Semester Ends

Tomorrow as the grades get posted on the site, the final ritual of my first semester will be over. For the MS students that’s a major milestone, for people like me it’s just the beginning. More so for me as I have to start all over again with a new advisor. What I gained in this semester is the realization that things can go bad, and then they might become worse but finally you can find your way out. We, in the hostel of our school, used to say that the only good point about the food being so bad, is that we will never face any problem having any kind of food anywhere. Now I think I will be able to cope with bosses of any kind after working with my would-be ex-advisor. I don’t know if that sounds funny, but it wasn’t a nice experience after coming to the US of A.

However at the same time I must say that seniors were of great help. It was because of them that I could make decisions fast and effective. Thankfully, there are always people who are ready to help when some others are busy messing you up.

Once again ....

The last one was on the last week of April 2005. Long time since then and once again a very similar situation. The end-semester, one of the most dreaded aspects of semester life. Last year, I remember talking to my friends and juniors who were still in KGP and were going through another ordeal of week-long nightouts, photocopying, mugging, giving up and then giving it a one last try and finally coming out of the hall, laughing, after being thoroughly screwed up yet again. That in a way made me feel better. Being in the professional life without facing the endsems was so nice (specially when there is no work-load). Right now, as I prepare for the exams next week (even though it‘s far less hectic than what we had to face in our third year), I miss my days in Mumbai.

The First Snow

This time it was the real version. The first snow. It has snowed now and then in Chicago in the last one month but finally I got to see the white world. It looks nice. Mind the verb, it ‘looks’ nice. It sometimes becomes a pain to walk on it. With time, it gets dirty and looks nasty near the edges of the roads. It is like the replacement of our desi mud. Still, in spite of its occasional ugliness and the inconvenience it causes for commutation, it has its own beauty and charm. May be I will get bored with the snow in a few months, but the white world after your first snow is a real treat to watch.