The Time of Our Lives
(Originally written for IBA Graduation 2019)
I am feeling kind of annoyed at the clichéd title I just wrote. With Green Day playing in the back of my mind, I realize there is no perfect title to capture what I am attempting to write here. My time in IBA, our time in IBA- it has been a lifetime.
I guess every graduate thinks this exact same thing while graduating, however I am going to claim this anyway- I think my batch was the luckiest batch there ever was in IBA. Your university life is nothing but your community; your classmates, seniors, juniors and teachers. We entered IBA in a time when a golden era was almost coming to an end. And we discovered that there is perfection in this world after all- in the togetherness (or lineup, as we like to call it) of 20th-21st-22nd-23rd. 2015, the best year ever for many of us, went by in a flash. From the then Director declaring that “Ahmed Junaid Kabir, you are the first in your batch” to our first factory visit (courtesy of Momen sir) — year one wasn’t half bad.
I guess every graduate thinks this exact same thing while graduating, however I am going to claim this anyway- I think my batch was the luckiest batch there ever was in IBA.
I could name a thousand things that I miss about IBA every day. Little things like running to Babu bhai first thing is the morning; screaming “Arijit, Arijit” on top of our lungs whenever the projector wouldn’t work; that secret terrace we used to have at the end of the second floor; Mamun sir playing with dogs now and then in the driveway. How the sky would darken like it was the middle of the night during monsoon and most of us would be out in the corridors looking over the original futsal field. And the football matches! Nothing feels as thrilling now as chanting “23rd! 23rd! 23rd!” in the field used to feel like. And the tree. Our Ent. Even now, going back means looking at Ent and thinking, “Yeah, we are not invincible like we used to believe, but we are doing alright.”
Once you do get adjusted though, there is no going back.
Being a part of this institution is not all rainbows and unicorns. We get enrolled here, feeling totally entitled, only to find out that everyone else is just as talented as we are (if not insanely more). At first it can seem like too much to take in (definitely felt that way to me), it can take a long time to get adjusted to. Once you do get adjusted though, there is no going back. I am forever indebted to IBA, and specifically to my classmates, for raising the bar high regarding, well, everything in life. Be it achievements, humor, brotherhood, tolerance or professionalism, I have never learnt as much anywhere else as I have in IBA.
Being an IBA graduate is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I would never want to be a part of any batch other than 23rd. Even now, my classmates remain the primary source of inspiration for me. If you look at us now, almost a year after we sat for our comprehensive exam, most of us have become grown-ups in ways we could not have imagined (or understood) even last year. We have infiltrated all the best organizations in the country, we already have university faculties among us, and some of us have even left some of those best organizations to build something of our own. Being mediocre, lazy or boring is not an option if your inspiration is this brilliant bunch of overachievers.
Getting into IBA was actually the easier thing to do, the grinding and toiling (and finding tactics to escape the latter) that followed afterwards was quite difficult. The most difficult thing however, is missing out on seeing our friends’ faces every day, a gift we didn’t value enough when we had it. The best surprise of being an IBA graduate is however realizing that, we are really not all on our own. We have our community with us, wherever we go, whatever we do.
If I could cast a patronus charm in the real world, all my best memories would be from IBA
I am looking at what I just wrote and I feel irritated because the entire thing, once again, seems like a cliché. Well, it is alright I guess, I am writing this for myself more than anyone else. These are the best bits of my version of the story of our time here. Dancing on Bollywood songs during any and every marketing presentation, having the best juniors in the world who will jump forward and hug you every time they see you, having the best seniors in the universe who make you feel star-struck for years and years, having teachers who will go out of their way to facilitate you in your life after IBA.
And the most important one- having the best of friends in some very competent, capable people, with so much love, warmth and courage that they make you want to fight, through each and every nightmare that may come your way.
If I could cast a patronus charm in the real world, all my best memories would be from IBA (in one way or the other). So while stepping into the unknown forever, I would like to hold on tight to these moments, hoping that they will help me remember how to turn on the light during my hours of despair and hopelessness. Forever in love with this crazy, magical, beautiful place.