Ignore the title. We know it seems a tad cringe-worthy, but the premise herein is entirely promising and we mean well, bhagwaan kasam. Technically, you have your filthy mind to blame. Alright, moving on; we might as well go on and talk about the year en passant now. 2016 could be summed up as the Year of MITS. Our college was witness to an impressive list of some never-before stuff, and we partied like it was goddamn 1969. So, what did we find noteworthy this year?
Four people fell in love (none of us, we don’t believe in that shit). 138,388,247 were born (when we write this) and 57,953,257 died. And in the cosmic world, yet another 20,000 stars became that much more miniscule to the naked eye. This year also saw many new stars (yahan metaphor hai) twinkle into existence.
2016 was the year whence our newest batch of would-be engineers took notice and got noticed in their new institution. The juniors brought with them their new-age ideas, and so did our honorable Director. This was the first complete semester under our new könig, who did a notable job ensuring that the academic calendar was already on paper before the session even started (no one-day-before reminders for tests, yay!). He actually went on and displayed the whole schedule prominently in the main hall, so that students could study in advance for their exams (*pfft* yeah, like that really happened *bwahahaha*). Ah well, life is a see-saw of compassionate and cruel. We also saw (literally) some horrific movies hit the theatres, like 3 Midsems To Kill and The Curse Of Average Marking. But crippling depression was not the only gift we received — NO UNIFORMS NO MORE, BABY! The transition from looking like bedraggled labourers to actual engineering students was, we must say, emotionally overwhelming. The amount of female well-wishes Dr. Pandit receives in a day must be enough to fill his fuel tank, no dead-animal-leftover needed. There, we just solved global warming. Duaaon me yaad rakhna.
2016 proved to be interestingly diverse with respect to co-curricular activities too. We can say honestly say this: MITS never looked so beautiful, so different, so ecstatic and so musical before. The college echoed with chants (non-semitic, just to be clear; we’re not a cult. Actually, we kinda are. Hmm…) and admiring claps & (heroic) grunts from the Director’s Lawn, or our make-shift Quidditch ground. For probably the first time ever, we saw renowned poets, esteemed orators and MUN delegates roaming the corridors (and weirdly bumping into each other) of MITS during MITSvah, the two-day literary fest.
The most surprised of us, were actually none of us. Not in this time frame, that is. We shit you not, NO alumni could believe that MITS could throng to gawk at things other than fights and hot chicks. They eventually did, after lots of persuading and death threats. Just kidding, there was no persuading. We feel utterly delighted to be able to say that the days have finally arrived whence MITSians have beheld extravaganzas as the flashmob, which dazzled the grounds, and the street-play organized by Raashtray; which challenged the perception and very thinking of the MITS jantaa. There were those artistic oddballs who got themselves thrown down in Graffiti; painting the walls in some kind of weird Despicable-DragonBall-Scarface-Beatles-Cuba crossover. For people who can’t afford TVs or the internet (get a Jio SIM, it’s free), that translates to a side of Minions, a dash of Goku, a tablespoon of Scarface, some John Lennon, a lil’ bit of Che Guevara, quite a few surreal portraits and some other definitely non-edible stuff. Hats off to the guys-and-girls-who-could, bold enough to make one on the first storey. ISTE and Aarambh were instrumental in making life a little more interesting with their events. X-Calibre 2K16 was a bang up job. We mean, come on: mock campus interviews AND a fun contest? As an Indian Fry would’ve said, chup-chaap mere paise le lo! You won’t believe how much advertising talent Innopreneurs laid bare in the college. Noodles and business models, a healthy (and tasty) combination. Are koi Yippee ke 2 packet leke aao yaar, bhookh lag gayi.
No one can rule out the contribution of the architecture department and their mastery of the T-scale, both as a weapon of metaphorical and physical significance. These guys did all of us good by setting up the hangout spot near director’s office. Once trash, now arch. dept.’s cash. Be it a run-down cooler, three-legged chairs and tables, or an eerily old bike chassis; all proved to be comfortable enough for everyone’s ifs and butts. Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the hostels were in full swing, cuz when bros and sisters chant “Ganpati Bappa Morya” in fervor together, you simply can’t not join in. Holi was a riot. With canvasses of shirts and brushes of fingers, van Gogh had come back. Although, upon realising that this was a technical institute, he probably left cringing at the syllabus.
Some of us didn’t expect this. When we came to MITS, all we expected was school, maybe a little glorified at the best. This year will definitely go down in history as one which saw revolution; nay, a cultural renaissance. About all of us have seen the portrayal of what-is-expected college life in movies, and all of us want that. Yes, we want our college to be a socially blooming and a culturally fragrant place. Yes, we want our college to be exciting. Yes, we want our college to be a place we remember for the rest of our lives. And we believe, this year marked quite a big, if not colossal, step towards just that.
What else? All that remains, as this year winds down to its inevitable end, is to start anew and work together to make our college a better place than it is. So, we have some plans. Fantastic plans. Oh no, we can’t tell you about that yet, it’s all under wraps. But don’t worry, it’s all coming soon to a college near you. And chill, we WILL accept cashless payment. Haan haan, ab HNY wish kar hi dete hain. Rightly understood, the New Year festival is an act of faith. It is easier for the year to change than to change ourselves. But we believe that somehow, magically one will lead to the other. And we truly wish that this magic pervades your life and brings you happiness and everything you wish for in life (except, er… fun events in college, we would like a monopoly on that).
Cheers!
