The final bell rang. Instead of the usual cacophony of scrambling feet and benches getting pushed around, there was a deafening silence. All the friends looked at each other fighting off the urge to cry. Without uttering a word, volumes were spoken.
It was the last time we were all together in that classroom. The empty blackboard, the teacher's table with unapproved records, the notice board with the pending assignments — all bid us adieu. For the first time, the bags were lighter and each step was painfully trudged when the reality struck that it was time to part ways.
The utter horror of seeing the chapters and notes left for the exams, the god-sent friends who are our last-minute teachers, coming out of the exam hall to realise we all messed up the exams together, and as always an iron-willed promise to do better next semester — until we realised this was the last.
We walked past the labs — where epic battles of survival were fought, the canteen where the person who bought the lunch never got to eat it, the tea corner where we skipped classes and hid from teachers, and the stage where we danced and sung. At one side love blossomed while at the other a heart broke, a new friendship struck while another sank.
The empty classroom waited for the next bunch of students. But somewhere amidst the desks, you would find the embarrassing nicknames of all the mischief makers and caricatures of the most sleep-inducing teachers (we love and respect them of course! *wink*).
All of this happens at one place — college.
They say this is the best time of your life. The nerds, sleepyheads, troublemakers, birdbrains, class clowns all huddled together for one last group picture. It radiated the bonds that would last a lifetime. As we left the front gate, we turned back to have one last glance at the place that had become a second home. For them it was another batch of students passing out, but for us, it was the end of a beautiful journey.
That day we all decided — years later when we all meet with grey hair, wrinkles, pot bellies and bald heads, we would reminisce those times when we made memories that would make us laugh, cry and embarrass all at the same time.
Cheers!!
This is for my dear friend Akhila! Here it is! 🙂
