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.

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.