A rooftop party

The roof of our hostel was our favorite place for spirited get togethers. Since there were partitions on the roof, 4 or 5 groups could easily hold there own individual sessions with out disturbing the others. The cool air and moonlight provided excellent bar like settings. The roof top parties were regular and mostly dutch.

One night about 10 of us gathered in room 407 for a party. The room was the farthest on one side from the common activity area. After the bottles arrived we decided to go to the roof top. Chatting , singing and all the drunken antics went on till about 11:30 P M when we decided to pack up and go down. Oolan and poocha were cleaning the terrace when we walked down. We all reached the lobby on the second floor and were walking towards room 407 when karumadi stopped and declared “ The professor from electrical who made fun of us in the lab today is sleeping inside. lets bang on his door and we’ll at least get the satisfaction of disturbing his sleep. We all volunteered, but Karumadi wanted to execute the idea himself.

We all stood ready to run and karumadi dashed towards the professors bedroom door. We expected him to bang on the door a couple of times and run back to us. But he ran towards the door in full force, jumped up and gave a flying kick to the door. The door was not bolted. In a split second the door opened and karumadi disappeared into the darkness inside the room. He flew through the door and landed on the professor who was sleeping. The professor must have got the scare of his life. We were all dumbstruck and couldn’t move a muscle. Frightened shrieks of both the professor and karumadi could be heard. We all stared into the darkness beyond the open door. Suddenly karumadi came dashing towards us covering his head with the professor's blanket. He left the blanket in the corridor and sprinted to 407. It was only after karumadi dashed past us that we came to our senses. We also ran behind him. The professor came out and just had a glimpse of us running into the room.

At that time, nobody used to lock their hostel rooms because hardly anybody had valuble possessions like mobile phones or purses with money. We could have run into any of the nearby rooms and sir would not have seen us but in the panic we followed karumadi to the farthest room from the crime scene. Oolan and poocha were seeing all this from the steps and they ran back to the terrace.

The professor was angry like hell, He could make out some of us but since he was sleeping and all of this happened in a split second he wanted to make sure. He walked to 407 and tried to push open the door. We had just bolted the door with difficulty when the professor banged on the door. We all remained quiet. The professor shouted “ Open up, you rascals. I know you and I want to kick you out of college this instant”. KD whispered “ We should not utter a single sound, he might identify us by sound” We all huddled in the dark, frightened. The professor banged furiously, he was venting all his anger on the door. KD whispered “take care that you don’t cough or sneeze. Be extremely quiet”.The professor banged again. That’s when we heard somebody shout “Ethu thendiyada rathri manusyane urangan sammathikkathe”. The sound was coming from our room. The professor banged again. “Iniyum Kathakel muttiyal pulle njan ninne kollum. Eda m..” before he could complete the dialogue we all jumped on top of the bed from where the sound came. We covered his mouth and tied him down with our bodies. That was vegudu. He had got drunk before everybody and was sleeping in the room when we ran in. He was unaware of all that was happening and he woke up frightened when we fell on top of him. He might have thought that somebody is trying to kill kim so he tried to shout and wriggle out of our hold. The next half hour was a night mare. We were struggling with vegudu and the professor was still banging on the door and shouting. We were struggling to keep quiet and hold vegudu down. After sometime the banging ended. We waited for 10 or fifteen more minutes before we released vegudu. The moment we loosened the grip, vegudu sprang up and dashed out of the room in his underwear. His mundu had fallen off in the struggle. Since he was drunk he ran into some other room and slept there. Oolan and poocha were watching all this unfold, hiding behind the staircase. They came down after the professor went back to his room.We also walked to our rooms, switched off the lights and fell on the bed. We just wanted to sleep and cut the world out of our thoughts. We were settling on our bed when Poocha asked

“ Da enikku oru karyam manasilayilla. Nee ellam kudi a pavam vegudune entha cheythe, avan jetti ittondu irangi odunna kandallo”

I did not have the strength to speak. So I pretended I was asleep. I slowly slipped into sleep thinking about the person, who is going to get the scare of his life when he wakes up the next day and finds an underwear clad vegudu sleeping next to him.

Back to RIT on 12 March 2012

As planned we we re in RIT on 12 March 2012.

Cracking the code of sessional exams-A divine intervention

Sessional exams were conducted very seriously in RIT, though many of the students lacked seriousness. Lack of sincerity towards the exams resulted in poor marks for the first sessional exams and the significance of the second manifold. After few papers those hopes were also shattered and I could see sorry faces all around me. Next day was the last exam, the toughest of the lot; Power Plant Engineering (PPE). Somehow I had to crack that. I prayed wholeheartedly for a divine intervention.

As I walked alone to hostel with a dejected look, the question paper of the afternoon exam fell from my hand. I retrieved it after running behind it, as the wind blow the paper to a long distance. I got hold of it and looked at it. To my surprise it turned into a PPE paper. I pinched myself. No, I am not dreaming. It is definitely the PPE paper. I turned it around and on the other side I found the question paper I just wrote.

I ran to hostel and announced it to all. At first nobody believed me as they have never seen me going to church or praying. I showed them the paper. They gathered around me and read the paper. No use; they were yet to open the book. They checked the details on the paper. It was matching with the details of the paper they just wrote and the date was that of tomorrow. After consulting with Maman, our topper, everybody agreed that it was the PPE paper. I went to church that evening accompanied by a number of non-believers to thank god for his gift.

The news spread like a fire. Muthu send a copy to LH for Mechrani. Weral started negotiation with local Mechs for a copy of paper and finally settled the matter for a huge sum. Everybody except Maman stopped studying and keech started. As time passed by, I started to get tensed. "If it flopped, I will be crucified by all".

The exam day came. I waited anxiously for the paper and collected same from the examiner with shivering hands. "It was the same paper". My prayers resulted in a divine intervention. I could see all faces turning towards me and respect in those faces. I decided to go to church every day and to increase my praying hours from nil to maximum.

Biker Boys were standing outside the exam hall. They came late and got the copy of the paper very late .They were busily reading the answers after a thumbs up from ‘post’ inside the exam hall. Our Course Coordinator (CC), who was making a last round of inspection, saw Biker Boys standing outside the exam hall and reading. He went towards them and urged them to go inside. In their rush to hide the paper, it fell and he had a glimpse of it. I, sitting in the front bench, was sure that he didn't recognise the paper and sighed.

A few hardcore football fans compared the happenings to the infamous goal of Maradona in 1986 world cup football, where he scored first goal via an un-penalized hand ball known as ‘Hand of God’. Those filthy stories didn’t discourage me and I continued my visits to church. My reply to them was the Bible quote. "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours" (Matthew 21:22)

One day suddenly CC came to class and announced with a very serious tone."Some malfunction had happened in PPE exam. Somebody had stolen the paper from staff room and distributed among students. Whoever it is, if he want to complete the course, should come and meet me in the staff room immediately". He left the room and after consulting with friends I decided to tell him the truth. "If God had given me the paper, he would look after me and would save me from all trouble" I thought.

I entered the staff room with the paper in my hand. I handed over the same to CC and as he had gone through it, I explained him the things in detail. He listened to me carefully and finally allowed me to leave the scene without much fuss. After that meeting my belief in god further strengthened.

It didn't last long. The ‘Hand of God’ turned out that of a press worker who mixed the papers and printed. Once the hype surrounding the paper was over, many such stories surfaced. They all kept quiet during exams and scored good marks. I ended up with pass marks in PPE. This revelation didn't subside my belief, though shaken it.

Our CC decided to give the contract to another press. The news that the press owner, whose house is situated on the way to church, is on the look out for the person responsible for him losing the contract, completely dampened my belief and visits to church.

Suspension!!!

The principal and the professors had taken note of our class. They had decided that our pride needs to go down. All our professors were on the lookout for reasons to take action and we did not disappoint them. The reasons for suspensions were all regular ones which usually happens in all colleges.

But one story needs to be told. It’s the story of one man, or rather child, Dhanush kodi. The story starts and ends with him. He was the only ray of innocence in a class crowded with rascals. He was weak at heart and his short stature and smile complimented his character. The only strong thing about him was his thick framed glasses which helped his eyesight and also prevented him from flying off. He was the only person in our class who didn’t laugh when the teacher asked about the owner of the vanam… that should sum it up.

He, because of some good reason could not attend the civil lab class which taught plane table survey. We hated the class because we had to stand in the sun for the whole 3 hour class. It was towards the end of the semester and all civil practicals had been finished. So our kind assistant professor allowed us to go home for the day. He also locked the civil lab and went. That’s when Dhanush kodi remembered that he had not attended the class on plane table survey. He did not have any idea about what the thing was so he went to the civil department and asked our professor to let him do the experiment. Some function was about to begin in the civil dept: so he asked Maria teacher to help Danush kodi and scooted from the scene. Maria Miss had to somehow avoid him so she told him that she will not take the class only for one person and if he had to attend the class he had to call all the students together.

Most of us were in the canteen so poor Dhanush did not have to look for us for long. He came and politely told us the situation and asked us to come back to class. We looked at each other. We couldn’t believe that someone would even consider the remotest chance of us going back to a class that was dismissed and here he was…requesting us to go…innocence perhaps. But we decided to go with him, just because he was our only Dhanush Kodi.

Half an hour later Dhanush was back at the civil dept to inform Maria miss that everybody was back in class. She had thought that she lost him but now there was no option but to forget the function and come to a class she was not assigned to.

About 15 of us were assembled in the sun by the road side when Dhanush appeared with the Maria miss. She came to us and looked around. There was Dhanush, about 15 other rascals, the tar road, grass and the sun. She turned to Dhanush and shouted “Where are the instruments?” He was taken aback by the question. He had walked back and forth from the civil dept, endured the sun, gathered a whole mechanical batch together, just because he didn’t have any clue about the plane table survey, and now she is asking about instruments. How could he possibly know where the instruments are? He would have thought that a plane table survey atleast would require a plane table and expected the college to provide that. So he politely said “Ma’am I did not know that we had to bring instruments from home”. The whole bunch of us standing far behind started laughing and Maria Miss got angry. She left Dhanush alone and came to us and asked “why are you standing so far away? Don’t you want to learn? Muthu replied that we had already attended the class and she need to just explain things to Dhanush. She shouted “ So you think you know everything. Then why did you call me? you should have explained it to your friend”. Somebody replied “he didn’t ask us”. She was almost losing her cool and asked Muthu to explain the survey to Dhanush while a couple of others were dispatched to bring the instruments from the lab.

Muthu went forward and waited with Dhanush and the teacher for the instruments to arrive. Half an hour passed and no instruments came. I desperately wanted to escape from the heat so I volunteered to check on the guys who went to fetch the instruments. When I went to the civil lab both of them were sitting on the corridor near the lab and Bosh who somehow escaped from the electrical lab was also there. I asked them why they didn’t bring the instruments and one of them said, (I think it was liju) “Da the lab is locked, the sir who has the key is nowhere to be found”. I asked “then why didn’t you come back and say that” and he replied ”Da it’s illegal to break the lock and it would be inappropriate to go back without finishing the job”. I figured they had a point and decided to wait with them.

All the while an irritated Maria miss, a desperate Dhanush and the whole of our batch was waiting in the sun. After sometime our assistant professor who had the key came that way accidentally and saw us sitting leisurely in front of the lab. He asked us why we were here. We said “To fetch the instruments” “why do you need the instruments, you don’t have class” “No sir Maria miss came for the class and she is waiting for the instruments, with the students” “how long have you been waiting” “Oh don’t worry sir, just about 40 minutes”. You should have seen the look on his face. He rushed to the lab, fumbled with the keys and opened the lab. We were still standing outside and he shouted “you get the things down to the teacher immediately”.

About 40 minutes later we emerged with the plane table and the poles and after the expected scolding the class finally started. The poles were fixed on the grass by the road. Teacher and Dhanush kodi were standing on the grass and all the rest on the tar road a bit far away. I am not going into the minute details and dialogues but now and then the sound of laughter would rise from the group. It was like the laughing chorus of a comedy show, but here jokes were also coming from the chorus and not from the program happening nearby on the grass around a plane table.

Just then our Dhanush stepped on a chunk of cow dung lying on the grass. He wanted to shake if off his legs but did not want to disappoint the teacher who was eagerly explaining things to him and drawing on the plane table. So he slowly moved that leg behind the teacher and started shaking it. For all of us standing a bit far behind, that was a gem of a sight. Dhanush and the teacher were standing side by side and he was desperately trying to get the cow dung off his feat. All of us began to laugh uncontrollably. Maria miss couldn’t take it anymore. She came back and shouted at us. Poor Dhanush kodi did not know what was happening. We also had to vent our frustration of coming back to class. So I, achahan and Muthu made some remarks, somebody laughed, some funny dialogues were said and in a short time we were back in form. The usual procedure followed and the teacher rushed back to the staff room without completing the class. Dhanush kodi after taking so much effort was still left without the knowledge of how the plane table survey was done. All of us as usual had a good laugh and dispersed.

But the teachers and principal were not ready to let this go. They had just let off 5 students from our class with just a warning for disrupting class. The butterfly effect had begun to show. But there was one problem, since Maria Miss was not our regular teacher she did not know who all were present, and in all the commotion she had forgotten to mark attendance. So they decided to suspend all the students who were supposed to attend the class and so the whole batch of 17 including the poor Dhanush Kodi, was suspended along with the five who thought they had escaped with a warning. We had to bring our parents to meet the principal but the confusion in the attendance let us escape the wrath of our parents. All the parents were made to believe that their innocent child was not present in class or was not involved in all these.

As for Dhanush kodi, it is heard that he still hates all tables that are plane.

Missing pint bottle

One day while we entered hostel, the security of MH was seen pinning a circular in the notice board. The circular signed by Principal stated that alcoholic drinking inside the campus is prohibited with immediate effect. We all laughed reading the joke pasted on the notice board and made ourselves ready for playing ‘keech’ our official card game. After some time Oolan and poocha dashed into the room with a serious red face.

“Have you seen princi’s notice?” Oolan shouted as if the circular demanded all of us to wear underwear inside hostels.

“What is the big deal in it?” asked bosch.

“We should not allow the princi to interfere in our personal matters.” It was poocha who said this.

“We all saw this notice and ignored it right away. Even princi knows that none of us will stop drinking by seeing his circular. He too has graduated from an Engg college and he knows all about young students like us” Jotha tried to console Poocha.

“No we should protest”. Pothan told this as he entered the room.

Protest is a very appealing word. Protest means strike and strike meant a legitimate full day keech in hostel. But serving a strike notice for such a reason – Principal to stop interfering in students personal matters / eating habits could be awful but possible.

“Lets collect money from all hostelites and create a mega vellamadi event tonight in the MH portico” Oolans red face was seen gleaming with joy as he said this.

“So no strike..?” Liju said in a disappointed tone.

“No. We will have this vellamadi as a protest”. Pothan told this and the three walked out and we continued with our keech.

Though the proposal of Oolan was not as appealing as a strike, we never said no to any vellamadi. But why the trio gave undue importance to such a silly matter arouse suspicion in the keech table. Keech became interesting and our mind got fully occupied in the keech.

Oolan, Poocha and Pothan gathered money from all hostelites and with the collected amount, one full bottle and one pint bottle of ISLAND Rum arrived hostel. Both the bottles were displayed in the news paper reading table and the vellamadi was scheduled to start at 8.00pm. We few kept our eye on the pint bottle. Our idea was to move the pint bottle to our room, without getting caught in the eyes of the three organizers and other inmates and drink from our room peacefully. KD was assigned the duty to steal the pint bottle at a convenient time and we all tried to divert others attention from the bottle. When KD approached the table he was surprised to see the pint bottle got disappeared.

Daivame… Kaduvaye pidicha kiduvayo..?

We all searched for the pint bottle in the entire hostel. Though nobody knew our plan of stealing the pint bottle, we felt ashamed that somebody did the trick before us that too in front of our eyes. Moreover the fact that we cannot locate the bottle added more to the grief. While we searched for the pint bottle the full bottle was finished in the portico and we didn’t get even a drop from it. The organizers, Poocha, Pothan and Oolan were seen furious when they learnt that the pint bottle was missing.

The trio organizers offered a treat in hobnob for those who found the missing bottle. Next few days we kept our six senses open to see whether any pint bottle (empty / full) emerged in the hostel. All the drunken people were interrogated to know the source of the spirit. All our efforts were in vein. The bottle remained hidden.

Friday evening, waiting for Venad express at railway station, I saw Poocha, Oolan and Pothan with a 1 Litre pepsi bottle sitting at a remote place, sipping pepsi. Seeing me Poocha offered me the bottle with a wicked smile. I tasted the pepsi. It was mixed with Rum. The mischievous smile in Oolans face told me that the organizers had different intentions that day. However the contents of pint bottle which made us sleepless for few nights was at last recovered in the pepse bottle.

Back to RIT

The Butterfly Effect

It is said that the flutter of a butterfly wing can lead to a storm at a completely different faraway place….

The flutters:

The first one was of course the mock fight between me and Sankar which destroyed the class furniture and almost made the only girl in the class to discontinue her course. This story has already been told.

The second one is a bit more interesting. Our first year class was in a long hall with asbestos roof and separated by 3 walls. The electrical Engg: class was in the room adjacent to ours. We used to enjoy ourselves during boring lectures by throwing chalk pieces and paper rockets to the electrical class through the gap between the roof and the partition wall. One day during civil class Venu threw a paper rocket to the next class. But it hit the partition wall and fell on the teacher. What happened next was dramatic. We have been doing this for a couple of months but this was the first time we were caught. Teacher picked up the rocket from the floor and turned to face the class. It was pin drop silence. Everybody was trying to figure out what would happen next. Venu started sweating. The teacher with a very angry expression came a couple of steps forward and asked in pure Malayalam “ aaranu ee Vanam vittathu”. The whole class was silent for another fraction of a second and then…everybody burst into loud laughter. The teacher was stunned and so were we, but nobody could stop laughing. This made her angrier and violent. She again came forward and shouted above the sound of our laughter” enikku ippo ariyanam…aranu ente methottu vanam vittathennu..”The sound of laughter only increased. There was utter chaos for the next couple of minutes. The teacher was standing in front of the class holding a paper rocket in her hand. The whole class was laughing, vegudu was clapping his hands due to extreme happiness, and venu who was ducking under the table to escape being caught, was lying on the floor and laughing.

In this commotion nobody noticed the teacher leaving the classroom. We really felt bad for her but any class full of teenage boys would have done the same.

The third one happened a couple of days later. After the vanam incident, throwing things to the next class almost ended. Venu used to throw a couple of chalk pieces just to show everyone that he wasn’t afraid. Now most of us resorted to the most common past time ..sleeping. In one such class, I, Sankar and Poocha were peace fully asleep in the last bench. One of our classmates was trying to impress the teacher by asking a lot of questions. He was interrupting the lecture and also our sleep. After a while I was completely irritated. I woke up Sankar and Poocha and said “ da oru Samshayalu irangittundu, we need to do something immediately or else my precious sleep for a good couple of hours is going to be disturbed”. Sankar looked up and said “athu nammude pashu alle, onnu paranjal avan mindathe irunnolum”. But pashu was not turning back for even a casual glance. He was sitting on the second bench on the left corner of the class near to the window and we were in the middle row last bench. Poocha tried throwing a couple of paper pieces but didn’t succeed. We were all looking for something else to throw and suddenly pasu stood up to ask another question. We were searching on the floor to find something to throw and through the corner of my eye I saw Sanker take something from a bag. I sat up straight thinking it was a pen or a piece of chalk. Pasu had finished the question and the teacher was just turning to the blackboard to explain. This was our moment. Sanker stood up and took aim and suddenly I saw what was in his hand. It was a small glass bottle in which somebody brought curd. Before I could stop him, he threw it..There was a large sound. I thought Pasu’s head broke. I didn’t have the courage to look but then I realized that the sound was of breaking glass. I looked up. Pashu was safely seated, his speed saved him, the glass window near him was completely shattered, the teacher was looking directly at us and … Sankar was still standing there in Parasuraman's pose enjoying the outcome of his throw. It took a couple of seconds for him to realize that the whole class was looking at him. He looked at everybody, then at the teacher, smiled and said “sorry miss, I missed”. The teacher couldn’t say anything and she quietly walked out of the class.

The storm

All these small innocent flutters (might not seem so innocent to others, but it truly was) was causing a great storm to build up in a place we least expected..in the principals mind. She was a task master and strongly believed that the Mech department was responsible for all the disciplinary issues in every Engg: college. All our senior Mechanicals up to the then final years were typical proof to her theory. The last two batches were relatively quiet and then we came. And all these incidents brought her violent attitude towards Mechanicals back with a vengeance.

All professors were asked to teach us a lesson. Anything and everything we did ended up in suspensions. In total 23 of us (out of 40) got suspensions that year. She suspended 5 of us for unruly behavior, then 17 for disrupting a lecture, 5 of us were suspended for copying in the series test. Our session marks started touching single figures. I and Poocha were among the lucky ones who got 2 suspensions during the period and our parents even considered taking season tickets to meet the principal. This continued through the first year until the Principal was transferred.

Tail peace: A notice on one of our suspensions was put up on the notice board and while I was passing that way, I saw oolan staring at the notice board. I thought he was depressed because of the suspension and went near to console him. I told “Da this is nothing..don’t worry, I have been getting suspensions from 4^th standard and so don’t feel bad about this”. He gave me a strange look and said “ poda m***e. I have always tried hard but this is actually the first time I am being officially suspended from college. I was thinking about how to open the notice board lock so that I can take the suspension notice with my name on it and keep it as a souvenir”.

A Fight

It was just a couple of months into our long RIT journey. We still were not acquainted with every body in class. One of my first friends was Sankar, because we traveled together from Trivandrum. There were other guys from Trivandrum, like Pothen, Pichathi and Poocha but they had to sit through the long journey listening to Oolan's 'Quarters' stories and vegudu was always getting ragged by mostly our batch mates and girls.

One day I and Sankar was walking to college and saw a couple of our friends trying to fight, like its done in films. One person was swinging his hand a mile away from the other persons face and the other would sway his head in the direction of the hand and cry out. This was supposed to look like a real hit to the face and I cant explain their facial expressions as they were repeatedly acting out the oldest trick in films. We walked on and saw a second group doing that. By the time we reached our block we saw many such groups. Every body was busy practicing the trick, in class, in front of the labs and a select few, even in front of the electrical class to impress the girls. We went to the nearest group and asked what this was all about. Somebody told us about how Oolan and one of his senior friends did this trick during freshers day and fooled every body. He told me that oolan is still going around teaching his newest trick from 'Quarters'.

On our way to class Sankar told me “ Da we will show them what a real fight is like. Its time we stop Oolan's Jada”. When we reached our class there was about 10 or 15 studious members of our class and Makru. Sankar looked at me and said “Lets start”.I pushed him on to the front desk were Makru was sitting. He fell over the desk. Every body was startled with the sound. Makru shouted and ran back. Sanker got up, jumped over the desk and pushed me over the teachers chair. I picked up the chair and threw it at him, but made sure that it fell far away from him. I threw him on the black board and it broke off from one side. Foul language and threats were exchanged all through out. In about 10 minutes a good crowd had gathered around the class, almost all the classroom furniture was in disarray, the black board was broken and Makru was crying. I was trying to hit him with a broken piece of furniture. He got hold of it and whispered to me “Da I think its enough, its better we leave now, professors may come soon”. I pushed him to the floor and stormed out of the classroom. Later we met up at Hobnob and laughed almost for an hour. We were happy that we fooled every body and this time it was better than oolans filmy trick.

The next day I got ready, caught the college bus and went straight to the hostel. (classes were obviously not the first in my agenda) . As soon as the I entered the hostel, a couple of 8^th sem Mech's caught hold of me and started asking me about the previous day's fight. I told them all the lies I could make up within that short period. Then as I was walking into a room, some other guys came to me and introduced themselves as Jesus youth members. They started advicing me on the importance of controlling my anger. I was fed up of all this and went to Hobnob for a cigarette. A couple of second year Mech students was there. They were trying to convince me that I should join Solidarity party and they needed people like me to take on SFI in the campus.

The excitement of the previous day had worn off and I was confused. I was sitting there alone and still smoking when Sanker walked in. He seemed happy and excited. He asked me how my day went and I replied that I was getting fed up with all the advices and we wont even have the fun of fooling any body now, since nobody is going to believe that it was a joke. and I asked him why he was so happy. He told me “ If advices come from the right places you can actually enjoy it”. He continued “ You should learn to cash in on opportunities. You are a fool, you went to the men's hostel after such a show and what more did you expect. I asked him “ where were you? He said “ I took a couple of rounds by the electrical class and the advices I got, was from those beauties. I am already friends with some of them . He continued “ OK I am leaving, have to meet ----- near LH. I hid my disappointment and said “ Ok good for you”. On the way out he said “ Da I am planning to continue the counseling sessions for a couple of days more, so we’ll not let anybody see us together for the time being. 'Pinne' u don’t have to get disappointed. Even if you had come to college today you wouldin't have got as much attention as I did”. I asked “ Why” and he replied “ninakku ente athrem Soundaryam illallo”. I wanted to kick his ass, this time for real, but by the time I got up, he was half way down the road to LH.

Meeting with a Junior

Road in front of MH leading to canteen and mech workshop was the one of the most scared pathway for us when we were in S1S2. There were numerous occasions when loud calls for “Attention”, “Fire” etc were heard from MH and we had to stand in attention and use our mini drafter as AK 47 guns to fire towards the mens hostel. Sight of MH was frightening and we never had a neat look of MH till we had our first year university exams.

Year 2000 witnessed some of the beautiful girls join RIT. Lured by this fact I and Jerry went to Civil block to see some of the girls on their first day at RIT. By the time we reached Civil block, it was lunch time and the classes were stopped for lunch. There were no classes for seniors and we were the only seniors in Civil block at that time. While we stood near the steps, somebody put his hand on Jerry’s shoulder and asked “Ethu Brancha...” It was a fresher moderately built, taller than both of us. I could see Jerry was about to explode on him.

Suddenly I intervened and said “Mechanical. Nammal interview inu kandayirunnu ormayille…?”

Jerry understood my intentions and he told “Njyan Jery… Jery Panalell. Thaan Ethu Brancha..?”

“Ohh !! Interview inu kandayirunno? enikku ormayilla.. Ente peru Nishad. Electronics and Communication Engineering. Jyoli kiitan ippol scope ithinaanu”. Fresher introduced himself.

“Alla Mechanicalum athra purakottalla. Athu potte entha peru?” Fresher was eager to meet us.

“Joseph Alex” I tried to copy the mannerism of Mamootty in the movie King as I told this name.

“Evida Veedu”

“Pampadiyil” Jerry answered.

“Randu perum?” Fresher inquired.

“Alla ente veedu pangada -ill aanu. Ee College inte backil aayittu varum”. I told him. There was a toddy shop in Pangada and we used to refer pangada shaap as our ‘tharavaadu’.

“Oh appol ningal Locals aanalle..? Ethayalum ragging ine pedikendallo..!”

“Hey ivide bhayangara ragging aanu ennanu kettathu. Localsineyum veruthe vidilla.” Jerry told

“Enthonnu? Nammal strong ayittu ninnal mathi. Ente tharvadu Kottayathanu. Venamenkil njyan aale irakkum.!. Nammal orumichu ninnal seniorsinu nammale onnum cheyyan pattilla.” He seemed confident in his words.

“Ningal locals support cheyyanam. Nammukku ella Juniors inum orumichu nadakkanam. Appol seniors onnum cheyyilla” Fresher chocked out the strategy.

“Njyan lead cheyyam. Enikku ivare onnum pedi illa” Fresher informed his readiness to be the leader.

“Athupotte evide poya lunch kazhikunne” I asked.

“Ningal alle locals.. ningalku ivide okke ariyamallo. Nedunkuzhiyil onnum nalla hotels illa” Fresher said.

“Ivide thazhe oru nalla sthalam undu. Homely food aanu. Angottu pokaam” Jery told.

We started walking towards the hostel. Fresher told us how he tackled his seniors in SN College where he joined for BSc last year. We really felt impressed. Slowly we came near MH

“Ithu MH alle” fresher inquired.

“Athey, nammukku athinte sideiloode pokaam” Jery told.

“Alla athu veno? Senors aarenkilum nammale kandalo?” fresher seemed nervous.

“Athinentha, ente veedu athinte purakilanu. Pedikenda”. I tried to console him.

After some time we reached in front of MH. Fresher seemed slow in walking. We pulled him towards the MH.

“Nammakku sideiloode pokaam. Nere poyal MH il ethum.” Fresher told

“MH ilekku poyale alle food kittuu” I told him

Fresher’s face became pale. He realized that we were seniors and the saddest part was that he was now in front of MH.

“MH ile food vendenkil nammuku Thampi chettante kadayil pokaam. Pakshe nee cash kodukkanam.” Jery put across an option.

Thus he became the first one of his batch to treat his seniors. Needless to say, we both had a superb lunch with fish fry and beef curry discussing his other heroic deeds in SN College..

First meeting with the mother of machines

May I have the single honour, double pleasure, triple satisfaction with multiple ejaculation in knowing your good, great, gracious name sir? Please…

Every fresher at that time would have written this imposition hundreds of time. This was how we should ask the name of a senior, if permitted to ask. Along with this, there were Newtons laws numbering till 10 and certain ‘Slogams’ which had to be byhearted to get exempted from the ragging sessions.

One day myself and Kuttachan were going to the society store operating in the ground floor of admin block for buying pencils. As we reached near the store, we were caught by a few seniors. Upon knowing that 4 seniors in that group were from Mech department Kuttachan gave each of them a royal “Mech Salute”. Seeing what my partner did, I too jumped to the maximum height possible and when reached the highest point, used my left hand to hold my balls and gave them a Royal salute with my right hand, same way Kuttachan did, exactly how a Mech Salute is to be delivered. Giving four such salutes took away all the energy I had.

Seeing our obedience, the seniors asked us to go. When we were about to move, someone from the group asked us politely whether we could buy a thing for him from the store.

“What do you want sir?” Kuttachan asked

“Buy one lathe for me”. My mouth felt dry as the senior told this. How much will this instrument cost?

A drafter cost approx 200 Rs. Will this instrument cost more than that..? I looked at kuttachen. He too seemed perplexed. We have not heard about this instrument yet. We were asked to bring scales, drafter, pencils of various grades (H, 2H, HB and B) big set of compass and A3 size papers for the drawing classes. Now comes lathe. We thought that this lathe is a big brother of the drafter and should be used in our higher semesters.

“Take this and don’t forget to give the balance 5 Rs when you bring the lathe.” Saying this, the senior took a 20 Rs note from his pocket and handed over to us. Thank god.. we sighed a relief. “What a good senior..!! He is ready to pay for the instrument. Thank god, the Mech salute really worked”. We thought ourselves.

Store was crowded that day. I asked in my loud voice “Chetta, oru lathe tha”. Everybody in the store gave us a perplexed look. Some started laughing.

“Ividilla, mech workshopil poye chodikku...” answered the store keeper.

“Stock theernu poyathano chetta..?” Kuttachan was eager to know. Everybody in the store laughed. We didnt understand anything. We decided to reach the mech workshop asap. The seniors were not seen when we came out of the store. We marched straight to the mech workshop.

“Eda avide vere store undo..? avide stock undakumo..?” Kuttachan was full of doubts.

We reached Mech workshop. Seeing a senior I asked him “Sir, ividuthe store evideya?”

“Enthina” his reply was fast

“Oru lathe venam”

“Aarka”

“Oru senior ina” Saying this I took the 20 Rs note from my pocket.

“Ethu type lathe venam?” such a question was not expected from him.

“4 jaw veno atho 3 jaw ullathu mathiyo?” he asked. We stood puzzled. Finally we decided to go back to the senior and ask him which type he wanted. We bunked the next hour and after roaming around the campus for 30 minutes we found him and asked which one he need.

“3 jaw is enough. Get me the lathe in another 10 min. If you are late, bring the lathe to my hostel, Mathathil buildings in 8^th mile after 8 pm.” This time his sound was rude. Going to his room at 8 pm was beyond imagination.

“It’s dreadful to go to a senior’s room at 8 pm.” Kuttachen said. I too thought the same. We ran towards the workshop and saw the senior there.

“Sir, please show us to the store. He want 3 jaw type lathe”. Kuttachen requested. I stood beside with the 20 Rs in my hand.

“Self centered or independent?”. he asked.

I felt my head spinning. Going back to the senior without the lathe will be fatal.

Seeing our desperate looks the senior said. “Self centered will be enough for him”. We felt relaxed. We felt a deep sense of gratitude for this senior.

“Thankyou Sir” Kuttachen expressed his gratitude.

“Sir where is the store” I asked.

“Go inside and take it. These are the lathes”. Saying this he walked away.

We entered the workshop and looked in the direction he showed. Mighty machines were fixed on the floor.

Our first meeting with the mother of machines.

Alamuttiyal Cherayum Kadikkum

Oolan was a prankster who always made even the richest of the pranks appealing. Poocha was a romantic who approached every moment with wild exuberance and joy. Pothan was the self proclaimed leader who with his air of superiority and heavily built structure demanded it. They stayed together in hostel, sat together in class, dined together in canteen. They formed the deadly 'Gang of Three', with fearsome reputation in college.
Pothan was an active member of Keech club, so was Oolan. Poocha never really cared about cards or any other games and spent most of his time outside the hostel. Their room was the official room for any card game. When you walk into that room you will be welcomed by dirty laundry. The room is filled with cockroach and bed bugs and foulest of smells. Oh, watch out for rats.
When one of their pet rats died, it became unbearable to play in that room anymore. Even after hours of search we failed to locate the dead body. It was decided to shift the club to another room, a better and cleaner one. Long debate followed, many rooms were discussed and finally the decision was unanimous. My room! Unfortunately I had three roommates, one of them was Maman, the topper of our batch. I wrecked my brain trying to think of reasons to revert the decision. Too late; Pothan took cards and started to walk. Six of us entered my room led by Pothan and the game started. Generally every game is followed by heated arguments and shouting. I hoped the situation will be different in my room. In no time my hopes shattered by the loud shouts.
Maman was studying there in the room in the midst of chaos. He was trying to concentrate on his studies. May be that posture made Pothan to raise his voice to high decibels. Maman came towards us and in a calm and polite manner requested us to reduce the voice. This made Pothan very angry and he immediately left the room. I was afraid that I witnessed only the first phase of conflict and I was right.
Pothan took that incident as a gross insult to his macho image. As a vengeance, with the help of Oolan and Poocha, he decided to play a prank on Maman. As always, Oolan was the mastermind and poocha the executor. That evening after latching the door as Maman went to mess for tea, they locked his room. Maman got stranded in corridor as the lock was too strong for his liking and couldn't break it even after repeated attempts. He got angry, but in vain. He had no proof against the culprits although he suspected the Gang of Three behind this act.
Other roommates and I did not show any keen interest on the proceedings as we knew that gang of three had pulled many such pranks successfully on others. They always selected such victims who were unable to react to their deeds. Maman fit into that category perfectly. Being studious he never really participated in any pranks neither was he on the receiving end as all the hostel mates depend on his notebooks for exams. This was a completely new experience for him. Bosh tried to pacify him and managed to take him to his room.
Meanwhile Poocha located the dead body of rat and after cremating it, Pothan gathered everybody in his room to continue the game. There was one problem. Cards were still in my room and it was locked. Pothan volunteered to bring the cards from my room. He went to room, opened the door and entered inside. In no time Maman came running and locked the room with another lock and shouted, "If you want to play any game you must be willing to be played". He was referring to the prank.
Things were getting more complicated. Oolan and Pocha came running to the corridor. Pothan was hitting the door in full throttle. I requested Maman to open the door to avoid the situation getting out of control. Maman was adamant in his refusal to change his mind and he had his share of supporters who gathered at the scene.
After one hour Bosh intervened and persuaded Maman to handover the key to him by terrifying him with the description of the muscle bound arms of Pothan, a quality Maman clearly lacked. Bosh opened the door and entered inside. There was total silence, just like the lull before the storm. Pothan came out of the room , surprisingly with a smile on his face. He went near Maman and told "It was a good try." He turned around and left the scene followed by Oolan and Poocha. Maman sighed in relief. Bosh exited from the room and on seeing me puzzled, announced with his famous Kannur slang "He was very angry. I told him that the trick to survive the situation is not to let Maman and others have the satisfaction of knowing that the prank worked on him. Pothan will be hitting his bed after reaching his room in frustration".
Cherayanengilum Mamante kadi kollendeduthu kondu!

The Mechrani

This is not a story, rather a tribute to the indomitable spirit and truimph over difficult circumstances through determination by a person; Mechrani.

First day in class; my wandering eyes focused on that girl sitting alone in first bench with moist eyes, looking towards the door, for every footstep heard in the corridor, with the anticipation of the arrival of one more female companion. The expression of hope doomed in the first week itself and replaced with the reality of inevitable. My legs were rooted to the ground whenever the thought to console her occurred. Muthu elevated himself to front bench closely followed by Maman. They gave company to her throughout the college life with others chipping in with useful contributions shedding their rough and tough image.

Occasional disagreements moistened her eyes and tears rolled through those bubbly cheeks, but she never lost her cool. As time passed by, those tears never fell from her eyes, although it moistening occasionally. This always reminded us of the feminine side of the Mechs. After first year, I saw her lose the control of this act only on two occasions; on hearing the news of the demise of our great friend and classmate Sankar and on the final day of our college life; our farewell day. She let go the control on emotions and wept like a child and forced us to follow her example.

She was the link between the studious ones and the underprivileged as far as learning was concerned. She was more than willing to supply notes and assignments to others when in need and we were in need most of the times. The machismo of Mechs only compromised for her and in her presence we were vulnerable as any Electrical, Electronics and Civil guy. As days passed I thought the machismo will have its effect on her, but she managed to keep her feminine charms in tact. She mastered the art of safeguarding the information on LH girls without annoying her fellow mechs who were too eager to know the proceedings in LH.

She was the first RIT girl to enter MH and under watchful eyes of Mechs she was more secured in MH than anywhere else in RIT. Though she didn't return the favour, many had dreamt that. Thanks to her, our pranks were never limited to MH.

Going back in time, if I get an opportunity to change anything in my college life, I want to go near her on that first day, sit beside her and announce to her in a voice audible to the whole class. "Please stop looking for another girl. We will never let you feel that you want one for company". Although we achieved it, the announcement was missing.

Flirtoragg

Ekalavya is a fascinating character in Mahabharatha who was asked to cripple himself by Drona for embarking self-study to learn the art of archery in the presence of a clay image of Drona. Unruffled by the demand and with due humility, he cut his right thumb and placed at the feet of Drona as a 'Gurudakshina' thus sacrificing the immense success he could have achieved as a skillful archer.

Those who possess status symbols had gained a definite edge over the others in college, like the one in our class who owned a bike. From the very first day, he and his friend came to campus together in bike and we called them 'Biker Boys'. They were welcomed by unruly political scenario of RIT campus and it took two years to settled into their grooves.

Beautiful fresher girls were at the receiving end of their newly found freedom. It was only an extension of their flirting which had dated back to first year and we named it 'flirtoragg', the combination of flirting and ragging. The girls from our batch had managed to escape the flirting with some lame excuses, but freshers were forced to suffer the 'kathi'. The general perception among others was that eventually the girls will complain to HOD or principal. Our college had strict rules against ragging and we waited for something disastrous to happen.

Contrary to our expectations, they fared well in flirtoragg and there were no complaints. Many credited that to their friendly mannerisms and good looks. Their popularity grew manifold. Fellow students looked up to them in awe and referred them as masters of flirtoragg. I was one among them.

I had tried my hand in flirtoragg with most of the sessions ending either with the girl crying or I getting frustrated. These unfortunate results prompted me to learn the art of flirtoragg from the masters. That day I finished my lunch and went to first year classes. I saw the Biker Boys standing in the corridor and I placed myself on their side. They were least bothered by my presence and got into their usual business. As a bunch of fresher girls passed by, they called the gorgeous one. I truly admired that choice.

The first question "Did you finish your lunch?".

The girl was tensed and answered "Yes".

Next question "What was special for lunch"?

She started describing the lunch in detail. Biker boys listened carefully encouraging her to continue. Slowly her apprehension made way for candor and they were into flirtoragg in full flow.

"Brilliant!". I told myself.

After 15minutes long session, biker boys finished the conversation with the punch line "It was so nice to know you more". I could see the girl smiling all the way back. That's the way to execute a successful flirtoragg. As I turned to leave the scene, I saw another girl. Her hair hung in delicate curls around her white shoulders. She was talking to other girls and the dimple in her face made her smile so cute. The moment I saw her there was a rumbling in my chest and mouth was as dry as a desert. She really fit into my particular favourite type of girl.

She was the next target of biker boys. In my enthusiasm to see her and know more about her, I went close to biker boys and stood there.

As usual they started: "Where your father is working?"

"He is in gulf", she answered

"Mother?" enquired one of the Biker Boys .

"She is in Trivandrum".

The girl was getting comfortable. I started to feel left out and in an impulse to join the party I asked "How could it work?"

Biker boys were surprised by that question and burst into laughter. The girl was taken aback and started crying. Before I could explain my innocence, a hand fell on my shoulder. I turned around and stunned to see our HOD standing there.

He took us to his office room and warned us against ragging. After asking biker boys to leave he said to me in his monotonous voice with little variation in pitch and tone "If you go near that girl again, I will suspend you". It shattered my hopes of going to her and making me clear on the issue. As I left the office and moved back to hostel I could see biker boys standing in the corridor and in serious flirtoragg with another damsel.

The severity of Biker boys actions were diluted by my comment and forced HOD to issue only a mild warning enabling them to continue with their flirtoragg sessions. All his anger was directed to me and I ended up giving the ultimate 'Gurudakshina' to Biker Boys for learning flirtoragg ; comparable only to the one given by Ekalavya, my favourite mythological character.

An invited supple

Supple aka ‘supplementary paper’ is a friend, most of the engineering students carry alongwith during their course tenure. Though mechanical engg students used to have enough such friends, we Rumboys never liked them to be with us during our first three semesters. Later we became used to it and our aversion to "supple" was totally taken away by MOM-II (mechanics of machines -2) where only 7 people got passed that too with marks between 40 and 45.

Many of us, who preferred to stay out of classrooms, bunked series exams and never submitted assignments, studied hard at the time of exams to obtain good grades. KD was one such guy who never attended the classes but aspired to get good marks. For him supple was considered an insult to his manhood.

It was the electrical machines lab of fourth semester. As usual, KD could not get enough time to study all the tests and hence was forced to skip two experiments; one, load test on three phase induction motor and second, OC and SC test on transformer. Being a mathematician who scored 85+ for both S1S2 and S3 and an adept in probability theorem made some calculations and found that the chances of getting these two experiments was less than 12% and with much confident on his probability calculations, marched happily to electrical lab.

KD was the tenth candidate as per alphabetical order and was the last one in his batch. When he approached the desk, there were three folded papers lying in the table which determined his fate in the lab. He looked around and saw no one standing near the 3 phase induction motor and transformer. He was now sure that the three papers lying in front of him had the two experiments he skipped and his winning percentage dropped down to 33 % from the earlier 88%. With trembling hand he took one paper and it read “Conduct Open circuit and short circuit test on transformer and comment on its characteristics”. KD, who didn’t know the primary and secondary of transformer, earnestly asked for a change in experiment. For him, as per the probability theorem, his success percentage would raise to 50% if he is allowed to take a test from the other two.

Seeing the sad looks of our KD, the external examiner agreed for a change in experiment. KD again with trembling hands took one paper. With high expectations he read “Conduct load test on three phase induction motor and plot its….”. He couldn’t complete as his eyes got soaked with tears. Totally ditched by the probability theorems, KD moved towards the three phase induction motor and stood there staring at the motor. It was the first time he saw a three phase induction motor in his entire 20 years. KD drew a circuit diagram based on his logic by connecting a voltmeter, ammeter, load, AC source, a switch and off course a motor. He also started writing a procedure which he believed to be the procedure for conducting the load test. As he didn’t know how to conduct the experiment, he was forced to stop after wrote how to give connections as per his circuit diagram. With this our KD felt sure of getting a supple for this lab. Deeply frustrated by the thought of his first supple, he went to the examiner and confessed that he didn’t know how to do the experiment and asked her to mark him absent. As the attendance was marked and experiment being allotted, the external examiner informed her inability to mark him absent and requested him to do what best he know on the load test.

After some more time, KD again approached the external and said “Madam, this is the first time I am facing a supple. As you cannot mark me absent, please be kind enough to give me zero for this exam. For me getting a zero is better that failing”. Examiner didn’t understand KD’s logic. Still in a composed tone, she checked the circuit diagram and little bit of procedure written on the answer sheet and told KD that the answer sheet in its present form itself will fetch him 25 marks. Upon KD’s silence the external added “Please go and make the connections as drawn and try to do something and depending on how u perform in viva I will try to make you pass” KD had learnt from his past not to trust anyone from electrical dept. Be it the girl who comes in her typical black jeans on all Mondays or a faculty, everybody had equal stand in his mind.

One more appeal from KD made the examiner angry. She shouted at KD which ignited the bruised feelings inside him. Suddenly everyone in the lab saw KD snatching the answer sheet from examiner and made a glamorous ‘strike through’ on the circuit diagrams and procedure. With the entire expectation of obtaining a zero, he handed over the paper back to the external and told “Madam, now you may please give me a zero”. Seeing this the externals’ face got red and she in a very scary tone told KD “You will get zero for this answer sheet, but I will give you 15 for your record and 5 for attendance and make your marks 20”.

KD was dumbstruck. Though the external was happy on not giving his desired ‘zero’, KD was disappointed with the examiners last words. If she told about the 20 marks before, he would never score the paper and would have passed with the 25 marks he deserved for the diagram and procedure. First ditched by the probability and secondly by the examiner, KD walked out of lab, face down, into the world of supple.

The Expense Report

Liju came with a rather strange request; accompany him to kottayam town for buying rope. "silly!. Why can't he buy it from here".On a sunday morning with an empty purse you just don't want to be bothered. I explained him my financial situation, but it was not enough to deter him. After 20 minutes we boarded the bus to kottayam.

We got seated and he started the conversation by informing me that he had searched for rope near college, but found them too expensive. Later the conversation drifted to sports meet starting next day. KD was the sports secretary of our college union and sports meet was a prestigious event, may be the most important event of his college life. Though Liju was KD's roommate he was not too interested in the topic."His humility is stopping him from bragging on his role".

After alighting from bus Liju took me to a juice shop nearby and ordered for two apple juices."Having apple juice is refreshing in the peak of summer". He lit a cigarette and offered me one. As my hands fumbled with the matches, he took the match from my hand, lit it and touched it to the trembling tip of the cigarette dangling precariously from my lips. Although he was known as rich, his generosity was doubted by many including me."Everything seemed to be changing".

We found a reputed shop and after long bargain bought two sets of ropes costing 12 rupees. We reached 'Khana-khazhana', the famous and costly hotel in the heart of the town and one of the favourite hang outs for RITans."I have to be happy with an ordinary meal". The place was packed upstairs and downstairs. We waited for a seat and the smell of fried chicken watered my mouth. To my surprise, Liju ordered for two chicken biriyanis and a chicken kabab. This made me suspicious and felt like things are getting out of control. I hesitated for a second, understandingly he said "I will pay". I got overwhelmed with gratitude."Even after knowing him for so many years I felt like dealing with a complete stranger". I thoroughly enjoyed the food. After finishing it, Liju ordered ice cream! ."A perfect finish to an excellent dining experience".

"If u judge people you have no time to love them" I understood why Mother Theresa said this. I was doing the judging all day; doubting his integrity, mocking his intentions. I decided to enjoy the moment and thanked him from bottom of my heart. We reached back to the hostel by evening and I immediately slept.

A loud argument woke me up and I went to corridor of the hostel. I could hear Liju's voice from his room."Last week when I bought gifts for sports meet from Kottayam, you asked for proof before refunding the amount I spent. This time I had gone with Joseph. You can ask him for any clarification. I want the refund by tomorrow". As I reached the room, Liju stormed out of it after handing over a piece of white paper to KD, our Sports Secretary. The writing on that paper was not clear to me from that distance. I wondered "Why was Liju so upset about the refund of Rs 12 ?"

I went close and read the paper in KD's hand.

Expenses:

Bus fair -Rs. 08

Juice -Rs. 20

Cigarette -Rs. 10

Lunch -Rs. 60

Rope -Rs. 12

Total amount to be refunded -Rs.110