Edited by: Anusha Sharma
It’s that time of the year again—mid-sem season. Here are all of us struggling to meet deadlines (which were given months in advance), study (something we somehow did not do the whole semester), and love. But do tell me, how do I find, receive and give love when I can barely find any motivation to get out of my warm perfect blanket, drifting off into my quiet escape, no deadlines, and only the sweetest dreams? Then, just as my escape was mere seconds away, my phone buzzed with a string of notifications. A new assignment was uploaded. No extension granted. An essay due tomorrow. Would you like to submit?
Midsemester pressure is crumbling. It almost seems like yesterday when the spring semester just started, all fresh happy faces bubbling with the excitement of the bitter cold being gone. Courses were slow and exciting, all of Ashoka was busy with a string of events, indulging in learning along the way. Then the pace quickens, just as the breezy spring gives way to the harsh, merciless summer sun, the courses suddenly stop making any sense, assignments become harder and Thursday nights start losing the charm. Exams are just days away, and you don’t know the difference between the marginal rate of transformation and the marginal rate of substitution. This is where love too, seeps in your life, but you let it go unnoticed, too busy trying to understand the god-forsaken capitalist revolution.
Love resides in the shy compliment you get from a random friend “your hair looks nice”, when you have not even brushed it, in the fleeting hug you get from a friend that is “not a hugger”. Love manifests itself as the choco lava cup you find on your table and the Whatsapp message that has all the answers to an assignment due tonight. Love is different on different tongues, a usual insult from your best friend followed by ‘let’s go have dinner” because they know you have not eaten, or its a kind work of affirmation followed by “hey, I got you dinner”, because they know you do not have the time. Love is the intimacy of studying with someone in their room, using their stationery and chugging too much coffee, Love is also the intimacy of studying with strangers in the library, all of us communicating in tired sighs and frustrated eye rolls. Love in both, the friend that critiques your essay and the one that hypes you up. Petting Toofan is love, and getting cute dog pictures from all your friends at Pawsitive is love too. It’s your mother’s call at 9 p.m. to check in on that cold followed by your partner’s at ten, where you seep back into silly jokes with a sprinkle of concern for each other’s sanity. Love plays hide and seek in the cute good morning texts and then “please go back to study” texts. It’s sneaky in proxied attendances and notes passed between twenty friends, it’s fulfilling in comforting dhaba honey chilli potatoes at 3 a.m.
Love is in the smallest parts of our day if we choose to see it. When everyone around us is busy preparing for their exams and crying over failed quizzes, it’s hard to feel wanted or loved, but that does not mean we are not. All of us may be anxious, stressed and miserable, but hey, at least we are together. Remember that every semester, these two weeks come and go, while our friends and the fatigue remains.
This mid-semester season, let’s all show each other a tad bit more love and kindness (go hug your besties) and let go a little. Cry together with your friends, and go for that late night filter coffee walk, it will help! Check in with your loved ones, keep that stash of Dolos and Vics handy, along with a list of excuses that can be used for extensions. Let us be real, if you still don’t know the difference between MTR and MTS, there is absolutely no reason for you to study the whole night, go to sleep. I hope this mid-semester season is kind to all of us, but frankly by the looks of the exam I gave this morning, I hope we just come out alive and stronger.