Prologue:
Warning : This post is going to be huge .
College.There it was ,with its gates wide open ,welcoming me to its abode .I descend from the bus and look around. A sense of warmth surrounds me .I smile and start walking in towards the bustling lane of students and staff. I reach my class and there is a tall and beautiful woman with a glint of joy in her eyes . I had taken a liking towards her at first sight. She was my class coordinator.
And that's how it all began
Chapter 1-The first.
BEEP! That was my college bus honking its arrival at my boarding point ! Panting,I boarded the yellow painted vehicle. I had slept an extra ten minutes and ended up running to my stop. Numerous fresh faces greeted me with a wave . Yawning and half asleep, I was ,until I reached my class.
Chitter chatter and laughter could be heard across the entire hall. That was EEE-B . We had earned the "worst class" badge bang on. I sat amongst my newly found friends and we began the day's chore of consistent talking and pointless giggling . At recess, it was a tradition to celebrate every person's birthday with the cake cutting ceremony. Gifts were presented,smiles were exchanged and happiness filled the warm classroom.
One fine day dawned upon us .It was the festival of colors,Holi. Color powder and splash rockets were smuggled into college . Secret glances and winks were exchanged from row to row. It was only after the working hours ,did the fun begin ! Everyone grew wild with joy and excitement ,smearing color onto every passer-by . It took only a while to realize that all of us looked like human rainbows . The colorful day was wrapped up with a group photograph and a memory to cherish forever.
All this fun comes with a tag-the semester exams. Worried faces and constant prayers were trending.Our first experience with the famous Anna University semester exams were frightening as warned by our seniors. Yet , we all ended up with good results .(No clue how!)
It was all about socializing and adapting to the new environment. This was where we all belonged. We had learnt to love it . Everyone was happy with everything .The first year had greeted us very well indeed.
Chapter 2 - The senior feel
One year had glided by . We had finally passed the junior stage and had become a part of the department. Getting to know seniors became an important agenda. This helped us bunk classes and gain a wider friends circle. New subjects and respective laboratory sessions kept us occupied. Involving in department activities and events were important , more than studying.
Then came the most awaited college event . The symposium. This meant wearing a saree .Almost as much as it freaked me out , there was definitely a tinge of excitement. Classes were dismissed . Decoration work went on all day. Sticky business ,crafty ideas and painting was the buzz for the week ahead. On the day of Spangles , the symposium , everyone hovered around excitedly . Boys were dressed smart . Girls carried themselves elegantly in a saree. Seniors kept bustling around with the workload they had . Facebook profile pictures were clicked . Event registrations were made. Students from colleges all over Chennai visited to participate. The whole place looked festive . The aroma of biriyani floated through the air to target our nostrils . Everyone grabbed a plate to slurp their way to lunch. The beautiful day ended with a photograph of our family (EEE-B) , beaming our way through!
Now that the culturals hooplah had gotten over, we were all back to the monotony of tests every morning. You could hear the groaning of students all across the campus . But that did not last long. The elections for various posts within the department came up . There were nominations filed in a jiffy, campaigning done and posters chalked out ! The frenzy of real time elections caught the air ! A lot of ego surfaced within the candidates , nonetheless , it all ended in a blissful manner.
With the exposure to pranks , endless bunking and a lot of friends , the senior year glided by joyfully.
Chapter 3- The Pre-Finalists
However terrifying the name sounded, we were all still children at heart. The day we stepped into our classrooms for the fresh year ahead, we were already day dreaming on the College Tour!! Plans and itenaries were being sketched out. "This place is awesome dude ," said one guy. "Are you bonkers? This place has only tea gardens to walk on ", said another. After about half a million suggestions, we finally came up with Munnar as the holy destination . Of course, grown-ups are hard to convince. It took a while for all the parents and faculty to finally let us go.
HOOOOOT!! That was the train siren blowing !! The halls decked with music and glory ! The tapping of our feet and funny dance movements made the night swiftly go by. The chill of air swept our faces . It was a chilly morning outside Cochin's railway station. We carried ourselves sleepily across the road to find our buses waiting to take us to Munnar. It was a long journey ahead and we all snored our way through. Until, there was a very loud crashing noise that jerked our heads up in shock ! The rains had made a huge tree fall flat on the bus's windshield ! The trip had finally started off with an adventure ! We moved to another bus rather tired, and made it to Munnar around mid-afternoon ! Whew, that was a lot for a day !
The two days in Munnar went by happily with a lot of togetherness and adventure. The rains splattered on continuously doubling the amount of fun we were already having. The time came , to rush to WonderLa !!! A fabulous piece of Man's creation, I'd say !! The Monster ride sat there , welcoming us all at the entrance of the park. All of us rushed to the Monster in excitement. Little did we know , that we would be left triple-dazed by the end of the ride ! The Monster swung its carriages through at every possible direction leaving us all screaming in fright and frenzy ! We held onto our dear lives and gladly stepped out of the ride when it had stopped its lunatic behaviour !
That was just the start of the day at WonderLa ! Mascots greeted us here and then, bringing a smile upon everyone's tired face . Water rides gave us an adrenaline push ! All of us were lost in a world of glory , innocence and memories. It was now time to go home.
The placement scare had already started dementing a few. Numerous forms were being filled , GPA's being calculated with the examinations just around the corner.
The Pre-Final year, just as it sounded, was going to be the second last year we were all going to be together as a family.
Chapter 4- The Finals -The Epilogue
This is probably my most hated year. I was going to be ripped away from a family. We were all going to travel in different directions and separated by realms of reality. It was time we flew out of our nests to face the ugly world .
Interviews and tests were scheduled. We were being turned into professionals. Gestures were practised. Parents and teachers were having the time of their lives. Advises and lectures were rambled on . We were tired of hearing the monotony of words - 'career','placement','higher studies','settling down','pride' and the list could go on for eternity.
We sat under the pale lights of the auditorium, blanketed by the cold night air . It was half past nine. Tension ruled over the audience. We were awaiting our results from the interview. The Vice-Principal's voice over the microphone sent a chill down our spine. That moment was the most decisive moment of our lives. Most of us had gotten through and erupted in joy ! Hugs were exchanged. A sense of relief flooded our faces. We could now get back to being normal humans , we thought .
Little did we realise that the final year project was going to take a toll on us as well . Teams were split among ourselves. We had to think of a whole new idea to replicate our learning on Electronics practically. It was as monstrous as it sounded, yes. Just as expected, our ideas were rejected during the first review.
The project phase was exhaustive as it sounded ! Few of us had to write it as a Journal as well , thanks to our hyper active guides. The Viva sessions, as depicted by our seniors, were definitely the biggest nightmare. We were baffled by the techie questions that were shot through during our reviews. The "Aah's and Umm's of the English language, though frowned upon, came in handy then.
We crawled our way through the final review and landed on a more devastating day - The Farewell. Our juniors, such darlings, gave us a wonderful gift to take back home. A colorful calendar that showed each of our classmate's birthday with their photo on it. They had also arranged this perfect gathering that made us all more nostalgic than ever. Selfies, journals, diaries and tears were exchanged.
A huge group photograph was the last piece to complete the jigsaw puzzle.
A family of friends, 68 shoulders to lean upon and a silhouette of memories. That was college for me.
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