One of my favourite jingles in the jolly old days of kiddydom was- Essel World me rahoonga main, ghar nahi jaaoonga main (I’ll stay in Essel World, I won’t go home). It’s a different matter altogether that when the time did come, I chose to give Essel World the royal ignore, opting for Water Kingdom instead. But that’s another story. As the festivities around me kick off, and the brightest lot in the country prepare to ‘fly into the madness’ for this one glorious weekend, I cannot help but be reminded of that familiar lovable jingle, and in more ways than one.

It is one of my theories –one that I have developed in the many hours of leisure that were afforded to me post the summers process (always feels nice to say that, huh), that fests are a way of prolonging your madcap childhood days. It is well known that to hold on, or to not let go, is one of the most primitive of human tendencies, and what could be more precious than some of the most cherished years of our lives. Sitting in the auditorium today listening to one of the bands performing in the Armageddon prelims, I couldn’t help getting pangs of old age when the vocalist said- “This next song is about breaking the rules. We’re all teenagers here, we’re all rebels.” Time might have put paid to the teenager in me, but the rebel continues to rule the roost. And what better place to give that rebel room than this particular weekend- Carpe Diem. You know the madness has begun when, amidst huge banners of Axe reeking of capitalistic consumerism, the performing band comes up with an insane number extolling the leftward path and draws tremendous applause from B-school students who will soon be the pillars of profit-making capitalist society.

The weekend looms large and promising in front of me, in front of all of us. Each second holds the allure of unexplored possibilities. I never thought I’d hear an amateurish name like Evil Conscience, or was it Soulful Death, once I’d left college. I never thought I’d headbang like there was no tomorrow until I heard the Unknown Artists’ guitarist. But in those 2-3 hours that I spent at the audi, I realized that I never want these festivities to end. Each step that the cute model in Razzmatazz took, each reverberation that was made by the drumset tonight, each question that will be asked at the quizzes coming up, each movement that is to be executed by the dancers, each thought that is to be articulated at the debates and each note that will be created at Symphony- they all form an indelible part of the youth that I wish had never turned 20. The coming weekend, in however unsuccessful a way, will be a sporting attempt at rejuvenating it. There’s always an occasion for one last hurrah after all.

Carpe Diem. Seize the day. And then cease it.

-MM