Its been 8 months now, leaving the college and working for a company. In order to survive in this kind of world, had to restructure my language, change the way I dress, sleep early, get up early, get a clean shave everyday and many more. I hate this kind of life, wish I were a student again. The time has not run out yet, but if I continue living like this, life is going to get miserable for me.
A couple of days ago, I was supposed to go to my college for my Convocation (Degree Awarding Ceremony). I was really happy to visit my college again. So were my friends. We quickly made a plan of going there. We were some 10 of us. Most of them decided to book a room at Surathkal (3 Km from my college) and stay there. Wooo, these 8 months have surely changed them a lot. I was firm of my decision of staying at the Hostels Final Block. I wanted to relive the old days. Harshal and Swaroop also agreed. I had informed my juniors about my plan and my decision of staying in the hostels with them. Even they were happy, I had to pack my bag, so i just asked swaroop what he is gonna take along with him, Here's the Gtalk Conversation :
me: hmmmmm
bag main kya kya lene waala hai ? :)
Swaroop: 2 chaddi. 2 baniyan. 2 T shirt. 1 pant. (1 pant angawar)
me: :)
Swaroop: 1 towel. 1 toothbrush. 1 toothpaste. 1 shaving kit
tu ?
me: mi pan same...........except toothpaste :)
When it was decided to relive the olden days, why not pack the bag accordingly ? There were things which I purposefully didn't take along with me.
Tooth paste was just one of them. Old Habits die hard.
I reached the College at 6:30 am. I called up one of my junior Omkar (a.k.a. Yakku) He was awake already. This is a very rare scene to observe, someone awake at 6:30 am on a weekend and that too in a hostel !! The main gate was closed, but a sideway was always open in the mornings. But we opted to climb the gate as we used to do while coming back after 10 pm. By the time we reached the Hostel gate, he was there at the entrance to welcome us. Even we were surprised at his enthusiasm to meet us. Yakku is a fatso, and stayed on the 3rd floor. But still he had come down to escort us to his room :)
The Convo was at 3 pm. Till then we got fresh, I used Yakku's Slipper, Yakku's Tooth paste, Put my mobile to charge on Yakku's Charger. Old Habits Die hard.
For Breakfast, we went to our college canteen to eat the only item which has kept it open for so many years, 'Open Dosa' Maaannn That was delicious. i met most of my batch friends in the canteen itself, and all had ordered Open Dosa. Old Habits Die hard.
I had some pending work at the College SBI bank, so I went there, did a jugaad for a pen from one more junior, Rodge. When i was back, ppl were making plans for lunch. Mess food was never good, but there were many options now, When we were in the college, the pocket money we got was very limited and having delicious food was never an option for us. The juniors had started asking us for a treat, i said, " I am going to Ganesh Canteen, Anybody interested ?" Half of the Junta turned back. Still some of them were ready to come with us. (Ganesh Canteen is a very simple canteen where we get Boiled rice and fish curry for 12 rs, and an extra fish fry for 12-15 rs) I loved the food. It was only rice and curry on a banana leaf, but the days when we used to have frequent trips to ganesh canteen had added more flavour to it. Bird flu made us ditch the Plan of Tikka Hut. The regular procedure which we used to follow was, Have food at Ganesh canteen, go to Melting Point, have juice and come back. This time also we followed the same. Old Habits Die hard.
By the time we reached the hostel, it was 2:30 pm. Swaroop decided to take a nap. And i decided to play Quake :)
Convo was to begin at 3 pm and Me and swaroop were still in the hostel, i woke Swaroop up, he was sleeping as he used to sleep in his room, The only garment on his body was an M sized shorts. Swaroop got ready and we started to head towards the Auditorium, it was 3:10 now. I got calls from my friends saying where are you, convo has started. it takes 5 mins to reach the auditorium from the hostels. While I was going, I noticed a strange but a familiar phenomenon, It had been just 3 mins since I had left the hostel gate, and now I was sweating very badly, My face was already wet and had started to become oily, I remembered the old days, this is what I faced for last 4 years, and never complained, and today, only 3 mins of Sun tan made me uncomfortable. When I reached there, I saw Ajit going back to the hostels, Reason : He was wearing a T-shirt and only formals were allowed, not an unsusal sight to see. We went inside, had a seat, there were some speeches delivered. We noticed, that the director was someone else. During my stay at the Institute, at least 4 Directors had changed, so getting the degree from a new one was not at all surprising. Some of my friends had come Drunk to receive the degree, Old habits die hard. The ceremony was a very formal one, but still the students tried to add some humour by whistling while the degrees were being awarded.
Once the ceremony was over, i rushed back to the hostel, Jugaad a Comp and as usual started my Quake sessions. Then we had a plan to visit the beach.
The Beach was a very interesting place to visit, some of the reasons were, the Sunset, Big Ships, Watching birds that fly and birds that walk on the shore :)
We sat on the usual rock, and enjoy a little bit of everything.
After the Sunset of the sun and the birds, we headed for Mangalore. Had food at one of the most expensive hotel in Mangalore "Pallkhi". Had ice cream at a very special place for special people, Iceberg.
We Came back to the hostel at 12 am. Some of us were tired, even I was, but I did not wanted to spend the rest of the time sleeping. So I again made a Jugaad for a Computer and started Quaking. some of my batchmates joined me in the frag session. We played till 4:30 in the morning.
Swaroop and Harshal were watching Taxi 9211 in the other room. later i too decided to watch the movie, so i started it from the first, and by the time John Abraham was in the scene, i was fast asleep and snoring. suddenly i woke up, realised that i cannot watch the movie any longer, switched the comp off, and prepared myself to sleep. My Preparation : Pillow without a cover , Bed without a Bed sheet, and a fan revolving above my head. Thats all. And i loved it. Old Habits die hard.
I woke up at 8 am. I saw Yakku faar away in the corridor brushing his teeth. I was surprised, our juniors are very sincere i thought, And they were.
For Schumacher, Sunday is Raceday, For Me, Sunday is Dosa Day.......in my whole final year, i have never missed a dosa made on sunday. It was delicious. And i used to have at least 2 of them. This time, i had no mess card, no balance in the hostel office, but still i had warned Shetty (the mess in-charge) that i will be coming and whatever ur swami says, i am gonna eat 2 dosas :) Even he agreed. He knew me since First year, i was one of the people in Shetty's list who eat limited things as if they are unlimited. After a Dosa session i again went back on the jugaad Comp, and started playing. Old Habits die hard.
MY friends from the Hotel reached the hostel by around 10:30 am. they asked me,"Abhi tak nahaya nahi kya ?"
I rightly said ," pagal ho gaya hai kya? Sunday ko nahane??"
Let me Do a confession here : In my 4 years which i spent in the college, there wazzunt a single day, when i took a bath and went for lectures. All the baths i took were either in the afternoon or nights. and those too alternate days. People hold record of staying in the hostels without having a bath for continous 11 days.
Now a days, i take a bath daily before going to the office, but today, i was in the hostel and i wanted to act likewise. Swaroop and harshal also agreed,Since harshal had a train journey ahead, he was bound to take a bath.
In the Afternoon, we gave our juniors a treat. i had asked Yakku to jugaad a sandal for me. He gave me his sandal. During the treat i noticed, Yakku was wearing his bathroom slippers. I felt really bad. gave back yakku his sandals, but he refused. After the treat, we bid goodbye to Harshal and came back to the hostels. We were to leave by 9 pm. Like every college, we have a small Food supply unit right in front of the hostel.We called it Sunder(the owners name). We get many egg items over there, and everyones favourite- Maggi. And according to the procedure, after this, Sugarcane juice from Mustafa is a must. After our Pet pooja,we went to the blocks, did our regular activities, for the last time. Some of us just browsed through the LAN, i played Quake :), Some burned CDs, some watched things which are meant to be seen by everyone in the hostels.Old habits die hard. Everyone knew this was the last time. Nothing like this in the future. We packed our bags, and headed for surathkal.Before leaving, Sujit told me, he wanted to go to the main lobby. I just realised, i had come to the college, tried to do everything i did in 4 years in just 2 days, did almost everything, but how did i miss the Main lobby, the SAC (Open air theatre). A college is incomplete without a Main building and i missed out going to the same. Maybe because i didnt like the college as i liked the hostels, or maybe it was just i forgot, about everything, but i still wonder, how did i let this happen. Anyway, we ditched the plan and started to walk for surathkal..It was a 3 Km journey, but it was a memorable one. we had covered the distance on bikes, cycles, bus, cars, but the on foot experience was different. Me and swaroop had once come to the college from surathkal on foot at 11 pm with rains pouring heavily. Bid Surathkal a last Goodbye, Nothing like this in the future, and no chances of coming back and having fun.
Before ending my blog, let me thank all my juniors for their love and respect for us Especially,
Yakku (For a lot of things.)
Tadwalkar (For lending me his Room)
Rodge (for lending me his pen, which i still have in my pocket :-) )
Ghanshyam (For lending me Toilet accessories :-) )
Paratwar (For lending me his soap :-) )
Aadarsh Pai (for lending me his PC)
All others who were with me during my stay at the college.
All the Quakers of Final Block who played with me.
