The summer of Punk

The proverbial summer of 2011 is coming to an end. In true Indian color, and in the midst of all the chutzpah surrounding the boiling heat being dissipated by the cool pangs of the monsoon, another summer has passed from our lives. The summer metamorphosis goes through various shades depending on the stage of life we are at. A school going kid would want the vacation to go on and on, as I did. The first day back from the vacation would hurt as much as watching Harbhajan Singh go from being a world-class spinner to an ordinary slow bowler. Agony gives way to gratitude when one reaches the upper grades, and the prospect of bunking classes and having some fun in school appear more inviting than another month at home watching TV from morning till night. The situation remains unchanged till say the last year of college or so, when suddenly the pressures of a whole new beast in the form of the 'real' world, awaiting you, starts to appear a bit scary.

Yes, I have just finished college and will graduate honorably in 6 days to be precise. I also have a good option lined up ahead in the form of graduate school in the states. So have a lot of us, who will graduate this year from the 7 IITs, some 3500 in strength. More will be added to the alumni rolls next year, when the baby IITs shell out their first offerings to industry and academia. I am not going to delve into the big, endless, and frankly pointless debate on how IITians don't give back to the country in proportion to the exchequer's expenditure on their education. It is nobody's business to dictate how much is too much or too little when it comes to giving back to our alma mater. Not least the bureaucrats and politicians who are running amok our once growing economy's fledgling prospects via weak policy making and craven show of feudal mentality. Oops, I digress! Back to my point. So all of these shining new products, certified and approved by our symbols of world dominance in an area India needs to do a lot more, will be out on their own, without a support structure of mess workers toiling in the kitchen to prepare their 4 meals a day, without a round-the-clock security, and a serene campus to calm those fraying nerves when the end sem results go wrong, or when an election result goes the other way. Yes, that is the understated part of moving away from college. You are suddenly all on your own!

Is there a viable replacement for these institutions? Somewhat close mimes can be the HR department of your company or the department coordinator in higher studies, but they won't go out on a limb to ensure that you don't miss that tiffin even if you reach the mess counter at 6:10, 10 minutes past the closing time (Yes, H13 mess workers are so generous!). In the end, the so called hallowed portals should be indebted to the numerous small support centres functioning inside them day and night, with questionable efficiency at the times but functional nonetheless. We can curse them and mutter unsavory words all we want, but with college, the secure part of it is the thing we'll miss the most.

PS: To those wondering why this post is titled 'The summer of Punk', it is because I follow professional wrestling and a certain man recognized as CM Punk around the world is setting the wrestling landscape on fire. A toast to his awesome entrance music: