Episodes That Pervade My Heart

s a private engineering college. Of course, there were only boys and it was very long afterwards many an institution

strict headquarters. The geography of this location is very humid and near the western ghat

nch at 12.30 – 1.30 pm. The college has a canteen and it offers lunch at subsidized rates. The hostellers would go

e you new to

, yes

me and where do

d I hail from

t call yourself that way whoever asks for your name. If

ostly around the hostel as the college, though is taken care of by professors and lecturers, it couldn't be ruled out there wouldn't be ragging. I hurriedly ascended the steps leading

ollege shouldn't ha

. He ragged m

I'll tell you how you would l

at's yo

ior's order, I said

d: 'Do you take me for a fool? Now kneel down

sed my eyes as directed. Suddenly there was laughter from other

there any senior guy

ood silent. 'Well boys now, and the one standing th

he five-year course of engineering. And it was not a semester and it was the academic year. Somehow the day wound up. It's night time and we had just returned to the hostel. The hostel for the first-year students is at the far end of the hostel premises. The north portion being the entrance and the south is the first year area. To reach the fi

next. Such things are very common and the newcomers would rather sacrifice their food than getting under filthy treatment. The passage of two weeks was really horrible

r boys who ordered the newcomers to jump from the second floor and so on. During our times one boy was asked to touch an electric iron. Usually, the juniors would act as though they were up to anything and suddenly avoid compliance. But one ill-fated boy touched an electric iron because the indicator light was not glowing and the iron was in short circuit. Then what happened would be to anybody's guess. Leaving a few extremities the ragging is normally a comedy. I was standing one day at the entrance to the college which is hardly a hundred feet from the exit of the hostel premises. We h

She looked bewildered. I said to her handing the flower, 'Si

f. Till today I never knew if she had known that guy o

he juniors. It was ceremoniously conducted by the seniors uniquely laying down their seniority if they are second years or fourth ye

after 9 pm. There is a security guard at the entrance behind the locked door and he would open it only at 5 am in the morning. During the early days, the hostel was a nightmare. The two rows of rooms facing each other with a pathway in between have a common tiled roof. The walls are only eight feet high and practica

' I was in room no: 9. In the dim light of lamp posts outside the rooms and in the path

Oh, you're innocent. Do one thing. If you're

earth, do

o doors. It is the reading room where you coul

west and there is a big and high

al by stepping on the rails and jumping to the village road

it not risky to go out an

and because of him the guard at the far end of the east wou

d in and around the hostel premises and they flourished only bec

the routine of the first-year boys. There is a tea shop on the other side of the gate. On return from the movies, the boys flock to the shop for fresh bakes of cakes

be sent out and we could be back for the second year only after passing and only in the next academic year. Thanks to semester systems and the schedule of examinations these days for the students can appear for the failed subject at the earliest opportunity. The life in first-year block was me

n one such occasion one of my roommates, we are four in all rooms, was reading an obscene magazine. The college principal happened to pass by our room on his casual visit to the old hostel for the first year hostel is called that way only. The principal noticed the boy inside the roo

e space between them in the ground floor serves as lounge and washrooms as from the washroom one could enter right into mess B or A, likewise C or D. Normally the boys would sit in order filling one row fully and then switch to the next if the previous row is full and they wouldn't sit at random. If at all someone is ignoring this order he corrects himself as others would cast a look of aversion. Likewise, if one eats up e

ning in the particular mess plus management charges. And one would not frown for it is taken care of by members elected from the hostellers every year. The elected

gement is carried out on the no loss or no gain principle. The menu in the mess for that matter in all the messes attached to block A to D follows the same. It is really a delicacy to dine in the hostel for the menu differs each day to last the seven days in a week. Morning and evening they serve Tiffin. The tiffin contains sumptuous food though rationed. Each tiffin has either three idlis with three oothappams

rve vegetable ghee rice for lunch on Sundays and biriyani for non-vegetarian persons. The non-vegetarian food in mess C or D is merely a plate of chicken or mutton curry or a piece of fried fish. Otherwise the food items are same as in Mess A or B. It must be mentioned that on the day of death anniversary of the founder of the college there would be special breakfast and special lunch in all t

lm shows the messes would be open till 10 pm. This institution is famous for its library both in the college and hostel. They say no other college had such a vast collection of technical books and magazines in south India in those days. There used to be well trained librarians both at the college and hostel. The librarian at the college is handling tuition to a good number of boys at lunch break in mathematics.

e alumni of the particular college assemble once in a few years and enact the days they spent and enjoyed right at the institution and hostel. They pay and arrange with the management to have the same breakfast, lunch and dinner for a whole day. On the pent house of C Block in the hostel there used to be a clinic with a doctor and a male nurse. The students who had any illness reported here for treatment and medication. The staff at this clinic would attend only on the evening sessions from 5 pm to 9 pm. The staff or doctor would never attend on Sundays. The college and hostel serve as places for reformation of the boys who otherwise are not trustworthy in a minority of them. There w

freedom to move outside the campus on Sundays but required to report to the hostel before 10 pm. After 10 pm we are required to make an entry at

ing we could go out and return before 8 pm lest we should make a late entry. If late entri

ng around the temple and the day scholars readying themselves to catch the bus to go home. Some girls would go to their hostel after worship at the temple. Their hostel located just behind their college. Unlike these days no girl or boy would be seen engaged in conversations or having a time out at the nearby restaurant or a stationery shop. If the boys went up to the ladies college and returned they would feel great and boast to their friends as if some

est tomorrow; is it tim

nts he came back to continue his studies. Of course, the girl discontinued her studies and it was a routine affair those days with the girls. Unless a girl got good marks and her parents were willing she was not to pursue her studies and in a way the girls welcomed this kind of custom. There were problems in finding a good match for them if the girls graduated or obtained post graduate degree. OMG we've come a long way! The engineering course lasted for five years those days. Only from the third year the students chose their specialization and studied

as not in vogue in their country. The engineering students who passed out were in a position to take up any job not necessarily civil, mechanical or electrical. The reason for the demand for electrical jobs, or civil jobs or no scope for mechanical and the concern of job seekers all are evident now. I remember some boys wer

ame into existence. It is not generosity to make more

mand for medical colleges o

n for new colleges from the central and state governments on the plea that there are not adequate colleges commensurate with the population. This all leads to a situation unless a candidate is really competent he is not