Where was I?

I think I was sleeping all these days. I have been dreaming to buy a fancy flip mobile phone and I chose Motorola VZ...Wow...Its beautiful.

And also planning to buy a HOME Theatre, spending some time doing a little bit of research....in the weekends, sit with my girl friend at Barista and do little chit chats. I tell you- they always want little things in life.... (LOL) but they are sweet and good at heart, so always take care for them...

This is the real world...Be optimistic and live up every moment. And keep struggling until you get what you want. I thought to myself...

I called this series the seven series of the seven stages but it's not the "The Seven Ages of Man" by Shakespeare but I can name it as "The gauche series of the awkward times" by Devaraj. Ah yes, Sounds like a name- (LOL) Let's go!

I will try to make this one short, not because I don't have many things to say but because I feel shy to tell you all.....It is true like the saying "The unknown is an inescapable part of life" and sometimes the unknown hurts you badly...

Finally, 4 years of gracious and hard hunting episode of Engineering came to an ecstatic end happily like a happy ending story, yes fortunately! I made it....

Honored the completion of the degree with 4 years of sweat, hard struggles and lots of interesting memorable guys-like episodes with a virtual convocation- clap clap clap!

But don't be happy yet...The tougher part follows the footsteps...As you climb up the ladder, more responsibilities will wait for you, don't worry. This is how it is. Life is like that. Yeah it is...

Like the game and the war at the Bombay Stock exchange, everything comes to a fall end and it starts again like a line graph that raises high and suddenly drops.

Up and down...It's no Superman who can fly but it's the Information Technology that makes you crazy at times and that was the time. Time stood still.

Interesting right, not really! IT slows down. What is it? Sounds strange...How it affected the life of a bright and fresh pass out engineering student like me? Sad but true. It happens.

But that awful day- 9/11 attack on the US Twin Tower, the game turned black and goes wild.

The industries have had to postpone or cut back many planned technology upgrades. It was like traveling in a spaceship hoping to discover something in an unknown galaxy...Really unpredictable, phew!

The slowdown reflects a significant shift in economy that since 2001, as IT professionals swooped in to fill the industries appetite for technology. The effects were vindictive.

Companies that in the past years had experienced booming demand and grown accustomed to record profits nearly every quarter and double-digit annual growth had to settle for numbers that were closer to bad-robust historical averages.

Stock prices have come off their peaks and fell down. That was how the situation looks like. And now, you can imagine the scenario. It was a nightmare for people like us. It was like a road blockage on NH-53 and remembers how it affects the economic conditions in Manipur.

Too bad, right? Cooking gas price rose like you never ever dreamed of, the petrol rate, and lots of other varieties....I hate those...

And that's when my company postponed my joining date but luckily they didn't layoff. Praise the company! –Hallelujah.

Okay, I did a little assessment and decided to look out for some opportunities' until before I joined the company but it wasn't easy.

Believe me, I have seen it myself. I am just another average student like most of them and it was hard for me to find a Job. It really was. I counted on my luck but I was unlucky... Worst of all, I couldn't afford joining a computer course or something during that time.

They were expensive. I even tried to get into some call centers but my Englishmen accent proved my distinguished character not fit for the Job. Yeah...But I have improved a lot now. See! This is Michael...Peter...How may I help you? Interesting...

Okay. Now, I have NO Job. No House, No Money, No Girlfriend, No Bike.

What do you expect next? Cut the grass in somebody's lawn? Shipping/Distributing Pitcher/Beer from the dealer to the Pubs in the Town?

Hunt for a rich girl friend who can afford me? Look up at the sky and wish for some good fortunes to happen? No No. nothing worked. It didn't work. I had to go back home to the place where I belong and take some rest...

Did I tell you about my home town? Yes it is the place where you get complete peace of mind...silence...Serenity with only the sounds of the bird's singing and the voices of the lovely pretty girls coming to fetch water from the Pond. But you know what this time – the PONDS were dry too.

Anyway, I learned to stay cool and diligently try to help the family chores... and it did the trick. No tension, good foods and stuffs like that – It was going easy...yes, just for about 1 month...

Then...

Spent many sleepless nights, thinking...just Thinking...Deep thinking. I wished I should have thought about the risks before I finished my Engineering. At the same time, it makes me feel little hopeful knowing that I was not alone.

Well, time clicks away slowly but constantly. No news, no couriers no emails about my Joining date to the Company... My hopes are getting diminished day by day...It's a sad story.

Finally, I decided to write an entrance exam for a central Job. I had this friend of mine who had completed engineering from Bangalore too and we were together all the time, trying to do something. Just for name sake.

Then I knew it wasn't going to work out and knowing that was tougher. I was in bad shape at that stage of my life. It was time, I learned not to lose heart, feel shy, learnt to stay with heads cool and what not.

I even started attending the Youth Meeting's and Workshops on "Youth Development" at Khuman Lampak. Don't tell anybody, I sincerely enjoyed the meal served (Shareng thongba) after the meeting. I also participated in the "ANTI AIDS" Rally with platoons from Kangjeibung and around the corner and back. That was fun.

I worked as a Guest Lecturer in one of the computer institutes in the town...for sometime...did a project on family planning and what not. All went useless though... work as a part time home based job – assembling- disassembling hardware's.

Movie making....making song albums...lots of them. go for a long walk at the paddy fields in the morning with the SUN...chase the cows. singing the sweet melodies...wow!

And then I learnt the taste of Atingba (Home made alcohol)....powa amma (one quarter), sher tangkhai (half bottle) and then finally graduated to Sher Amma (one bottle). Awesome! The Devil got inside me and urged me to refuel all that sort of wannabes, you know what I mean.

Well...That's the era of what I called "The Black Days" in my life... more to come. Stay tuned...

Let me go and take a deep sigh. It's no fun telling you the sad stories. You know, I always wanted to tell you the happy stories but sometimes, the sad ones ought to come in. and that's when I became a little nervous.. Believe me. Those were the hardest moments in my life...It was terrible...

I started riding a bicycle from riding a bike. I didn't wear shoes anymore and started wearing chappal, tired of asking pocket money from home, fed up of answering the same stupid questions, you know! 24 hours was a long time to spend in a day although I used to spent some time in the GYM and how much troubles and do little tricks to convince my Parents to buy a "BODY GROW" powder... for my muscles to grow...

See...This is quite a story... Then there is this story when I had to stay in a rented Private hostel in my own city about 5 km away from my house with the kids studying class 6 to class 12.

That was funny..Lol...I remember those days clearly. It was in the winter ...It was then I fell into love again ...it's a beautiful story and I promise to tell you in my next series....

Let's rewind a bit and enjoy being nostalgic to our old times...being with the best friends, the struggles, the laughter's, the fun...and the love, the girl you like the most... Sweet moments...think about winter because winter is just setting in now...wear warm clothes and enjoy each and every moment...

Ok, I am going to watch a movie now ...too much of nonsense writing...Chill out dudes....Its Christmas time...Merry Christmas!

May God Bless you...

(To be continued)