Food at the central mess Himalaya was considered just about edible by the students. If one got bored, there were places like Gurunath, Basera and Tiffanys or even Ascendas, to the rescue. For the same reason they happened to be hangout areas too! Junta spent time in quadrangles of hostels to play football, cricket or any other sport or in gen to put peace.
Since, hostel is fixed for entire duration of stay, hostel rivalry is huge. The hostel feeling boils down to the blood, one could see junta cheering and at the same time swearing at other teams which becomes a staple part of every sentence of one's speech. All competitions whether those of LitSOC(Literary and cultural events) or TechSOC or Schroeter(Sports) and other are hotly contested for points! This feeling does not fade out as the entire academic calendar is jam-packed with events, with something or the other happening almost everyday!
Freshies are expected to do a lot of bull-work. Nearly, all of us had volunteered for something or the other in Shaastra, the annual tech-fest. Every vol(short for volunteer) is given a badge and some grub coupons which are quite disproportionate to the amount of work the vol does under a coord(short for coordinator).
In whatever time was left, I managed to participate in quite a few events. Similarly, in Saarang, the annual cul-fest, vols sweat it out to make the fest a success. The Dance Workshop in Saarang is especially the most eagerly awaited by seniors and freshies alike.
There is a pitched battle for partners(Dance Workshop requires people to register as couples) between the seniors and freshies, that follows rules of natural selection and not the erstwhile rules of ''freshie-senior interactions'!! One dreams of a college life like that in the bollywood flicks; sadly IIT M or any IIT for that matter has a highly skewed gender ratio! There are just 2 girls' hostels to 15 boys' hostels!! Although not filmi, life in the institute is amazing fun! One seeks solace in fests like these!!
Bull-work doesn't stop at fests; freshies are also expected to campaign and help campaign for Institute election candidates. Like others, I had to run around a lot, for preparations for the annual Hostel Nite!! Besides, one has to run errands loyally for their 'beloved' seniors!!
Hostel life is fun in its own ways. All festivals are celebrated in a grand way, especially those like Diwali and Holi! Holi is celebrated in the most unusual way, the details of which are best not mentioned in this article. Other 'festivals' like the Ice-cream Nite, when unlimited ice-cream is up for grabs, are a rage!! But hostel life comes with its own set of hardships like sometimes taking orders from seniors(after all a senior will always be a senior!) while on the other hand they put pseud fundaes like how to impress a prof or getting studd grades or advice like maintaining atleast 1 km distance from the notorious DisCo etc.
My first year was very eventful. When my first cycle went missing, every morning I had to stand by the road stick out my thumb asking for a lift so that I wasn't thrown out of class for being late!! I made hazaar friends who were from all over the country(an advantage of a national institute). Bathing became optional! I spent my first year at IIT M pursuing my interests or exploring Chennai on weekends or in standing outside the class or crashing in class or in my room!
While some pursued grades, others various cultural activities, sports, the virtues of neighbouring eateriess - and combinations thereof. Others, who mugged all the time and in whatever little time they had in spare, spent it RGing.
On the whole the year got over very quickly and the idea of three months holidays was quite discomforting!! Suddenly, we were seniors; smiling at the fact that quietly another batch of freshies was set on its way to enter the hallowed portals of IIT M!!
As I sat in the Insti bus, ready to leave for home, it hit me, Golden Jubilee or not, we were the Golden Guys, because.... we had it all!!!
3.jpg "Just A Minute")
