Sunday, February 20, 2011

Anuj's PhD viva tomorrow

Yeah what a title to a post. This will be his last touch with our lab. A classic example of a bad student-guide relation that went sour in the very beginning and could never be disabused. Anuj has completed five and a half years of PhD time. When I joined the lab as a project assistant in Jan 2006, Anuj was in his first year of PhD and a baby faced, happy-go-lucky kind of a person. At that time Boss-D was short tempered and felt that Anuj's behaviour was abberant for a PhD student. True, ours was a high pressure lab and Anuj may have probably done better with a softer guide. Anuj took up smoking and continued till last year when he gave it up for good. He started to drink as well. 2006 and early 2007 was the time when I myself lost control over my drinking habit. Much of this time was shared with Anuj/Sankalp, Rick and Harman separately. Man!! How much was I drinking!

My relation with Anuj has been brotherly and has grown ever closer, especially so after Sanky left for New York and I joined PhD in the same lab that I'd left as a project assistant. I was closer to Sanky and his departure brought me even closer to Anuj. Anyway the vendetta between Anuj and Boss took a whole new turn after the big JBC got published from the lab with Anuj and Arijit as joint first authors. Something went amiss in the Anuj's emotional response to the situation. He suddenly started to feel distanced from the lab owing to his thoughts on the total authorship of the paper. The wrong vibes were sensed by everyone and they started to retaliate in kind. Anuj had grown disgruntled. To me, as an "outsider" within the lab, everybody seemed to be losing it.

Apparently Boss-D didn't write a good recommendation letter for Anuj when some big scientific names in the world showed interest in Anuj's CV, Being an honest person, he's clear and upfront about his opinion and said that he would write his honest opinion in everybody's recommendation.  Anuj then left the lab to join as a Level-III PA at another lab within the institute. Since then every time he comes to the lab to meet Boss-D to remind him to send recommendations to the new interests. Tomorrow, is his final PhD seminar. I am no one to judge Anuj or Boss-D, one's my Great friend and the other a Great Guide to me; seriously, I have no issues with Boss-D, in fact, at times, I feel that he's extra nice to me. Anyway, Boss-D has mellowed down to a humongous degree over the past few years.

I've seen Anuj change from a soft chubby carefree guy to a fitness freak, hard-hearted and melancholic man. Still I can never forget the alacrity with which he lent me money and literally forced me to buy a digi-cam, which he himself hunted around for me to buy. He did it because I used to ride to far off places but didn't have a digi-cam to click as many pictures as I could. I really will remember him for his serious protocolish advices on how to patiently deal with my impatient dad and not mess my relation with him. I'll always remember that trip to Haridwar on Jan 15, 2007 when Sanky ditched us both and left with his friend and we both spent an amazing time at the Shanti-kunj Aashram roaming around and exploring the adjoining areas on foot and how we sat to warm our hands near a fire set-up by an old yogi baba. I'll never forget my bike-ride to Rishikesh for river-rafting with him when we also stopped by at my sister's place in Herbertpur. I'll never forget my bike-ride with him and Harman to Thanedar, when we simple had the most amazing time that guys can have together. I'll never forget the way he made fun of me whenever I was in an over-extended mourning period of my break-ups. I'll never forget how he (and Sanky) shaped my attitude towards life in many ways. I'll always accredit him to changing my inherent sordid and morose outlook towards life to a slightly lighter.

Last but not least, I'll never forget the awesome drinking sessions we've had and the time when we consumed bhaang (Cannabis) on Holi (like many others at the institute) and got hysterical. Of course we've had minor issues a few times (though I can't remember which ones exactly).I've known him for a little more than five years now. I remember we both got a little sentimental when I was leaving as a project-assistant and how happy we were when I joined PhD in the same lab after a gap of one year. I still kept in touch with Anuj n Sanky through that gap of one year. I'll never forget Boss-D's warning to me to not reform the gang with Anuj and Sanky when I was about to join PhD :) It's a bit saddening to see stuck in this phase of life but I'm happy that tomorrow he'll get his PhD degree and I hope he's off to a great place to do his Post-Doc. I hope his love for science is rekindled and he does well in life and I hope Boss-D and Anuj reconcile someday. Will always remember you Anuj. God bless you. Good luck for tomorrow. N yeah I will watch a movie with him before he leaves, though I hate watching movies; that's the very reason he wants to take me to one.

3 comments:

Anuj P said...

seeing this after so long yaar........Jesse.....
kya kahu....

Anuj P said...

Jeese.. I m reading it now..... i think it's even more interesting to read it at this time.... kya bolu tumko abhi...

AJ said...

Love you man, BWAB :)