I have an alma mater

NOTE : For those of you, to whom I advertised a big important post today, I’m terribly sorry, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer. This is fresher in my memory.

As most of my friends will already be knowing, either due to their astute observational skills or my telling them, I never really reacted the same way as others when it came to facing certain moments which were supposed to evoke a sensation of finality and closure. I’m talking about stuff like the last monday test (I’m not even sure I gave that one), the last pre-board, result-cum-scribble day, the farewell (which I still haven’t managed to get down to writing a post about) or even the last board! None of this caused me to think along the lines of – “Wow! School’s finally over.”

But today, I had a revelation of sorts in front of the Pavna PC (the nickname for PC #1 in the iLab i.e. the one reserved for the Code Warriors at all times). This is what got me contemplating:

The scene is fairly ordinary. A cup of tea on a table. Paper and a keyboard around it. But it’s important to understand how the cup of tea got there.

A teacher offered to buy me one.

The scene: Today, I was in the iLab, in my casuals, working on some fiendish plans to jump-start the CW recruitment plans again. Pallavi ma’am was working at the table behind me, and the man with the canister of tea walks in with his bunch of plastic cups. While getting hers, Pallavi ma’am casually asks, “Vivek, will you have a cup of tea?”.

This relatively straightforward question caused the world to come crashing down on me for a moment. Almost with the intensity of a lightning strike, the truth whomped me where it hurt. I was no longer a student. True, I had noticed the small liberties – such as the ability to take out my phone in the middle of the corridor and not attract a second glance from anybody. But this was a bit more of a startling revelation.

Tea is not the domain of the student.

Sure, you could sneak a cup from the (now demolished) canteen if you wanted, but it’s different when someone brings it to you. And I think that was the moment I realized that school (at least, as a student) was over. Damn, I’m slow when it comes to realizations.

Anyway, a single visit to school (7:45 – 1:45 ; yes, I went and returned in the school bus, after a long, long time), and I’ve ended up with enough work to keep me busy for a while. Here’s a non-comprehensive list of all the things I might end up doing at school (in no particular order of importance):

• take computer activity classes for kiddos in the junior wing
• get cracking on the Code Wars Intra (publicizing and paperwork)
• get more archives together for the current CW members (so they have fewer excuses left for not acing everything they ever encounter from this day forth)
• give college admissions talk to 11thees either on 18th or 22nd
• judge a short film contest on consumer welfare on 27th as part of the consumer fest
• join the team working on the new school website
• provide help from the sidelines for another research project with Himani ma’am
• help do some minor editing on some of the computer science handouts
• work with ma’am on a website too
• quiz to handle/plan/host in July
  and more stuff that I’m not at liberty to mention just yet. Let’s just say that VK might get an OCW soon. Not saying anything more.

And this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. I have no idea how I managed to accumulate all of these tasks in the short time I spent at school today. But nevertheless, anything to keep me going.

Extremely sleep after getting up at 4 AM for an early run and an early round of driving practice. More on that later. I have pillow lust. Real bad.