Dear SIMC-UGans,
After three years of slander in this college, there are a few things that you'll have to constantly remember for survival.
Trust me, its worth the three year struggle but there are always ways of overcoming it.
1. To maintain a decent attendance average, always try to make it for the first class. Now that you've pushed yourself to college, you'll manage to attend all classes till the end.
2. Travel to nearby areas on long weekends. Go for joy rides, pick up your camera and just explore. You'll be surprised how much that will teach you.
3. You'll fight all other batches trying to prove yours right. In the end you'll realize, your own batch mates are your competition.
4. Friend circles will keep changing. Don't use that against them while you move on. Learn to adapt to totally new environments quickly.
5. Pick your internships wisely, they're your ticket to placements post college. Once you grab your internship opportunities, work your life out and do not worry about the money.
6. Everyone around you isn't against you as much as they are protecting themselves. Don't give problems that much importance.
7. Everyone will one day cheat on you, lie, fake things, walk out on you, demotivate you, come to you only for help or make living difficult. You'll have to decide whom you allow.
8. TNGs are a bad idea. Coping up with its consequences will really burden you down and you'll end up with another TNG.
9. Take time out and speak to each and one of your batchmates and get to know them better before you decide to choose your circle.
10. You know when they ask you not to judge the way Anupam Siddhartha treats you in the first year because he is sort of becomes the friend in the third year?
It's true.
11. Try to be a part of a lot of projects in your three years without jeopardizing your attendance. It will take you places.
12. Do not like your lifestyle and friend circle to just SIMC people. Move forward and make friends outside of college. If they're outside of Viman Nagar, even better. It's therapeutic.
13. Everyone will form a few addictions by the end of three years, don't judge them. Once they leave, everyone sorts themselves out to a large extent.
14. College will put you through some of the most heart wrenching situations. It could be back-to-back or all of them at once. Let it hurt you and change you. You'll surprise yourself once you're past it.
15. People will leave. Please don't let that stop you from coming to college. Avoid dating people from the same college as much as possible. It could get bubblegum under the foot if not done right.
16. People who have left will come back in the end, they will. I promise you. But not the way you'd expect them to, EVER. I promise you that too.
17. This place will teach you how to maneuver your way around, manipulate, get things done and understand a bunch of mind games being played around you. Understand them, but don't apply them on your friends.
18. Multitasking will be the toughest thing you'll face in these three years but also a skill you'll have aced in the meantime.
19. Remind the people around you what they mean to you. Half the communication barriers come in the way because people aren't sure whom to approach.
20. Everyone around you comes with some talent or the other. Learn or read up about it. Pick it up if it interests you.
21. You'll be flooded with scars and unhealed wounds but you'll learn to realize that the worst is yet to come. It's true, but fight it. Everyone around you is equally insecure and doing the same.
22. This place will teach you a lot academically but your real learning so the the transformation in three years. You'd have cried way more than you could've imagined to get to where you reach. Let it punch you in the gut. It's the best thing that could've happened to you.
23. By the end of it all, you should have picked up and mastered one technical skill in your field. The best way to get here is, when depressed, work. When upset, work. When lonely, work. You'll get past most of your miseries and take a nice break by then.
24. People will change and forget to inform you, walk out into a new environment if you're not happy. Have the strength to walk out and bear others walking out on you. Pick yourself up, no matter what!
25. Strengthen as many friendships before you are done with this place. Your own batch mates and friends who have backstabbed you will be the ones backing you up in the big bad outside world.
26. Remember to acknowledge everyone who means something to you without any returns. It'll be a miracle if you ever get any returns.
27. Your own friends will leave you in the cold and acquaintances will pick you up when you fall. Let go!
28. You always have a choice to not give a fuck, and the consequences are really not as scary as you think.
29. Fall in love. Let it stab you in the gut. You'll learn to pick yourself up, you always do.
30. Vishal Jokhare is your man. Make him your friend, you'll survive miracles as long as he has your back.
31. Check out as many independent artists as you can. Go for NH7, go to high spirits, go to blue frog, go visit all these places and let everyone's art form influence you.
32. Your parents don't have to know everything. Actually nobody does. Be yourself and then decide if it's your closely guarded secret or your loud identity.
33. Do not get too close to the people you're living with. Have their back when they need you, but keep a distance. Saves you the ugliness and dirty politics.
34. Don't let anybody around you feel lonely. You'll light up their lives with your initiatives. At the same time, don't let people take you for a ride and for granted, spend time with yourself and know when to draw the line.
35. Life isn't a breeze, its a sandstorm. Survival of the fittest. Watch your back, there is a huge chance, they'll all leave while you are begging for help. But the strongest of fuckers are those guys who've walked past those sandstorms all by themselves.
36. Have your sources in place. Always know how to extract information. The day you crack this, you'll confidently take steps and be prepared for every comeback.
After everything, if its still too much to survive, let karma sort things out for you. Time will bloody hell be your next best friend in these three years.
Just don't give up. You'll thank your stars in retrospect. :')
Love.
