Finding Joy...
The year was 2012, exactly four years ago when I had to choose between Kolkata & Pune. Like every guy who dreams of that “happening life” cliche, I had almost chosen Pune. But 2012 was also a year which taught me a lot of things, that too right in the first quarter, before the financial closing even happened. My mother's year long battle with cancer ended on 25th March, 2012 & cancer won. I had also got a confirmation for my Pune stint till then, but I decided to choose Kolkata, maybe it was my way of staying close to my father or some way of making a decision where I won, I don't know. The fact was, I chose to join Praxis Business School in Kolkata, and today, 4 years down the line, I can say that I made a good choice….
When I first decided on Kolkata, all my friends from my hometown were equally skeptic like me; as were some of my relatives. To be honest, Kolkata didn't make people confident about itself being a place for higher studies and I get it. But my decision was made, my bags packed and my father fully at my side. So one day, we left for the city of Joy.
The first thing that hit me about the city was the fact that in a place with skyscrapers and financial centres, Kolkata still had those old, beaten down Ambassadors plying as the iconic yellow taxis. I was also surprised ( and a bit horrifed) when I saw the pulled rickshaws (Do Bigha Zamin’s iconic scene has made us forever scared) also plying on the streets beside the tram lines. I was happy to see that Kolkata still managed to walk that thin line between being a metro city and retaining it's old world charm. Over the next four years, this belief has only become stronger (and not always in the best of ways, but never mind)!!
My first two years were spent in the college hostel where I met my MBA batch mates and made some great friends. Two fun filled years where it seemed like “sab kar lenge BC” when you would sit down with your friends for those roof top dinners or scream obscenities when someone killed you in Counter Strike!! Yes, college days were fun & since we stayed far away from the city, Kolkata held special charm for us, as it used to be our “ Day in the City” & we would try and make the most of it.
But like all good things, college ended too. Friends moved away to different locations, I thankfully got Kolkata as a location so I finally got the chance to experience the city. The traffic jams in summer heat, the rush for the AC Metro, the biriyani from Arsalan, the long discussions seniors would have at the tea stall over a cup of tea and Gold Flake!! I loved the city, well until monsoons came & you waded knee deep in dirty water to work! But it was all in good spirit.
The city also got me my first job at IMRB International & though I never expected to make “friends” in the office but Kolkata proved me wrong again. After the first few awkward weeks where you are still getting to know people, I went on to become friends with people, who now are as good as family. Trips to Gangtok, Kaziranga, the lunch time dilemma of Gupta's or Saima or Buzz - everything was an experience.
And today, as I am almost about to leave this city for a new one, all these things hit me, like a gut punch.
The man who came to this city in 2012 was an angry man (my friends from Praxis can vouch for that!!): angry at fate for what it had done, angry at people who revealed their true selves when you needed them the most & most of all, angry at his own self for being so helpless.
The man who leaves in 2016, is a simpler man, one who is calmer and happier (at finding family in friends) & much more mature than when he came to this city.
This sleepy yet fast, “lyadh-khor” yet intellectual city has done a miracle, made a believer out of a skeptic….
P.S. the “khuchro” scene with autos and metros but needs to change, just saying!!!
All the best for your future endeavor
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