Graduating

I am back from Kanpur. A delightful trip I am glad I took. As my first home-away-from-home and the backdrop of my bildungsroman, IITK holds a very special place in my heart. And I have now officially been thrown out with a degree. I will not put you through bromidic tales of nostalgia, though of that there was plenty. Walking on an empty road in the winter fog while getting lost in Raga Piloo is more liberating than it sounds. I was also shown a note I wrote in a friend’s diary on his birthday in 2019 – it certainly served its purpose and was found serendipitously two years later. Ah, well, the nostalgia causes me to digress.
Nisheeth’s blog came up in conversation an overwhelming number of time and Sam shared the links to some posts via text. Of course I got around to reading them soon enough, despite my vehement declarations of disinterest. I blame a boring train ride (except for the sudden death of a man in the coach I was in) and 24 hours of no sleep. While I have not yet found the profound answers I was told I would find, the blog did serve as a memory trigger and pushed me to bring pen to paper. Admittedly, I am more disillusioned and turmoiled now than I was when I started this graduate degree. I like to think these traits will make it easier for me to put my word-vomit out there. Will it also make it easier for you, the reader, to bear? We will find out.