Antaragni, the time when campus awakes from its year long hibernation. There actually are students in SAC(Students Activity Centre) and suddenly the lecture hall complex becomes an interesting place to visit. When the road is a cornucopia of designer clothes and footwear, one can be sure that antaragni is in the air.
I did not have any specific plans which was ironical considering that it was going to be my last antaragni. I barely managed to sit through the opening night and soon was out for some fresh air. Amidst the euphony of "hare krishna" being played on guitar, I could find two more souls who had no idea about "Sumeru Sandhya". Got to know them and the evening was spent reading into the diaries of each other's life, sharing and reliving some of the amusing moments.
The next day, an event was scheduled, called Antakshari. I, having coordinated the not so hyped event last year was supposed to help out the poor 3rd year guy who had no idea what it was all about. Having had yet another lunch in the legendary mess of Hall -1, I reached L-7 well in time. The event went on smoothly with just a slight change, I was the compere. One of the teams went on to get the first runner-up prize. The three losing teams out of 6 were supposed to get a t-shirt as a consolation prize, but the decision had to be changed. This team, which consisted of three ardent girls, insisted on having the t-shirts and its indeed a stupendous task to maintain equanimity when 3 girls together are determined to get something. So that was my first interaction with them. Rest of the day was more or less uneventful with the iitk home team losing out in the Rithambra prelims and a short visit to discotheque being the only respite.
Now, I already had two interesting days and was smug on enjoying the antaragni. I realised, I actually had phone numbers of that team, so met them in SAC and the evening started which was going to be one of the most memorable ones of my life. We managed to get a "direct" entry to view the lucky few who get paid to just wear clothes and walk. The fashion show soon got monotonous with all the models looking identical from a distance and so we decided to shake a leg at the disc. At this point lets take a second look at our team. It consisted of three very interesting girls, few other college students and a faculty(though one could not imagine him to be one). The first one was this sweet looking gal who seemed to have a careless attitude towards the world, was a dance freak and smiled a lot. I would call her Bubbly. The second girl was someone who had lost her voice due to a forced ice-cream but could speak a lot more with her eyes("Ankhiyon se goli maare" types), and had gracious steps for any song. I would call her Madhubala. The third one was always ready with witty one liners, referred to herself as "HUM"(in Hindi the word is used for plural subject) and liked calling people as sir. Would call her Pinks(I just love Priyanka Chopra). Back to disc, we danced our hearts out to the tunes of the DJ who looked like a dark-complexioned Adnan Sami. The 1.5 hrs of dance was 100% pure, unadulterated fun. A friend of mine also joined us at the disc.
We moved on to SAC, sat there trying hard to have some conversation under the watchful eyes of the faculty. We were having a hard-time when suddenly, as though God had granted us a wish, the faculty decided it was sleeping time for him. We rejoiced at our good fortune and moved on to Basky courts. The night was a beautiful one, with the air slightly chilly and even the moon was conspicuous in the cloudless sky, as though it had decided to join us for the night. The 5 of us(Bubbly, Madhubala, Pinks, me and my friend) chatted on topics which varied from Ghadiyaal(Alligator), Macchar(Mosquitoes), Sir(couldn't think of an animal), someone's acting inclinations, the favourites in Bollywood and the antaragni ofcourse. We also managed to sing a few songs with almost all of us having a sore throat from the exertions of the day. The time flew by and soon there were signs of a lovely morning about to come. In the meanwhile, Madhubala had left us. We decided to have a walk at around 6 AM and the campus was never more beautiful. We said adieu soon after a small tea party and the wonderful day finally came to an end.
The next day was full of farewells with the newly made friends departing too soon.
Such are the wonders of life that a 2 day interaction resulted into such a large bunch of memories which I am sure none of us would ever forget. The last Antaragni for me had ended leaving an ever lasting impression on my mind and my heart.
This post is for all of you who made me feel on top of the world. Thanks a lot.