College is sometimes a hidden bud vase for many unexpected events and also a source of true friendship. The same ten letter word is also a strong relationship between two students of the same seminary and that relationship sometimes grows so strong that the person develops an inbuilt courage to go to any extent for his friend. The day was strange for me to see many people at the entrance gate of my college and principal of the college standing in front of them and addressing something we never expected. With a dull voice the dean informed everyone that one of our senior expired last night in an accident and he said that the college would be off for the day. Everyone for a moment was still and couldn’t believe, meanwhile a person came rushing in front of the gathering and informed everyone that this is not just an accident but it’s a sheer negligence of the hospital staff in which the person was joined after the accident. The silence immediately broke up and everyone started murmuring among themselves. “Lets show what we are” A voice came from the centre of the crowd and I don’t know whether that statement added fuel to our already burning heart, but immediately everyone ran into the college buses near by and we all went to the hospital with full of pain in our hearts. We surely didn’t knew what we were doing at that instant but all we had in mind was to pay a tribute to our friend. The buses within no time reached the hospital premises and everyone got down immediately started yelling slogans against the hospital staff. To our surprise one of us walked briskly towards the hospital main door and broke its panes. And that had instilled courage in the hearts of everyone and everyone joined hand in hand to him.
Within no time all the news channels were screening up the entire drama live and we didn’t notice that. When we came out of the hospital building area we were shocked seeing some people burning our college busses and throwing stones at us and we realized that they were the medicos who were trained in that hospital. The situation turned more worse and we in turn started throwing stones at them meanwhile the head of the hospital had informed the police about all the consequences and suddenly police came rushing with arms towards us to control us. We really felt proud for all that we have done but that didn’t stand long the moment police entered the area we were running so hard that we didn’t certainly knew were we were heading to. I along with Krishna and sai were running hard in the narrow lanes near the hospital outskirts. We were happy that we escaped from the cops at the right moment, but the moment we crossed the lane a police van with dozen of cops stopped right in front of us and few of the cops jumped from the van and were chasing us from opposite direction with a 2 meter long stick in their hands. We couldn’t believe that this time we started running at a faster pace. I was really tensed at that moment and sweat was rushing out from my body and to my surprise Krishna started giggling beside me and cracking all sorts of inappropriate jokes. I was really surprised about his easy going nature at that worry moment. We at last found a place where we could be away from the cops for a moment and it was sai’s friends house. The moment we entered the house we immediately closed the door and sat inside with all the panic on our face seen clearly.
We switched on the TV and as expected all the adventure we did was shown frame by frame in the news channels. Don’t know at the moment we felt as if we have achieved something great. Sai was very tall among us but we never expected that his height would ever become that popular that he would be shown distinctly among everyone on the TV. And seeing him on the T.V sets was a sort of peculiar entertainment for us as Krishna was framing a strange story on him. As the twilight approached I safely reached home escaping from the cops. I was well prepared for the entire rebuke from my father before I entered the house so as usual I calmly stood before him accepting what all he said. He insisted me not to go to college for about two days and he started speculating what all would happen in the near future of my career. Listening to all that I was really scared of how my career would mould up in the future. News channels have a stupid habit of showing the same stuff multiple times with different way of presentations, and every time whenever my father noticed all that on T.V he used to say me all the scary things how it would ruin my life. It took around a week to forget all that. If a person does anything good very few appreciate him but if he ever does even a single err he is reprimanded by many who rarely know him. Everyone started calling my father asking for the complete explanation of what all happened and how much was my part in all that.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
College Memories Part-3
The more you strive for anything in life the more deep you plunge into the quick sand of emotions. Birthdays were a bit special in our college and they are primarily the spring of ideas. No matter you know a particular person or not but he comes up straight to u hits hard at the flipside and throws a strange grin at you. The memories of twinge which I received on my birthday are still fresh in my mind. It was a new morning for me neatly dressed up in new attire on my birthday I came to the college and it was a bit strange to me something unusual was going on beneath my heart asking me to be prepared for a nightmare. The silence in the class room was a bit bizarre. I calmly sat in my place and was dreaming about something, Suddenly Krishna came briskly towards me and asked me to get up and I didn’t knew that there was a reason behind them asking me to get up. I got up and he took me to the centre of the class and before I could think of the reason he hit me hard at my back and I don’t know exactly whether this athletic event inspired many, but everyone in the class started coming at a stretch and had their share of joy, and most horrible was the climax when all the team game is done a guy comes up and says “lets leave him buddy he cant withstand more from us” as if I was eager to receive more from them.
Birthdays may be exciting for many as they receive pleasant gifts from friends and, yes I too thought the same having an eye on the gift cover which Sundeep was carrying with him. All my friends were eagerly waiting for the lunch break as I heard a strange giggle at my back but I dint notice then that the giggle was at me. At last the lunch break has come and the moment the bell rang all my friends surrounded me. I was a bit excited but my excitement didn’t stand long. Aditya took the cover from Sundeep and gave it to me and asked me to open it as a token of my birthday. I was very eager to find what’s in it and I opened it very well thought-out way. But the moment I opened it I dint have my eye on it but I was watching my friends they started laughing loud and when I looked at it, Gosh ! it was a bit humiliating and of course I never laughed that much ever in my life and the reason being I got an under garment as a gift and girls beside me were laughing so hard that they couldn’t control themselves they immediately moved out of the class and involved in a deep express amusement. From then everyone in the class for about a month used to look at me and when I looked back at them they used to laugh unknowingly.
Many people come into our life but very few leave their footprints in your heart among them are Friends. Sundeep was such a friend who has left a long standing snapshot of him in my memories. He was a guy whom everyone loved in the college to be with. He used to be very composed in whatever he did. The first hand who’s you would find when requested for a help regarding anything would be his. And I was a complete contrast to him in terms of thinking and behavior. I used to get irritated for simple things but Sundeep was so cool that sometimes I asked him how he was so composed and cool. We as a group used to discuss every significant thing and of course every worthless fad as well. Slowly the falthu jokes which I used to often crack became a source of entertainment for my friends and yes they were also a gist for many pranks on me.
Krishna used to be very much involved in teasing people and the first name which comes up when he decides the same is me. God I never knew until today how he gets strange ideas and frames stories on my behavior. He used to frame nice yarn and everyone used to listen to his tale very eagerly and at the end, the story’s background hero was me of course listening to those stories made me a clown rather than a hero. He used to wait to pick up negatives in me and used them as sources for his tales and people listening to that used to break their tummy laughing hard.
To Be Continued....
Birthdays may be exciting for many as they receive pleasant gifts from friends and, yes I too thought the same having an eye on the gift cover which Sundeep was carrying with him. All my friends were eagerly waiting for the lunch break as I heard a strange giggle at my back but I dint notice then that the giggle was at me. At last the lunch break has come and the moment the bell rang all my friends surrounded me. I was a bit excited but my excitement didn’t stand long. Aditya took the cover from Sundeep and gave it to me and asked me to open it as a token of my birthday. I was very eager to find what’s in it and I opened it very well thought-out way. But the moment I opened it I dint have my eye on it but I was watching my friends they started laughing loud and when I looked at it, Gosh ! it was a bit humiliating and of course I never laughed that much ever in my life and the reason being I got an under garment as a gift and girls beside me were laughing so hard that they couldn’t control themselves they immediately moved out of the class and involved in a deep express amusement. From then everyone in the class for about a month used to look at me and when I looked back at them they used to laugh unknowingly.
Many people come into our life but very few leave their footprints in your heart among them are Friends. Sundeep was such a friend who has left a long standing snapshot of him in my memories. He was a guy whom everyone loved in the college to be with. He used to be very composed in whatever he did. The first hand who’s you would find when requested for a help regarding anything would be his. And I was a complete contrast to him in terms of thinking and behavior. I used to get irritated for simple things but Sundeep was so cool that sometimes I asked him how he was so composed and cool. We as a group used to discuss every significant thing and of course every worthless fad as well. Slowly the falthu jokes which I used to often crack became a source of entertainment for my friends and yes they were also a gist for many pranks on me.
Krishna used to be very much involved in teasing people and the first name which comes up when he decides the same is me. God I never knew until today how he gets strange ideas and frames stories on my behavior. He used to frame nice yarn and everyone used to listen to his tale very eagerly and at the end, the story’s background hero was me of course listening to those stories made me a clown rather than a hero. He used to wait to pick up negatives in me and used them as sources for his tales and people listening to that used to break their tummy laughing hard.
To Be Continued....
Monday, December 22, 2008
College Memories part-2
College may be a place students come to enhance their knowledge and to learn new things. According to my perception college life not only teaches us about the subjects and acads but also sometimes creates an emotional network between friends. The emotional element which I am talking is not only between friends but also between lecturers and students. During the second year 2nd semester of our engineering we were informed that a renowned lecturer named Padmanabam would be teaching us Fluid Mechanics. And as usual we didn’t have an idea of what the subject is about nor about the lecturer. Padmanabam had a peculiar way of teaching, he used to explain the concepts very well with worldly examples and of course even he had a habit like other lecturers to ask questions in the middle of the session. We generally had no interest with lectures and stuff but don know what happened that day not only me everyone started listening to the session with interest. Suddenly he stopped the lecture and pointed at me I was a bit tensed but later got to know that it was for the person sitting behind me. Padmanabam had a strange voice and when he was angry or he scolded anyone he would utter only one sentence “ Stand up and Get Out” but the voice of him made us laugh but we controlled very hard as we would be out of the class if we didn’t.
The fluid mechanics lab was a bit interesting having opportunity to see machinery and performing various experiments on the fluids like engine oil flowing inside the machine. But I still remember the day when Padmanabam sir gave a set of assignments to us and asked us to complete it by Friday morning. The day came when we should submit the assignments and we also know how the consequences would be if we hadn’t done. I was a bit frustrated that day as I had completed only 80 per of the work. One of my classmate went to show his work to his cabin and the next was my turn and when he came back I asked him what did the sir say, he replied that he indeed scolded him for not writing the assignment neatly and in order. Immediately I criticized sir to be a perfectionist and doing a bit more than what he actually is. Unfortunately the sir listened to what all I said and he asked to meet the principal for giving the explanation for the same. I didn’t recognize until then that the bond between me and princi was so deep that for every single thing I would be sent to him. And this time it is not going to be taken easy because already my cell phone was there with him and now if I go again to him he would ask me to call my parents to meet him, somehow I requested the sir to excuse me for what all I said, he insisted me not to attend his class for a week and I did obey him and escaped from there.
‘Juniors’ not a new term for us as we have already undergone that stage and now it is our turn to show our strength. But our batch was more interested on the girls who newly joined the college rather than ragging and stuff. We after every class used to be in the near by basketball court which is close to the juniors class and as usual our dean was on rounds observing us for what all we did. The bus journey at the end of the day was really fascinating there were around 15 buses of our college. We had a peculiar seating arrangement wherein every boy seated in separate seat keeping a place vacant besides him. And the reason for that is to allow junior girls to sit beside us. And the moment they come we would frame many questions and ideas in mind which we could ask them. And we used to ask them to sing some peculiar songs which were generally sung by people in the villages and rural areas.
We had a big craze for movies and we even planned to bunk some classes which were not that interesting and plan for a movie out. Of course in that village the theatres weren’t that good but still as we all were together we enjoyed even that. One day when I came back home from the college I got a strange idea to watch a movie nearby my house and no one stayed near my house so I didn’t inform my friends and just called one of my classmate Swathi to come for the movie. She accepted it and we both happily enjoyed the movie and came back. The next day in the college everyone were speaking about movies and I joined their discussion. Sainath (The tall Guy) in our group asked me what I knew about the story of a movie. And to my surprise he asked me about the movie which I saw the other day with Swathi. I just acted as if I didn’t knew anything about the movie. And everyone maintained silence as if something unknown happened. Everyone slowely started singing a song changing the lyrics of it adding the word Swathi. Then I came to know that the situation is out of my hands and everything that I did the other day is known to them. I said them that no one was near by so I had to go along with that girl. And to my bad luck no one accepted that and from that day whenever that girl used to enter the classroom or leave the class or even got up they used to shout my name loudly.
Sainath was a friend whom I never forget in my life he had an altruistic mentality which a very few would posses. He was tall and handsome and we compared him with one of the upcoming heroes in the films. He used to be very jovial and energetic always and at the same time very cautious about Acads. And to me as a friend he used to share everything even about his personal life. We both were always together all through out the day in the college and people seeing us both used to throw a strange look at us as he was very tall and me a bit thin. Day by day we all were becoming very close to each others lives. As the time passed the facial characteristics of us changed and yes even the hair of Prarathana grew from Indira Gandhi style to modern Priyanka Chopra. When I started talking to Prarthu (Prarthana) she used to respond so nicely and caringly that it made me call her again and again and immediately when I got down of my college bus I used to call her and speak to her until she reached her house. Priya who was sitting near by her used to observe everything and used to tease me when I was back to the college the next day.
To Be Continued...
The fluid mechanics lab was a bit interesting having opportunity to see machinery and performing various experiments on the fluids like engine oil flowing inside the machine. But I still remember the day when Padmanabam sir gave a set of assignments to us and asked us to complete it by Friday morning. The day came when we should submit the assignments and we also know how the consequences would be if we hadn’t done. I was a bit frustrated that day as I had completed only 80 per of the work. One of my classmate went to show his work to his cabin and the next was my turn and when he came back I asked him what did the sir say, he replied that he indeed scolded him for not writing the assignment neatly and in order. Immediately I criticized sir to be a perfectionist and doing a bit more than what he actually is. Unfortunately the sir listened to what all I said and he asked to meet the principal for giving the explanation for the same. I didn’t recognize until then that the bond between me and princi was so deep that for every single thing I would be sent to him. And this time it is not going to be taken easy because already my cell phone was there with him and now if I go again to him he would ask me to call my parents to meet him, somehow I requested the sir to excuse me for what all I said, he insisted me not to attend his class for a week and I did obey him and escaped from there.
‘Juniors’ not a new term for us as we have already undergone that stage and now it is our turn to show our strength. But our batch was more interested on the girls who newly joined the college rather than ragging and stuff. We after every class used to be in the near by basketball court which is close to the juniors class and as usual our dean was on rounds observing us for what all we did. The bus journey at the end of the day was really fascinating there were around 15 buses of our college. We had a peculiar seating arrangement wherein every boy seated in separate seat keeping a place vacant besides him. And the reason for that is to allow junior girls to sit beside us. And the moment they come we would frame many questions and ideas in mind which we could ask them. And we used to ask them to sing some peculiar songs which were generally sung by people in the villages and rural areas.
We had a big craze for movies and we even planned to bunk some classes which were not that interesting and plan for a movie out. Of course in that village the theatres weren’t that good but still as we all were together we enjoyed even that. One day when I came back home from the college I got a strange idea to watch a movie nearby my house and no one stayed near my house so I didn’t inform my friends and just called one of my classmate Swathi to come for the movie. She accepted it and we both happily enjoyed the movie and came back. The next day in the college everyone were speaking about movies and I joined their discussion. Sainath (The tall Guy) in our group asked me what I knew about the story of a movie. And to my surprise he asked me about the movie which I saw the other day with Swathi. I just acted as if I didn’t knew anything about the movie. And everyone maintained silence as if something unknown happened. Everyone slowely started singing a song changing the lyrics of it adding the word Swathi. Then I came to know that the situation is out of my hands and everything that I did the other day is known to them. I said them that no one was near by so I had to go along with that girl. And to my bad luck no one accepted that and from that day whenever that girl used to enter the classroom or leave the class or even got up they used to shout my name loudly.
Sainath was a friend whom I never forget in my life he had an altruistic mentality which a very few would posses. He was tall and handsome and we compared him with one of the upcoming heroes in the films. He used to be very jovial and energetic always and at the same time very cautious about Acads. And to me as a friend he used to share everything even about his personal life. We both were always together all through out the day in the college and people seeing us both used to throw a strange look at us as he was very tall and me a bit thin. Day by day we all were becoming very close to each others lives. As the time passed the facial characteristics of us changed and yes even the hair of Prarathana grew from Indira Gandhi style to modern Priyanka Chopra. When I started talking to Prarthu (Prarthana) she used to respond so nicely and caringly that it made me call her again and again and immediately when I got down of my college bus I used to call her and speak to her until she reached her house. Priya who was sitting near by her used to observe everything and used to tease me when I was back to the college the next day.
To Be Continued...
Monday, November 3, 2008
College Memories Part 1
“ 10,000 “ how do you feel about this figure may be sometimes fascinating when you think of the money aspect and sometimes insulting when you think about your position in competitive exams. Yes you are right I am talking about the second instance. Having secured this rank I was confused which branch to opt for in my Engineering and to my surprise when I entered the room where the counseling for Engineering seats began I saw many people discussing about their ranks and the figure in their score cards was somewhere around 50 to 60k. At this point I felt a little happy for making a better move than others but at the same time was a little tensed after knowing the Reservation policy. Alas I choose a college DVR college of Engineering and Mechanical Engineering as my branch. Don’t be misguided that I choose this branch as I loved it no I just had that branch left in the college.
‘ College Life ’ heard many things about it and yes even had watched some of the movies. But truly what I expected was far away from my reach when I first entered the collage premises. And the constant shunting from my father that your rank made u be here was burning my stomach which was already been starving since 2 hours. My father dropped me and he silently left the college and the moment I saw him vanish from my eyesight I started to feel as if I was the king of that place. But my expectations disappeared more quickly than I dreamt of them when I saw 4 guys with long hair marching fast towards me. I briskly walked as if I didn’t notice them but I couldn’t for long time of course my feet was moving but body isn’t and the reason behind that was my shirt tightly gripped in the hands of one of the guys whom I saw at the college entrance. I heard a voice “ Sir your Assignment “ a gal giving a long notebook to the hands of that guy and she left. The word ‘sir’ which in my childhood I used to insist my younger brothers to call me so now became a big hurdle in front of me. Yes the so-called seniors who were supposed to be treated as kings in the college caught me right at the college entrance. I gave them a special respect by buying them cool drinks and handed over my Tiffin box to them asking them to leave me.
The First day of the college, which I expected to begin by meeting a nice good looking gal turned out to be something strange with the seniors. When I entered the classroom 1st year mechanical I saw a gal scribbling something on a book and yes the words, which she wrote, repeated in definite pattern. I asked her what it is she didn’t respond and she kept writing. I couldn’t resist such behavior and asked a bit louder, the same unknown reply came back. This time I tried different I kept my hand forward to give a shake hand and introduce myself but I didn’t notice that a guy was watching me from behind. He briskly came to her took the book from her and placed it in my hand saying just one word ‘1000 times’. I heard the phrase ‘Being in others shoes’ but I needed to wait for a long year to brand myself as a senior.
The First class being English which I never listened nor I understood I started gazing at the other side of the my bench and yes you guessed it right I meant the row where the girls sit. Someone during my 12th said that mechanical is a branch where in you don’t find girls much and even if you find them they are not that eligible to be noticed. And what we discussed was absolutely right I didn’t find even a single girl worth watching and immediately turned towards my right “Hi Krishna here “ came a voice found him interesting because he was the first one to speak to me. “Hi I m phani” I responded. But I never expected that my name would end up in making him laugh “Did you mean funny” he laughed a bit loud and to my misfortune my English teacher pointed me and asked me what’s the difference between Adjective and an Adverb and I confidently said both are used to structure a sentence. And I was gazed by many as if I achieved something brilliant but that satisfaction didn’t went long as the teacher replied back to me that “ I didn’t ask you the usage I asked you the Definition” and god I got screwed up especially before the girls. And some of them already started giggling showing off their 32 teeth. I found a tall guy whom at the first glance I thought him to be senior and said “ sir good morning “. He was impressed and took me to the back of the class where I found another 4 guys staring at me. Without wasting a second I wished all of them and they started asking me all sorts of questions which people usually say Bio-data. The bell rang again and it was time for another hour I slowly moved to the class but was surprised to see those 4 guys coming back of me and when I came inside the class they too were in along with me. I noticed then that they were just my classmates and they fooled me. After the class I rushed towards them and before I could say anything the tallest among them stretched his hand forward and said “ I am sainath it was just a prank take it on the liter side”. I was very happy that time that I could find some nice friends in the college. And among the other folks were Sundeep Sidharth and Chandu. And from that day we used to roam in a group so as to avoid seniors.
Mechanical Engineering more of practicality than theory and added to this are Machine Drawings. I always hated those drawings I used to ask my mother not to pack a bulky Tiffin box, as it will be hard for me to carry, but I couldn’t recognize that the lunch box was not heavier as the Drafter, which we carried along whenever there was a drawing class. And who ever couldn’t bring it or came up with an excuse of having forgotten it would be out of the class for that day.
College Canteen was a nice place for us to have a nice chitchat provided only when seniors were engaged in some work or games. And the first day when we all met at the canteen was really worth mentioning, we very well knew about each other. When we were having a nice sip of coffee a group of gals came and sat beside us and then came new characters into our group. A gal with short hair and resembling Indira gandhi introduced herself to us as Prarthana though she looked soft at the first instance she wasn’t at all soft and she was so open that she started pulling the plate of dosa which we were eating and she shared it with us. Another gal was Priyanka who was bit reserved, but when we once started speaking she was talking at such a rapid speed that we could only understand bits of what she spoke. Gauthami ‘The Bindaas gal’ she was so open and so friendly that sometimes we misinterpreted her as a boy rather than a gal. And the typical slang, which she has, makes everyone gaze at her conversation. Since childhood I used to have a habit of cracking falthu jokes, which made no one laugh than myself. Unfortunately I couldn’t stop myself uttering some stupid jokes but to my surprise I found priya, laughing lauder than I did and the rest of them staring at us with a strange gesture. At that moment I didn’t notice anyone but I stared at priya who had a common trait as I had ( laughing at jokes which are not considered as jokes ). May be from then she had become my best friend I ever found.
Krishna alias Kittu (As we call him) is a guy with a clean heart and has a very compassionate feeling towards his friends. He never used to stop teasing friends nor used to be aloof from anyone. He was the true friend which everyone would love to possess. His behavior of teasing made some people irritating and some people come close to him. I still remember a day when he stood before us protecting us from the seniors. The stories he used to frame based on the people’s behavior used to be so funny that we used to laugh hours together thinking about them. And I was the person in the background for most of his stories.
First year exams were successfully done and we never cared about the results. Second year a prestigious feeling of being seniors sometimes made us proud. And we were eagerly waiting for our juniors to step into the college and we promised each other that we would all be together and implement what all we experienced when we were juniors. But to our surprise the principal of the college was changed and we also heard that this time its not going to be that easy because the one coming now was a military retired person. And to our expectations he started framing new set of rules like Students shouldn’t come with T-Shirts inside the campus, Cell phones in silent mode, Ragging prohibited altogether, and most importantly coming to college in time and even a minute late would cost him a penalty. Knowing all this we started to hate the college and we slowly started feeling it as a school. We expected that those rules were just rules and never gonna be implemented and I was so confident that I started playing with my cell phone in the middle of the mechanics class. And I was so much involved in the SMS that I forgot the whole world around me. Suddenly a voice came from behind asking me whether the SMS was funny. And without turning back I replied, “Yes it is” and when I was about to explain the SMS I noticed the Principal’s sudden visit to the class and whom I responded until now was none other than the princi himself. He snatched the phone from my hands and asked me to meet him at the office after the class. Everyone beside me started laughing so hard seeing them the lecturer also started giggling. I soon ran to the principal’s room immediately after the class and he asked to bring my parents if I wanted the phone back. When I came back all my friends rushed towards me and asked me what did he say. They all gave different kind of suggestions but the one given by sundeep was somewhat pleasing. He said to tell parents that the phone was actually lost when getting down the college bus. I managed somehow at home but we tried different means to get back the cell phone but failed at the end.
Free hours were very few and when they did come everyone were on the top of the world and we as a batch went to canteen and during that course we met a guy who was a bit well built and he straight away came in the middle of our conversation and introduced himself to priya. We all were a bit shocked we didn’t understand at first that how can he ignore these many people and straight away start speaking to priya. But later we knew that they already knew each other. So we joined him too in our group. He is Aditya, studied his first year in a different college and shifted here in the second year. At first we were a bit hesitated and a bit reluctant too to speak with him but he only involved everyone and started mingling with everyone in our group and slowly became a nice friend of us.
‘ College Life ’ heard many things about it and yes even had watched some of the movies. But truly what I expected was far away from my reach when I first entered the collage premises. And the constant shunting from my father that your rank made u be here was burning my stomach which was already been starving since 2 hours. My father dropped me and he silently left the college and the moment I saw him vanish from my eyesight I started to feel as if I was the king of that place. But my expectations disappeared more quickly than I dreamt of them when I saw 4 guys with long hair marching fast towards me. I briskly walked as if I didn’t notice them but I couldn’t for long time of course my feet was moving but body isn’t and the reason behind that was my shirt tightly gripped in the hands of one of the guys whom I saw at the college entrance. I heard a voice “ Sir your Assignment “ a gal giving a long notebook to the hands of that guy and she left. The word ‘sir’ which in my childhood I used to insist my younger brothers to call me so now became a big hurdle in front of me. Yes the so-called seniors who were supposed to be treated as kings in the college caught me right at the college entrance. I gave them a special respect by buying them cool drinks and handed over my Tiffin box to them asking them to leave me.
The First day of the college, which I expected to begin by meeting a nice good looking gal turned out to be something strange with the seniors. When I entered the classroom 1st year mechanical I saw a gal scribbling something on a book and yes the words, which she wrote, repeated in definite pattern. I asked her what it is she didn’t respond and she kept writing. I couldn’t resist such behavior and asked a bit louder, the same unknown reply came back. This time I tried different I kept my hand forward to give a shake hand and introduce myself but I didn’t notice that a guy was watching me from behind. He briskly came to her took the book from her and placed it in my hand saying just one word ‘1000 times’. I heard the phrase ‘Being in others shoes’ but I needed to wait for a long year to brand myself as a senior.
The First class being English which I never listened nor I understood I started gazing at the other side of the my bench and yes you guessed it right I meant the row where the girls sit. Someone during my 12th said that mechanical is a branch where in you don’t find girls much and even if you find them they are not that eligible to be noticed. And what we discussed was absolutely right I didn’t find even a single girl worth watching and immediately turned towards my right “Hi Krishna here “ came a voice found him interesting because he was the first one to speak to me. “Hi I m phani” I responded. But I never expected that my name would end up in making him laugh “Did you mean funny” he laughed a bit loud and to my misfortune my English teacher pointed me and asked me what’s the difference between Adjective and an Adverb and I confidently said both are used to structure a sentence. And I was gazed by many as if I achieved something brilliant but that satisfaction didn’t went long as the teacher replied back to me that “ I didn’t ask you the usage I asked you the Definition” and god I got screwed up especially before the girls. And some of them already started giggling showing off their 32 teeth. I found a tall guy whom at the first glance I thought him to be senior and said “ sir good morning “. He was impressed and took me to the back of the class where I found another 4 guys staring at me. Without wasting a second I wished all of them and they started asking me all sorts of questions which people usually say Bio-data. The bell rang again and it was time for another hour I slowly moved to the class but was surprised to see those 4 guys coming back of me and when I came inside the class they too were in along with me. I noticed then that they were just my classmates and they fooled me. After the class I rushed towards them and before I could say anything the tallest among them stretched his hand forward and said “ I am sainath it was just a prank take it on the liter side”. I was very happy that time that I could find some nice friends in the college. And among the other folks were Sundeep Sidharth and Chandu. And from that day we used to roam in a group so as to avoid seniors.
Mechanical Engineering more of practicality than theory and added to this are Machine Drawings. I always hated those drawings I used to ask my mother not to pack a bulky Tiffin box, as it will be hard for me to carry, but I couldn’t recognize that the lunch box was not heavier as the Drafter, which we carried along whenever there was a drawing class. And who ever couldn’t bring it or came up with an excuse of having forgotten it would be out of the class for that day.
College Canteen was a nice place for us to have a nice chitchat provided only when seniors were engaged in some work or games. And the first day when we all met at the canteen was really worth mentioning, we very well knew about each other. When we were having a nice sip of coffee a group of gals came and sat beside us and then came new characters into our group. A gal with short hair and resembling Indira gandhi introduced herself to us as Prarthana though she looked soft at the first instance she wasn’t at all soft and she was so open that she started pulling the plate of dosa which we were eating and she shared it with us. Another gal was Priyanka who was bit reserved, but when we once started speaking she was talking at such a rapid speed that we could only understand bits of what she spoke. Gauthami ‘The Bindaas gal’ she was so open and so friendly that sometimes we misinterpreted her as a boy rather than a gal. And the typical slang, which she has, makes everyone gaze at her conversation. Since childhood I used to have a habit of cracking falthu jokes, which made no one laugh than myself. Unfortunately I couldn’t stop myself uttering some stupid jokes but to my surprise I found priya, laughing lauder than I did and the rest of them staring at us with a strange gesture. At that moment I didn’t notice anyone but I stared at priya who had a common trait as I had ( laughing at jokes which are not considered as jokes ). May be from then she had become my best friend I ever found.
Krishna alias Kittu (As we call him) is a guy with a clean heart and has a very compassionate feeling towards his friends. He never used to stop teasing friends nor used to be aloof from anyone. He was the true friend which everyone would love to possess. His behavior of teasing made some people irritating and some people come close to him. I still remember a day when he stood before us protecting us from the seniors. The stories he used to frame based on the people’s behavior used to be so funny that we used to laugh hours together thinking about them. And I was the person in the background for most of his stories.
First year exams were successfully done and we never cared about the results. Second year a prestigious feeling of being seniors sometimes made us proud. And we were eagerly waiting for our juniors to step into the college and we promised each other that we would all be together and implement what all we experienced when we were juniors. But to our surprise the principal of the college was changed and we also heard that this time its not going to be that easy because the one coming now was a military retired person. And to our expectations he started framing new set of rules like Students shouldn’t come with T-Shirts inside the campus, Cell phones in silent mode, Ragging prohibited altogether, and most importantly coming to college in time and even a minute late would cost him a penalty. Knowing all this we started to hate the college and we slowly started feeling it as a school. We expected that those rules were just rules and never gonna be implemented and I was so confident that I started playing with my cell phone in the middle of the mechanics class. And I was so much involved in the SMS that I forgot the whole world around me. Suddenly a voice came from behind asking me whether the SMS was funny. And without turning back I replied, “Yes it is” and when I was about to explain the SMS I noticed the Principal’s sudden visit to the class and whom I responded until now was none other than the princi himself. He snatched the phone from my hands and asked me to meet him at the office after the class. Everyone beside me started laughing so hard seeing them the lecturer also started giggling. I soon ran to the principal’s room immediately after the class and he asked to bring my parents if I wanted the phone back. When I came back all my friends rushed towards me and asked me what did he say. They all gave different kind of suggestions but the one given by sundeep was somewhat pleasing. He said to tell parents that the phone was actually lost when getting down the college bus. I managed somehow at home but we tried different means to get back the cell phone but failed at the end.
Free hours were very few and when they did come everyone were on the top of the world and we as a batch went to canteen and during that course we met a guy who was a bit well built and he straight away came in the middle of our conversation and introduced himself to priya. We all were a bit shocked we didn’t understand at first that how can he ignore these many people and straight away start speaking to priya. But later we knew that they already knew each other. So we joined him too in our group. He is Aditya, studied his first year in a different college and shifted here in the second year. At first we were a bit hesitated and a bit reluctant too to speak with him but he only involved everyone and started mingling with everyone in our group and slowly became a nice friend of us.
Sublime Anguish
In the Midst of Darkness there came a small ray of light piercing from the ragged shelter straightly on to my facade. It indicated me of my routine and slowly I stood up on the firm floor pushing myself outside. Another day started in my life aspiring for many things but not having enough courage to think of them. The old torn dress and the half black hair which was never combed in my life signified my status in the society and half filled stomach indicated how I eat once and starve the rest of the day spending the days earning. No matter how I am and what I do the habit of mine to think about possessing great things in life never stopped. I still remember the days when I used to sit hours together watching school children peeping into their books and scribbling something on a white surface with a pointed object. I always wished to be there at least for a day in life. The scant rainfall, hot sun and the rapid winds never taught me what the children learnt at their schools. The old tin having cereal grains never filled up and the situation was so worse that today I need to sweat out more to fill half of my tummy. I had days in my life when I did handful of work but earned nothing and I also remember the days when I begged for food and starved for the whole day.
Thinking all these I walked slowly towards the town and knocked the door of a man who promised me of the days work. Suddenly the door opened and the man in came out rushing and pushed me hard. I couldn’t resist that force and fell down on the near by thorn bush which covered my leg with a red tint all through from my elbow to knee. I wanted to cry hard but the reason of me being there restricted me to do so. I couldn’t question the man y he pushed me or hurt me. He raised his hand showing me the place where I need to go for work and I calmly obeyed him. People who stay in Air-conditioned rooms all the day doing white colored jobs wait for the time to come out and face the hot sun, but here my situation is quite different I never feel happy to be in the hot sun nor I wish to be in Air-conditioned rooms. Imagining about my Anguish whole through out the day has now became a part of my work. Unfortunately thinking about it I moved the axe on to my toe. The pain was so horrible that I felt out of this world for a moment. I resisted it for a moment and continued my work. After the days work when I was moving to my home I again found the school children yelling out poems and songs taught by their teachers I tried uttering those words but couldn’t make it. Suddenly while walking I fell into a deep pit and the darkness which I observed just before I woke up in the morning covered me again and suddenly a strange voice came near me asking me to get up. I slowly opened my eyes and gosh I was surprised that I am in my home and what all I experienced until now was just a dream.
The AC was so chill that I immediately got up and switched it off and the velvet carpet beneath my feet protected my feet from experiencing the cold. I was really amazed about the dream which I had experienced the other night. But it had sowed a seed to an idea in my mind that the people who work day in and day out but ends up earning nothing at the end of day are indeed suffering for just a day’s meal. I thank god who made me experience all these without actually being into their shoes. And from that day I opened up my heart to push out all sort of negatives about those people and invite fresh ideas into my mind to make them and their lives happy and secure. Not only me many people in this world get ideas and thoughts to help the poor and disabled but the thoughts remain as thoughts as they never implement them.
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