From the valley of Western Ghats to the Silicon Valley of India, life has just moved on as fast as a supersonic aircraft. Looking back in time, 10 years has past by since the campus days came to an abrupt end.
I had a little home here,
Its long back, I fear.
If that time had come again, I wish.
Bringing along the pain of,
Memoir so sweet…
Yes, campus has not been less than my home. Afraid its long ago!
I cherished those good old memories, in the recent past when I had been asked to visit few campuses for an engagement drive in Indore and Bhopal. While Bhopal is the capital of Madhya Pradesh; Indore is the commercial capital of the state. IET DAVV, SGSITS in Indore and LNCT in Bhopal were the colleges I had been to.
While you experience the journey along with colleagues like P.B. Kotur and Swapnil Shailendra Shukla, the interaction that one has with many aspiring minds, helps you re-live your campus days.
Walking past the departments, jumping over the fence to eat omlette’s at Nair ettan’s tea stall, waiting in a queue at the PCO booth to eagerly dial the ladies hostel phone number; just to hear that one lovely voice, it just seems like happened yesterday. All those nostalgic memoirs gushed through those high voltage nerves as I entered the college campus.
We were greeted with a cup of hot masala tea and cutlets in the placement officer’s office. Few student volunteers helped us with the arrangements in the auditorium. Unlike in many other colleges in the south, were I have seen a strong presence of an MC’s (Master of Ceremony) desk, in the central part of India the activities at that front seemed to be lesser.
Most importantly beginning with a prayer seemed to be missing. May be the colleges take more of an unconventional route when compared to a school. Fundamentally, global educational system has been following conventions for years now and in my view it needs to change for the better..
Students were full of vigour and more participative in nature, which kept the sessions exciting. After the sessions in Indore, we headed towards Bhopal by road. It took us about 5 hours to reach the hotel where our rooms were booked. The time spent in conversations with colleagues during the drive turned out to be more exciting and learning focused. The dinner at Gupta da Dhaba was delicious. The taste of spicy kolhapuri to the creaming dal makhanai remains frozen in my taste buds. Adding more to the dinner was the ambience it came with, the dark skies of the night in the middle of a state highway in a no man’s land at the central part of India. The Rajwada’s governed this land, long ago even before my grandparents were born.
The darkness of the night was disturbed occasionally by the head lights of the vehicles which were moving towards Indore. For a moment, I just yearned for solitude. Solitude which could help me, recharge those granular cells spread across the 6 feet tall body.
Strange are the ways of solitude,
Sometimes beautiful, sometimes grieving,
Sometimes lost in thought and
Sometimes, I need the darkness of the night, to recharge those drained out cells.
Away from the rushes of the city, darkness of the night in a no man’s land, I was enjoying it. But that night before I hit the bed in the hotel room; I just got myself lost in the memoir of those good old campus days, the days I have spent in VLB Janaki Ammal College of engineering, in Coimbatore.
Apart from being on; just an official travel, engaging the students in a meaningful dialogue and helping them to be employable after graduation; guiding them to make the right career choice, immerses me in the happiness of giving.
“The Happiness of Giving” back to the society, where I belong.