The NIMC Times [Part 9]

Hope this finds you still speculating over the W questions, still wondering over yester years.

Well I still miss the Thursday night fever when Jimmy discussed on AIR and with his husky melody got you prompted of being in the same boat, or rather trying to perceive yourself in their shoes. Do those days still haunt you, days of love and detestably loving, days of amity and of collaboration, of one time happenings and of a life time association, days of one night stand for studies, days of liking one and avoiding none, days of acknowledging a few and treasuring the awesome! Nights of friendly bouts and of friendly fire, of crusades and of patches, amassing others for pooling mints of coins from the three acre land or simple running after those who still owe you.

In the good times, when the newsworthy Statesman, the 8th day colorful, and the rest all dirty fellows, when the talk shop trainers bowled over from inside and before juniors said ‘totally’ and ‘like’ just to say something more, ones laughter that imbued the gravity of a two-tone world, and when the Tollygunge Club snippets featuring us appeared in Kolkata Times, when pups went down on knees for their share of continuous and solo affection, and when brands on sale for a west side story, lunging for Pants at Pantaloons and others that made us tremble for discounted rates fashioned fantasies of lyrical love in both nature and wear, the gleaming Metro that whizz past and removed the chaos that reigned above. Series of mines that bubbled out Counter Strike, jazz bands that made you sway at Sangam and at the teenage dance parties at AOI, and water channels that became rancid giving rise to the lowly and midget serpents, and to the adult counterparts during their season, the lovable roadside Mominpur maize, the egg rolls, momo’s and as good as appetizers for the later on GP shift. In those times it often seemed that things would always be that way. Shoplifting at Krishnas, craving for the BSNL card, awaiting the No 29 tram, getting top-ups of rupees ten, sipping on Nescafe at the Kothari Medical centre, the night stroll for the luscious Paan, treating the young ones at Garden Café, running about for an account at SBI, trying your best not to fall less of the minimum balance, spending quality time next to the grill whole night, group study in the earlier dubbed CR3, tapping sit-ups in front of Wardy after a detailed hide-n-seek to get back the high intensity woofers.

Now I do, and, in truth, reviewing the good times, setting out their many facets, I am not sure why they were so good. After all, we live longer now; and celebrate our very own batch mates getting hitched for a lifetime. You can either be married or be happy!
2-3 years of unimaginable monkey business or the considered and calibrated studies, an insatiable lust for mischief or the life-affirming addiction to joy. Perhaps I never thought the attractions of the past, and of the NIMC Times!