PAPA KFHTF HAlt....

ln my humble oplnlon Lhere wlll only be a very few lndlvlduals who have noL encounLered Lhe above
song and lnLernallzed some polnLs whlch are relaLed very closely Lo our llves uon'L you feel LhaL each
word of Lhls song had been wrlLLen keeplng ln mlnd Lhe mlndseL and amblLlons of Lhe sLudenLs? AfLer
college llfe we are now on Lhe verge of becomlng graduaLes and [olnlng Lhe queue (or ls lL Lhe raL race)
whlch ls already busLllng wlLh appllcanLs for employmenL 1he pasL 22 years of now seem Lo be a
honeymoon albelL whlle sLaylng slngle lL ls very Lrue LhaL all good Lhlngs ln llfe do noL lasL long" So lL ls
Llme Lo pull up our socks and face Lhe world whlch ls gazlng aL us lnLenLly
Someone rlghLly sald LhaL llfe ls noL a falryLale and Lhose happy sLory book endlngs are reserved only for
some novels and movles ln Lhe noL Loo dlsLanL pasL Lhe memorles of my moLher dresslng me up for
school ls sLlll fresh ln my mlnd lL ls a compleLely dlfferenL maLLer LhaL l abhorred Lhe ldea of golng Lo
school Pow safe and secure l felL ln Lhe lap of my parenLs and ensconced wlLhln Lhe cool comforL of
home l was ln a cocoon absoluLely Laken care of and deLached from Lhe reallLles of Lhe exLernal world
1he Lwo mosL slgnlflcanL Lhlngs whlch maLLered Lhen were food and play
Cradually Lhe Llme came when l learnL Lo Lackle Lhe laces of my shoes And lL was only ln Class 3 when l
sLarLed en[oylng golng Lo school and slowly reallzed Lhe meanlng of frlends and Lhelr lmporLance ln llfe
ln a way a new world was openlng up Some of my frlends who were really passlonaLe abouL careers had
sLarLed gorglng on books and become apple's eyes of Lhe Leacher 1he oLher group burnL Lhe mldnlghL
oll Lhe days lmmedlaLely before Lhe exams and managed Lo clear Lhe hurdles And yes Lhere was
anoLher group who LhoughL LhaL Lhey were Loo young Lo grapple wlLh Lhe black doLs on Lhe whlLe pages
LeL us call Lhem shlrkers
School llfe wenL on and my maLes and l rellshed lL We sLarLed anolnLlng oLher sLudenLs wlLh Lhe
cholcesL ad[ecLlves and sobrlqueLs 1he chrlsLenlng rlLual was however noL only conferred Lo Lhe
sLudenLs lL was furLhered Lowards oLhers Loo Pope you guess Lhe reclplenLs8y degree we sLarLed
developlng lnLeresL on Lhe falrer gender and some of us rose ln Lhe hlerarchy by havlng beaus
PonesLly l do noL profess or clalm Lo be a salnL l do noL wanL Lo lnvoke Lhe 8ard buL sufflce lL Lo say
LhaL Lhe school was our whole unlverse Also Lhere was Cod's plenLy wheLher ln Lhe maLerlal or absLracL
sense be lL fun sLudles frlendshlp quarrels [ealousy compasslon or even ouLrlghL adolescenL enmlLy
Also ln Lhe menu were dellcacles such as annual day sporLs day compeLlLlons of every hue and aL lasL
buL noL Lhe leasL Lhe flnal fesL Looklng back lL was a paradlse on earLh
8u1 Lhe board exams approached surrepLlLlously and knocked aL Lhe doors lL was Llme Lo wake up from
Lhe daze of fun and games So flnally even lf relucLanLly l or raLher we had Lo leave our fun quoLlenL
behlnd or leL's say kepL lL ln reserve for Lhe beLLer Lomorrows Some of my frlends Lurned pale aL Lhe
prospecL of Lhe approachlng exams as lf doom was faclng Lhem ln Lhe nexL roundabouL Such was Lhe
condlLlon of Lhose frlends LhaL malnuLrlLlon ln lndla would noL have been an lssue aL all Cn Lhe oLher
hand Lhe brlghL sLudenLs were very much ln demand galnlng unllkely fans aL a very shorL noLlce 1he sLar
value of Lhem rose abrupLly among Lhe sLudenLs as well Lhe socleLy 1hose sLars were Lhe savlors of
Lhose cllngers durlng Lhe days of doom llnally afLer Lhe dark cloud came Lhe sllver or raLher Lhe golden
llnlng
Some of us had Lo Lake admlsslon elsewhere whlch led Lo Lhe dlslnLegraLlon among Lhe groups of
frlends also some couples wenL Lo dlfferenL poles 1he honeymoon was over for Lhem Many new faces
were encounLered ln Lhe LranslLlon perlod and were charged up wlLh a new vlgor and zeal 1ruly Lhose
beauLlful faces caused many hearLs Lo fluLLer and launched floLlllas of dreams l/we were on Lhe Lop of
Lhe world now
AfLer Lhe resulLs of Lhe 12
Lh
a reckless llfe ensued lL was farewell Lo unlform bags lunchbox and oLher
paraphernalla of Lhe school days lL was Lo gear up wlLh Lhe eLhos of Lhe socalled modern world 8uL
Lhe oLher mooL polnLs are Lhe colleges whlch mosL of us goL admlLLed Lo lL was of course Lhe mosL
slgnlflcanL presLlge lssue Cne can cllmb Lhe soclal ladder only lf Lhe word before Lhe lan or lLe"
belonged Lo an lnsLlLuLlon of repuLe 1he adage goes LhaL beggars cannoL be choosers buL l belleve ln
Lhe saylng LhaL loLus blooms only ln slush and lL ls only slush whereln one can connecL wlLh Lhe real
world Class houses can be shaLLered wlLh a properly Lhrown sLone 8emember uavld and CollaLh durlng
Lhe school days!
l learnL lL was Lhe hard way LhaL a college ls an alLogeLher dlfferenL ball game lL ls a secluded Lerraln
from Lhe resL of Lhe world where Lhe general rule of llfe are noL appllcable Lveryone ls free Lo form hls
own rule and sLlck Lo lL robably Lhls ls Lhe reason why one could flnd so many dlsparaLe groups ln Lhe
college who had puL no enLry" boards for Lhe oLhers Cnly Lhose wlLh a famlllar menLallLy or benL of
mlnd are allowed Lo enLer Lhose hallowed bands
We are ln LhaL Lra[ecLory whereln we are seen as Lhe fuLure of our famllles uon'L you feel LhaL chlll
down Lhe splne when you look lnLo your moLher's eyes and she feels LhaL her son/daughLer ls a unlque
one who wlll deflnlLely do well ln llfe?uon"L you aL Llmes aLLempL Lo escape Lhe heaL of your faLher's
expecLaLlons who has so many dreams for hls chlldren? Also he ls Lhe one who belleves LhaL whaLever
has been mlssed ouL by hlm wlll be achleved by hls progeny AL Llmes lL ls dlfflculL Lo faLhom wheLher
our parenLs relaLlves slbllngs are asklng more or are we dellverlng Lhem less
We are Lhe real [udges of our own worLh We Lruly know where we sLand ln Lhls era of cuL LhroaL
compeLlLlon 1he Llme has come when we wlll have Lo leave our cozy dens and seL ourselves far and
wlde ln Lhls crooked and wlcked world whlch wlll noL mlss even a slngle opporLunlLy Lo drag us down
8uL we have Lo up our anLe by flghLlng agalnsL all odds and paLches WhaLever fleld we choose we
should be ready Lo dellver noL only cenL percenL buL a blL more Lhan lL because even LhaL blL exLra
would be an edge over Lhe oLhers and lead us Lowards our goals We are Lhe ones who are carrylng Lhe
expecLaLlons and asplraLlons of so many close Lo us and LhaL ls why ls why Lhe prlme requlslLe aL Lhe
momenL ls Lo seL our horses free Llll Lhey beaL everyone ln Lhls race of llfe 1lll Lhen 8L CS1l1lvL Anu
1Plnk CSl1lvL