Exodus & Evolution : LOVE . LIFE . TRUST . MAGIC

[Snehasis Biswas]

It is common and difficult to re-examine our past and redefine it according to a more adult perspective. Because this is a hard thing to do, we all put a fitter, usually of rosy hue, on our memories. Our remembrance of things past is sweetened by the passage of time so that our worst gaffes and most embarrassing incidents are so well diluted that they leave no aftertaste. Because of the enchantment generated by that distance, I find it painful to look deeply into the past lest I awaken memories and relationships that we would rather leave undisturbed.

From earning sobriquets like ‘The Mobile Man’ and ‘The Heart Break Kid’ to being labeled a ‘terrorist’ a.k.a. a ‘Manu Sharma’, I learnt what others learn when they face the world. When I longed for a life without difficulties, I was reminded that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. This was the most important lesson that I learnt here. They say that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional. I learnt to accept that pain is a part of life, and was able to endure the difficult times better and then move on, leaving the pain behind me.

Over the years as I battled through the sea of successes and failures, I had somehow unearthed a formula to get to the top. I was convinced that love, power and position were not given. These things had to be taken. And I took them. But I forgot the most important part of life. With great power, come great responsibilities. I misused the power and the trust, just for fun. But I am not at all sorry for being accused as the mastermind behind the serial cracker blasts during diwali in our school, because this taught me the most important lesson of my life. Never trust another human being.

What hurt me that statements were taken against me and I wasn’t even asked to prove my innocence…? Why would I call up the neighboring school and ask for girls I never knew? Why would I call up a residence in my locality and abuse someone? Everyone says that I was trusted. If I was trusted so much, why wasn’t I even called once to hear my side of the story?

The pain had started when I returned after my exile. Of course, things had changed a lot from when I had left. I felt it the moment I entered the gates. I don’t know the convention. But I was under the impression that before a new editor would be chosen for the school-magazine, for the next couple of years, I would at least be informed. Some people decided otherwise. I never treated the magazine as ‘The’ ‘Nobilian’… it was ‘My’ ‘Nobilian’. That belief and pride was shattered at that moment. Forlorn and lost, I knew that I had to survive the taunts for the next couple of days. Shouts of ‘terrorist’ and ‘bin-Laden’ echoed from corners of corridors and behind my back. Friends and strangers asked me when and where I would plant the next explosive. This was probably the toughest phase of my school life. I lived through it. Marc Antony says in Shakespeare’s immortal play ‘Julius Caesar’…”The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft entered with their bones.” These permanent scars prove that I have said ‘Yes’ to life.

With every sin that you commit, there comes a time of confession. I apologize for the mischief’s I was involved in, the rules I overruled, the advices I ignored, the love I lost, and the trust that I broke. I thank each one of you for helping me shed my ‘Playboy’ image. Thank You De Nobili, its workers, teachers and the administration for making me what I am today by giving me those innumerable opportunities to excel. I’ll forever be grateful to you. Thank You.

[SUBIR MITRA]

WHAT'S UP? SO SENTIMENTAL! YOU HAD YOUR SHARE OF PRANK IT SEEMS AND ITS ALL OVER NOW I BELIEVE! CHEER UP.. THIS IS YOUR NOBILIAN UNCLE OF 1976 BATCH!!