The farewell which didn't fare so well...

We just had our farewell. I heard people say they had mixed feelings then... The only feeling I came back with, from the event, was slight confusion. With a tinge of disappointment. Okie, not just a tinge, but a whole "tange" of disappointment.
When I entered college (No I am not speaking verbatim from the speeches of many on the dais yesterday) I had a vague idea of what the farewell might be. I had confused convocation with farewell, though even today I don't see why they should be any different. And the bubble burst in the 2nd year when I came to know that we aren't going to wear any black gowns (whatever they are called) with a hat on top, promenading through swarms of eager and happy parents and teachers onto the dais and stuff. Well, so long to convocation.
But farewell, I knew we would have. Two in fact. One organized by the college (i.e. yesterday's function) and one organized by our juniors (the lazy idiots still cannot come to terms with their responsibility of throwing us a grand farewell party, the way we threw their fresher's bash) And running through newspapers and the internet and reading other people's experiences, I thought it will be a "zara hatke" experience, with lots of fun, dance, laughter, food, girls, shows, felicitations, etc.
And how did the event fare in those terms? Well, we were made to sit in a hall, which didn't sound very bad, considering that the mercury outside was giving threats to the CNN tower, already hovering around 45 degrees mark. Thank Claude and Linde for the air conditioner. So far so good.
And then it starts.
Some people from our batch were rounded up to give their feedback, supposedly on behalf of their branches. As usual, they took it personally and went on describing how they have rummaged through the four years, accomplishing this and that, with very few talking on behalf of the whole class. An exception being the speaker from our branch, who lived up to many expectations from the mechanical junta. Some of his comments left a clear sarcastic feel in the chilled air, and was lauded by all mech de latthe. But such orations were rare. I tried enjoying the event by playing a game. Me and my friends were to rate each speech given by fellow students on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being most honest, 10 being the most sycophantic. But after scores of 8, 25 and 99, I understandably gave up. On a plus point, some people tried to be different. An orator made sure our juniors will have a nightmare soon, when he advised about organizing a weeklong yoga and spiritual workshops, purely because the management devils will make it a compulsion instead of a voluntary workshop. But, can't really blame the students for their un-candidness. Who all can speak against the autocracy?. One couple even tried to enact a cross between a drama and speech and what not. Needless to say, they failed miserably and half the audience hid their faces in embarrassment. Well, the farewell had begun!! And the events so far only made me feel happier about it.
If the speeches by fellow students were boring enough (can't blame them though), the ones following them, from the "higher authorities" were lessons in crappy-crap themselves! After being described as "raw material" for a "chemical reaction" lasting four years, with the help of "catalysts" to form "products" of Nirma University, I could only wonder why most people use Nirma powder for cleaning toilets. Initially I liked the "chemical" speech, purely because it threw open the gates of laughter, even though sarcastic. But later, as I came to know that the HOD in question gave the same speech innumerable times at various events in the last year or so, I could only be amused about the hollowness of it all. Our boss didn't disappoint us. After being received by a standing ovation from the mech junta (who else can muster the courage to do so?), he went on his usual drab reminders about life. As I said, he didn't disappoint us. And the biggest boss, the head of them all, hasn't still figured out that on farewell, you are not supposed to deliver a presentation on motivational books, specially with completely unrelated animations picked from the many forwarded emails on friendships and life. It wasn't amusing to read Henry Thoreau besides an animation of a rabbit jumping around, at the same time being stretched. Accolades to the lack of imagination. And in between the speeches, were the worthless commentaries from the comperes. The guy couldn't help but crack non-humorous jokes (he seemed to have a congenital humor deficiency) and the girl couldn't help start laughing at every little whisper from the audience. They sure made up an interesting pair. Imagine our delight when the doors of the chilled auditorium were opened to let us out in the sweltering heat outside. At least we were spared from further oratory tortures.
Our hopes were still high, since we were promised food. But it was hardly a feast. It was the only time in my life, that I had a "limited" chhole puri dish, and "unlimited" gulab jamuns. Another innovation from the authorities. I wonder if it came from the ever-so-advertised NirmaLabs! "Food" for thought???
The last, but the most "face"-saving event was the photo-session. Thankfully the dictators only had to sit and smile along with us, leaving no room for further mis-adventures in management. And we strolled back to the bus-depot.
It isn't a wonder why I had no sad or happy feelings on farewell. In fact, I didn't even realize it is the end of 4 years. It was business as usual, the same crappy stuff from the college stables. And I walked back, with neither grief nor happiness in my heart. I did feel slightly sad when we mech-de-latthe were alone, after finishing submissions, walking through the various "ad-daas" we used for the 4 years, merrily clicking away photographs. But other than that, I have felt nothing special.
I am sure I will miss the college, maybe just the friends and our times together. But the farewell event surely postponed the sinking-in of the feeling by a couple of years or so. Well, after all, it was a fare well which didn't fare so well!!
Cheers!!!