On Jobs and Placements.

Tell me about yourself?

How about we hold this for now and go through your short flashback.

It seems to be a short while ago that we started our 4 years journey together in this place. Strangers that we were all, sooner or later found our companions and learned to live in a tough place like this. Counting on each other and dealing with the difficult phases together, is something that we all have added to our 'How to Live' journals. 

And almost at the end of this journey we faced a new foe. Called as placement, it came like a storm and changed everything for ever. This event stood before us as the most stressful one of our journey has to offer. We witnessed with regret, those around us becoming its prey. And by that, I mean to fall in mind trap that it creates. A situation where your companion, whom you have learned to trust and love, is your rival. Before it really strikes, it causes a time zone filled with silence,dread and suspense. Bewildering as it is, students give their mightiest efforts to stay at the top. To get through this becomes a must. For some it is a matter of self dignity, for some to make their elders proud, for some to prove themselves in the eyes of others, for some to earn experience and for the remaining few, just to see if they can make it.

Whatever may be our reasons, our motives, we all look forward to success. Who likes to get rejected, anyways? And success do comes to the fateful few, but at a cost. 

Whatever may be the outcome, all of us experienced this new, strange feeling. For the selected ones, it was achievement blended with sorrow for their friends. And for the rest, it was feeling proud for their friends and at the same time disappointment in themselves. It is not easy to be our normal self in this situation. One can not rejoice for himself because his friend did not made it and his friend can not weep openly for he wants to celebrate his friend's success. We all dealt with this, in our own unique ways. But the moment was strong enough to mark itself in the timeline.

On the positive side, we learned a lot about ourselves and others. When we were presented with a question like -'What are your weakness?'. For a brief moment we really thought and took a look at us from the outside to find the answer. But the answer that echoed in our minds and the one which was said out loud, was often kept different and maybe for the best. We also found out about our capability to lie with ease. It is easy for some to fake their whole identity without even flinching once and keeping a straight, smiling face throughout. Some, like me, found it gruesomely difficult. It also gave us the opportunity to explore ourselves by facing different questions. Whether we shared the answers to others was a matter to be decided by us alone and again, maybe for the best.

Of course, we get to live this only once. The moments are impossible to forget and some are even worth being carried to our graves. Campus recruitment at JUET might end but the filtering is never over. It comes again in different ways. But what didn't kill us before, only have made us stronger so when the next time we face it, we will be worthier.

We might get old and get busy with different events. But the book of life will never leave us depraved of moments of success, struggle and (I hope and pray that we do not) failure. We will never know whats in it next, until we turn the page and just like this blog, there will always be something to wait for.

Recollecting from the flashback, we look at the face of interviewer who is patiently waiting for his earlier question. He asks again, 'Tell me about yourself'.
We find ourselves smiling.