Alice, in Wonderland

“I think six impossible things before breakfast.”

Queen of Hearts, Prince of Heads. The Pauper too in tow. Helter-skelter on a winding road, up and up a narrow hole into a darkened hall. Under. Wonder. Alice.

Alice, in Wonderland.

“I’m late, I’m late, on a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!”

Late, late, late. Delayed, late. How late? Always late? What date? Work, friends- fate? Faith? No, no faith. Just late. Late.

“Her Majesty the Queen decrees all denizens of Wonderland shall from now on pay a tax for walking on their feet. That pudding may not be had before washing one’s feet. That…”

…that often things take such a turn as makes promises difficult to fulfil. That what is is not and the surface is not simply as it is. That life takes a toll, and that a raven is not always like a writing desk. That…

“Enough! Off with his head!”

Farewell, Ramjas!

I got my clearance from college today. Clearance to pass out. Snap went my identity, right in the middle. Cut, cut, cut and snap went three years of life in Ramjas.

And I am happy.

Oh yes, I’m happy. Happy to be passing out, happy to be going. Of course, not that I’m not going to miss Ramjas- no! Just that passing out right now I’m more a happy man.

No more getting up early and scrambling up for 8:40s. No more getting pushed in buses full of smelly construction labourers. No more getting one’s feet dirty in the dust of Commonwealth construction. Free, free, free! Free from North Campus, free from Ramjas- free!

Three long years. A college full of Jats and jokers. Of regional politics and overall imbecility. That’s Ramjas for you, a place warped in petty partisan politics. Where everything is old and decaying. Where all that’s new is either substandard or hard to access. Where the weight of hierarchy and customs threatens every moment to crush you into oblivion. Ramjas. 93 years old. Ramjas.

Ram-ram to Ramjas now! Ram-ram to the Office, to the grumpy SO and the useless VP! Goodbye to Tikkum and clan, to the crumbling Auditorium and the water-logged Seminar Room! Farewell the fly infested Canteen, the uber sanitised Department, farewell! So long all, so long! Farewell!

Farewell the Ground, memory sacrificed to the greater good, farewell! Goodbye trees, long walks, corridors, the wind, goodbye! Never again the dusty Library, antiquated books upon antiquated shelves- no more! Snap, snap, snap and over! Over all, over forever, over Ramjas…

Over. Goodbye. Farewell. Over.