is really fun. During the third term especially, I have been doing a lot of this - whether it be meeting Titli at CT or going out with Thoku and Kammo to restaurants across town. And this is something that has carried over to my college friends too - everytime I go to Bombay, inevitably we meet at CCD or somewhere similar and chat for an hour or two.

Lack of sleep. I don't know whether I like this aspect, but it is certainly a nice bragging point to intimidate outsiders :) Two years ago, sleeping at 4 am was something that happened once in a month or two - generally when the next day was a holiday or if I'd really procrastinated on an assignment for way too long. Yesterday I did not sleep at night at all - was listening to music and watching Naruto (and staring at Melissa's photos!), interspersed with working on a strategy course assignment on how Nestle would compete in the Russian ice cream market. Yet, at 9 am, I was in class, pretty much as usual. Of course, a sleepless night is a rarity, and I couldn't avoid nodding off big time in the first two classes. Still, the idea that 2 or 3 in the night is something late seems a bit foreign now. Working on presentations in Kammo's or TOEFL's room as late as 5 am has been my lot this year - and yet I look back at those times with a smile on my face. To clarify though, in my case atleast, there has no major sleep deprivation either - have averaged about 6 hours of sleep a day in both the second and third terms.

Photography. My Sony DSC-W1 has done a lot of work this year. Accompanying me to pretty much every birthday celebration or outing I have been to, the camera has become my trademark, and even given me the tag of paparazzi. I must have clicked thousands of snaps in the nine months so far. They are mostly of the same people - dormies, groupies and section mates, and mostly not very interesting. But a few have turned out rather well, and I enjoy watching those. The photos are mostly of people, in sharp contrast to the snaps I took in Manali 10 years ago. Then, homo sapiens were almost completely absent from the snaps I clicked - the Himalayas were more stunning to look at. They probably still are. But I am beginning to value people more and more. My favourite photo is this one, taken during term 1 during a section outing.


Dorm names. I love my dorm name and I tend to call everyone here by their dorm names as well. The whole thing has become so pervasive that even when we are outside WIMWI in a public place, I still use names like Thoku and Prostee without the slightest sense of hesitation. When years later, Moti becomes a CEO of some prominent firm, I can still imagine meeting him and greeting him by his dorm name, if even there were a dozen others standing around :)

Witty people. Don't know why, but the people here are wittier than in other places I have known. Last week, we were discussing Benetton's exemplary supply chain in class and professor Saralda asked us if as an intern from WIMWI, one of us went to Benetton's managers and told them to implement a certain dyeing process on all their garments (basically a bad idea), what would the managers say. Moti replied, "Dye another day!" Such witticisms make me feel inadequate at times, but have also been a source of some very, very entertaining moments.

I am sure I have missed out on many aspects that I enjoy about living in WIMWI. If I remember, I will add them later. Tomorrow, the specific events I enjoyed participating in the most - T-Nite tops that list, of course :)