---
title: Signing off from IITB
layout: post
tags: [life]
---

So, after all this time, I'm finally bidding good bye to IITB. I finished my
MTP work on July 4, got my degree on August 13, but it is today that I feel I'm
finally leaving this place. In three days I will be moving to Tokyo and that
separation has a finality to it that my brief stay in Pune didn't &mdash; after
all, if I wanted, I could reach the campus in about 6 hours from Pune. :laughing:

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Whenever someone asks, I usually say I preferred IITG to IITB (and I guess, 
as my *alma mater*, it will always be №1 for me). However, in many ways, my
time IITB was richer.[^1] I feel like I *experienced* more here, that the highs
were higher and the lows deeper, but that could simply be the effect of a slight
increase in senility. IITB also felt a lot more like *home*, probably because
home itself is so close. Like the moon giving a pale reflection of the sun, the
campus had a comfort, reflecting the comfort I felt at home. It helped that most
of my time here was spent doing things I enjoyed (*cough* not Mechanical
Engineering *cough* :grin:).

So what did I do on my last morning here? I climbed a hill, of course.
:stuck_out_tongue: It was an endeavour I'd been putting off for nearly year;
time ran out and now my hand was forced. The last time I was there, I got a few
delightful pics of the black kites that frequent the campus. And since these
birds didn't seem to mind the rain in July and August, I hoped to see a few of
them today, since a sunrise seemed hopeless. Well, not one turned up. I barely
heard the echo of a kite's scream today. :unamused: It was a very humid, very wet
morning, and I didn't get much to photograph.

In a way, the trip reflected both what I wanted from time at IITB, and what it
actually was. I wanted to set goals, put in the effort and achieve those goals.
Instead, I spent most of time coasting, leaving me with regrets and missed
opportunities. And much like the trip up the hill, I'm not sure my time here was
all that fruitful &mdash; I leave here with the distinct impression that I
haven't achieved what I came here to do.

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A few pics to cheer up a depressing post[^2]: :smile:

<div class="slideshow-wrap">
<a data-flickr-embed="true"  href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/murukesh_m/albums/72157674252507715" title="Bye IITB!"><img src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8127/29573208060_e001b4a7cb_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Bye IITB!"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

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[^1]: Well, I was paid a stipend here, of course. :stuck_out_tongue:
[^2]: Thanks to Flickr for the suprisingly simple album embedding option! Google Photos has a ways to go yet.
