A beautiful life @ Hostel

It's a cloudy morning - dark sky, cold weather with the smell of wet mud. "Oru paadhi kathavu neeyadi.." in speakers. The climate seems perfectly beautiful to have some steaming hot bajjis or bondas with a cup of hot tea and that's when Nataraj says "ppaah..! sema climate..ippa mattum hostel la irundha semaya irukkum..entha kavalaiyum illaama joly ah irunthurukalaam..". Suddenly it starts raining and retrospective thoughts begin to fill up my mind...

It all began on 12th August 2007. Four beautiful years. Those days, irrefutably, are the best in my life till now. Those mixed emotions that anyone feels when he miss his family and move to a hostel for the first time in life cannot be easily described in words. I still remember my 'first night' at hostel - my 'first night' that too 'with 3 idiots'(with Santhosh, Tamilmani and Pragathes at blockII, #34). I didn't sleep well at my 'first night' because that was the 'first time' for me to sleep in a hostel far away from home; because that was the 'first time' I realized that the sound of airplanes could disturb your sleep.

When I look back at my hostel life, I realize that my life has changed a lot now.
Back then, I had many freedoms - freedom from bathing daily, freedom from wearing ironed formal clothes.
Back then, I had never felt like going home even for long vacations.
Back then, I had never slept without a late night chat with friends, atleast for few hours.
Back then, I had never felt lonely. Be it anything, to read or to play or to bunk classes or to possibly anything, there used to be always someone with me.
Back then, even a few pennies and a little pocket money rejoiced me as much as having earned millions.
Back then, I had more hair than what I have now (gifts for being a 'hard core' software engineer)
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Lots and lots of back thens...I feel I miss my little freedoms a lot.
Now most of the things are completely different from how it used to be in my hostel days and now I understand why most of us get nostalgic when we think about our hostel days. Especially, the climate with constant sprinkling of rain drops sets my mood perfectly right to get nostalgic. Going further down my memory lane I realize I miss many things...

-those birthday bashes..
-those hostel photo shoots..
-those first time experiences of watching a *#censored* movie..
-those days of roaming around the campus under moon light after second shows in Ganapathyram or Thyagaraaja..
-those DJ nights in hostel rooms..
-those laddus and jilebis which friends bring from their home after a vacation..
-those HPL(Hostel Premier League) and especially all the team names FFF,TTT,SFS,8P,BWB (all the names are *#censored*). The worst part  is I still don't even know how to exactly hold a cricket bat #self-deprecating humour..
-those carrom boards and Table tennis in newspaper reading tables, those card games with more than 10 people in a room..
-those idiots who call even me as a 'pandu'..
-the moments that you will remember forever.. those moments of laughing until you cried.. those moments of laughing until your stomach hurts.. those moments of perfect craziness.. It is those moments where you had to be there to feel it. It is those moments that make life worth living. It is those moments that makes life incredibly and unutterably beautiful..

   will those moments ever happen again.?? 

Remembrance of those days is so vivid that I am tempted to pen down my memories. Hopefully, this could take you all back to your past and probably leave you with a smile to reckon all those unforgettable moments that you possibly cherish even today..!!

I feel that hostel is not just a place where I stayed. It is where I played, I studied, I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed and I lived. Those walls of my hostel room would have seen all my emotions and feelings. I wonder whether it even knows how I would react when I am happy or when I am sad.
       College hostel is like another home away from home, where you have nothing to be worried of..

Before I completely go into the past, it is Nataraj again, "dae naaye..mazhai nindruchu da..vaa office polaam....".
Back to life, back to reality after a short break. All that I could think of now is the words of Robert Frost,
               "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on".

Questions from an ordinary Indian..

Imagine a place for 50 people filled with at least some 100+ people. Imagine a place where people climbing over each other to get in or out, people pushing you to pass through.  China mobiles screaming out loud music. Some were chatting. Some were shouting. Some were laughing. Some even wore a look of desperation in their faces. I was standing there, at the rear end of the bus. Back then, getting out of the bus seemed to be my only wish for the entire life time. That was a painful journey. No human being on this earth should have to travel like that. I just asked myself whether these kind of packed bus journeys have become so normal to people?

I just leaned against the side of a seat. It was suffocating. I couldn't move. All that I could do was to ask some more questions to myself. The bus went by the side of a bridge.
Why/How do people live under these bridges..?
Why there is a luxurious building and next to it people living in streets..?

When I looked outside the bus, I saw people traveling in two wheelers
with their faces, hands and eyes covered like terrorists.

Why there is so much dust in the air..? Why there is trash everywhere you go..?  



Why does the bus conductor issue more number of tickets than seats..?
Why do many Indians does not know the difference between street roads and public toilets..?
Why do people bath in railway stations..?
Why do we call India a secular country where caste-ism and racial discrimination are deep rooted in the minds of people..?
Why every other country in the world is respecting the Indian culture except Indians..?
Why do Indians fight to call themselves backward..?
   “Reservation ought to be given on the basis of worth, not merely on the basis of birth” 
                                                                                             - Mahatma Gandhi
 Lokpal, RTE - WTF..?
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endless questions.. and at last-
Is India anywhere near in becoming world super power..?

    
Many would argue that India's economy is one of the fastest growing in the world. I would say that their obsession with GDP has gone to an extent of being called as a psychological disorder. It is the outcome of their desire that their country should be viewed by others as a fast developing or an emerging country.

What India's years of GDP growth has done to the lives of Malnutritioned children..?
In What way the economic development of India has improved the lives of impoverished..?
Is India atleast qualified enough to be considered a probable candidate for future super power?

When I try to answer these questions, I couldn't. I don't want to. I feel ashamed to accept the failure of my nation. Some of these questions may seem to be immature. But, it is these questions which confound me, which infuriate me every day. When I try to find an answer to these questions, it almost makes me to hate India.

I find myself many times wishing I had some power - power that could quickly heal the wounds of everyone and everything around me - power that could change fear to comfort - power that could  convert the tears of sadness into tears of joy.  But then, after seeing what some people, who already have these powers(you don't have to be GOD to do these), have done to India on a daily basis, I realize I might just quickly burn everyone to the ground - if I have the power.

You should not consider me either a patriotic person for writing about India. Neither should you consider me as disloyal or unpatriotic just because some simple questions make me to hate India. I am just like you- just like you and everyone out there. I am just a simple middle class Indian - just one among many self-centered, ungenerous contemporary Indians.
   
I do not want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country – JRD Tata