It Seems Like Yesterday...

Original posting date: April 22, 2007

The clock keeps ticking relentlessly. A second, a minute, an hour… days become months, and years pass by.

It feels like yesterday, I was a student...Cincinnati, graduate school, assignments, Indian festivals, game nights, job… but thinking about it now, a year has passed by since I finished school. I hated every moment of graduate school, but now it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside…if it was not for Cincinnati…I wonder how I would have met my wonderful hubby. I remember the days I spent crying, missing home…and the other days when work and studies took over and I forgot every worry.

It feels like yesterday, when I decided to come to the US for higher studies. In the excitement, I did not care to think twice about leaving so many people and so many relations behind. I did not think about what life would be without all those people. I remember when I waved goodbye to Mom and Dad at Mumbai airport…I did not look back because I did not want them to see the tears rolling down my cheeks. It was then that it had hit me that I was not going to see them for a long time.

It feels like yesterday, I was in the VRCE auditorium, receiving my architecture degree. I felt so proud of the achievement, I was a professional! I couldn’t imagine five years had passed by…fun, work, friends, canteen, foyer, library…so many memories of good times and bad, good decisions and not so good decisions, heart breaks and new beginnings…I was saying goodbyes to friends whom I may not see again…but who gave me memories I will cherish all my life. I miss the professors who seemed like a pain (in you know what) when submissions were due...but now I am thankful to most of them. They taught me not only architecture but also made me capable enough to earn my own bread. I remember the night outs spent doing group submissions, and gossip was the only thing that kept us awake through the night. I remember the ‘Ganne ka juice, masala and nimbu maar ke’ we had every summer afternoon. I miss celebrating birthdays in the canteen… Uttappa, Chai, and Dahi Samosa were my personal favorites. My biggest gift in college was after the first year results, my dog, S. I remember how I had fought with my parents to get a dog after our first dog, M, passed away. 'S' was my world and my baby back then and still is… I remember my first day in VRCE, I was a bit nervous but at the same time hugely excited about college life. Ragging, fresher party, annual gathering, NASA, send off...time just flew by.

It feels like yesterday. I was hanging around the school playground with my ‘group’, talking about -I don’t know what, but back then, it seemed like the most important ‘thing’. My friends were my world, and school was my second home. For 12 years, every day of my life was spent there, growing up.

Back then, it seemed like our ‘Sisters’ (nuns) were overly strict about things…clothes, language, cleanliness, obedience, extracurricular activities coupled with studies, seemed too much to handle. I realize those twelve years have made me who I am today. I remember the lunch breaks in the Tenth standard, when the whole class had lunch together because it was our last year in school. I remember the school picnics; every year we went to the same place…Raman Science Center…and I don’t know how, but we still had fun. I remember the singing class, which I hated, and used to lip sync all through. I used to draw side profiles of my friends when everybody else was busy singing. I miss goofing around in class, getting away from being punished because my best friend was the class leader. I miss my school friends, who, no matter how far, are still my closest friends. I miss our night out in school during a camp, when everybody stayed up all night just for the thrill of it. We pretended to sleep until our teachers fell asleep, and we all had a ruckus later in the night. I remember missing the annual exam due to a fractured right hand as I had pulled off a ‘Tarzan’ and jumped from the first floor just to show off among my friends. I miss parade practice before every 15^th August and 26^th January. I still remember, in primary school, I used to pretend to cry whenever Dad dropped me off at school, coz I knew that if I cried, he would take me back home.

I cannot forget how I had taken a day off from school to say goodbye to my childhood friend, my dog ‘M’, as he breathed his last on a Friday morning. For nine years, he listened patiently to my every complaint and was a companion during all play times. I still remember talking to him, telling him tales about how I had a fight with somebody or how I felt good about something. He always took my side no matter what!… It feels like yesterday, when Mom, Dad, and I went to get ‘M', he was just twenty-one days old then, still a little puppy…and I was on top of the world, full of excitement.

I remember the first time I managed to ride a bicycle on my own, just because my elder brother refused to teach me to ride, coz he thought I was too young to learn. I miss the summer afternoons spent chasing butterflies and birds in the backyard, coz I had nothing better to do. I miss following my brother everywhere he went; people teased me that I was his shadow. He taught me to climb trees and walls, to shoot with a slingshot and an air gun, he gave me the passion for trekking and adventure…he also taught me a valuable lesson, he showed me that if I worked hard enough, I could be whatever I want to be in life.

It seems like yesterday, I was still a kid…and now I am all grown up, ready to start a new chapter in life…It’s amazing how life unfolds. You always want to move forward, but whenever you look back, it makes you want to go back to yesterday…

It seems like in a day, a lifetime has passed me by…

Some people who came into my life, who I will never see again…so many summer afternoons spent eating mangoes, so many first rains in the monsoon…so many first times…it all seems like yesterday…