The Fire Within

"Burn with Passion without ever burning out". This sums up Antaragni...the IITK Cultural Festival..."the time" to be in IITK and for the IITians(boys especially), also described as "do din ki chaandni". The whole campus fills up with colours(of all kinds)..there is electricity in the air...Some great people take their yearly bath during this time....haircuts...wardrobe changes....Its Antaragni Time...The allure of Antaragni is strong enough and the experience unforgettable enough to pull IITK Alumni from all parts of the nation. I am no exception..so I was there...Morning of Thursday November 2nd, I met an old friend again.... Kanpur Railway Station...Although I had sworn that I hate Kanpur the minute I set foot on the railway station the first time, like many relationships, the hate slowly turned into a quiet liking....When you have to sit in the railway station for 12 hours waiting for your train, you tend to notice the finer details...the smells of hot pooris being made...the sounds of haggling with the porters...the sight of people waiting for their delayed trains with infinite patience...all this was brought back on that day. The excitement had already overtaken me even before I had reached the IITK Campus...and once I entered the campus, it was like I never left...the same energy in the atmosphere...the banners and other decorations..the sign boards..Well, I was back. One thing notorious about IITs is its gender ratio. For every 100 males, there are like 10-12 non males.(Did I forget to mention that the female species is almost extinct at IITK?). Well, thats why Antaragni holds such a high place in the hearts of all IITK boys...for 2 days they get to see what they are missing and in that two days, they try to live their whole life. If you are a pretty girl in IITK at Antaragni time, I assure you, you will face no difficulties at all...For travelling there will be any number of chaffeur driven bicycles at your beck and call. For food, just point and ask, there will be someone eager to take you out for lunch. You just have to sit there and look pretty. You will make the life for some poor IITian. Other than these obvious reasons, another heavyweight at Antaragni is its Proffessional Night. This time it was Euphoria. It is only fair to say they didnt dissappoint. Living up to every expectation I had, singing all the great songs...Its the second time I was seeing Euphoria perform live and I gotta tell you...Theres nothing else like it. And then the next morning, everything is back to normal...people are rushing to classses...banners and decorations being taken down and last of the pretty ladies leaving for their own campuses...But its not about how long it was...Its all about how it was...Its about living to the fullest in the 2 days you get...Its about collecting memories that will last you till the next Antaragni....Its about burning with Passion without ever burning out.