College Diaries #2

One warm afternoon as a boring lecture was in progress I and my friend were discussing about the upcoming excursion when we were pulled up by the professor and promptly thrown out of the class. I had been a studious kid all through my school days that I was never even reprimanded forget being sent out of class and this was a new experience. Well for everything there is always a first time.  Rather that showing any remorse I walked out of the class nonchalantly which was quite surprising considering the background from which I came from. Since it was really hot outdoors we continued our discussion just outside the class room the Professor wasn’t amused by this.  He called us back and made us stand on either corner of the room, boy! That was embarrassing and the worst part of the whole thing was that the guy who actually started this conversation was sitting in our bench and attending lecture as if nothing had happened. This was during the first year of college and I don’t know if my classmates do remember but I will never forget this.

Moving on this was the first excursion that we as a class were undertaking to a well known amusement park in Kerala. As most of us were day scholars hardly anyone knew each other very well and everyone was keenly looking forward to it . I being one of the tour co-ordinators did not want to leave any stone unturned and went the entire distance to ensure that everything went smoothly. Finally the day dawned and we embarked upon the journey with high spirits.  It was a great journey and everyone had really started to get into the mood of the tour. We reached the amusement park and had a whale of a time over there.  As the day progressed a rumour was doing the rounds that some guys from another college or so had allegedly passed some inappropriate comments on the girl students of our class. This pumped up the guys and everyone was really angry. Towards the end of the day as most of us were savouring a treat by the teachers who accompanied us on the tour a group of our guys went up and thrashed the culprits black and blue ,who at that time were clearly outnumbered and were sitting ducks. Only very few people among us knew about this episode.

As we were moving onto the bus all hell broke loose as the guys had regrouped and started attacking the guys from our tour party. All along I was kept in the dark and I had absolutely no clue as to what was going on. My initial reaction was to retaliate but luckily good sense prevailed and I had the presence of mind to safely get the rest of the group into the bus. I had a torrid time doing this because the majority of our group were girls who were shell shocked to even move. Somehow we managed to get everyone on board and beat a hasty retreat from the amusement park.

Only sometime into the journey did everyone gather their wits and slowly the dust started to settle down. Fortunately there were no broken bones or fallen teeth there were bruises a black eye and minor injuries here and there which were not so serious. Hence we didn’t have to make a pit stop at a hospital on our way back.  If my memory serves me right there was someone who lost his spectacles in the ensuing melee (he later came to me saying that he needed reimbursement for this from the tour fund) .When the whole story was uncovered the girls were pretty pissed off with the guys for their knee jerk reaction. Their view was that the situation could have been handled differently. I vividly remember one of my fiery female classmates asking us if we would react like this every single time someone passed comments on them. As always I had to play the mediator and had a hard time to calm down the flayed tempers.

  

 I guess this incident made our class closer as a group and impressed upon all of us the fact that we really did care for each other. I understood that when something of this sort happens it creases the comfort level of a group of individuals by leaps and bounds .During the course of our college I have countless number of times reiterated to my female classmates that they are lucky to have guys like us as their peers. 

The other day when I happened to see a commercial on TV for Gillete which had a tagline ‘Soldier for Women’ it sparked old memories in me. At a time when the entire country is engaged in a debate on women’s safety I wanted to share this particular incident in college. I dedicate this to all the women who I have come across in my life, Jai Ho.

College Diaries #1

On a hot afternoon in December last year  I was standing at the corridor of my alma mater trying to replicate the feeling that I had more than 5 years ago. Things had changed a lot during the ensuing period I had lost hair put on some weight become older and wiser and no more the student of this institution just an alumni like countless others. What made this place very special to me? I was left wondering. I can't find a single reason. Our college situated in as scenic campus in the outskirts of Trivandrum city had a special place in my life. Here is where I learned the tricks of my trade, where I was transformed from a boy to a man the list is endless the nostalgia is too intense for me to objectively think and write so here I am penning down a few lines about my college life that come randomly to me.

I enjoyed the freedom the place offered to me. After 12 years of schooling College was a welcome change. Qualities that were innate in me until then slowly started to come out and there was every opportunity for me to put that in use and I believe that I had used that to the best of my ability. Placement co-ordinator, Tour co-ordinator, Class representative, Events co-coordinator for a Tech cum Cultural fest, anchoring on stage for numerous events, dance you name them and I have done it all. I take this opportunity to thank all my classmates for their support and encouragement all along without which any of this would not have been possible.  

My description of the college would not get started if I don't paint a picture of the surroundings. A campus which acts as a headquarters for the Kerala University around 5-6 acres plush with lush greenery with lot of trees well paved roads a kind of place where you can take your girlfriend around for a quiet  walk after bunking classes. The college as such was not that great it was the campus that made it sexy.  I remember at the end each hour we used to just take off from our classes roam here and there and come back well into the next hour. The guys in our class rarely occupied the front rows in the class the front rows were either left vacant or were occupied by geeky girls.  We guys had in fact monopolised  the entire back row. Who can forget the getaways that we had after bunking classes Kovalam Beach, Madupara(a rock cave), Kazhakootam beach and many others. I  should not forgot the favourite hangout spot of us was  a pond situated  within the campus called as Haimavathi it was supposedly the source of fresh water for the entire campus and it had stories of its own to tell . At times mostly during the afternoons we would retire to this pond to chill out until the end of college hours it was in fact a regular feature during the final year where we used to bunk the labs every week without fail. I still remember the violent reactions from my friends that it so happened that every guy in the class had an attendance of 20 % for this particular lab while I was the sole guy in the class with 70 % + attendance. It was not that I went to the labs regularly but due to the fact that I was a placement co-ordinator and my teachers were under the impression that I was doing some activity related to that. It was not long before they realised my true colours and I slowly started to get pushed out of the good books of my teachers’ .After I left Trivandrum during my stints in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai I have always missed the greenery that I was privy to once.  

Well how I can leave off the political activism of our college. Our college campus was the hotbed of student political activity. It was called the Red fort of SFI(Students Federation of India). I still remember vividly the first strike I took part in .It was not as if I was political active or anything but it was just for the feel it. But that one was special it was during my first year in college we had marched to the office of the Joint registrar or something  of the University from one end of the campus to the other end shouting slogans fist pumping and all. My political activism ended there I being the son of a bureaucrat for that matter loathed politics that was the first  and the last time I did  anything like that.  I remember after that picketing as we were walking back to our classes we were all in a jolly mood joking around and chatting excitedly about our first experience when one of our seniors came up and rebuked us for taking things too lightly and how we had to solemnly and silently walk back to our classes. My class had a fair brand of political activists, during our final year the Chairman, Vice Chairperson and Secretary of the College Union were from my class and for that matter our class enjoyed enormous amount of clout in the College. Our final year tour which was a coup of sorts during that time because no final year batch has gone ever for an official tour is a story in itself.