CAMPUS IN HEAVEN

"This is about my college campus-Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham -Ettimadai,Coimbatore"

CAMPUS IN HEAVEN

I remember the very sight I had the first day I stepped into my University campus - the elephant shaped mountain standing all gallantly and huge going all the way I don’t know where, welcoming me to its world. It took me three years to appreciate the beauty of my campus. It was a Saturday and to my surprise it was not a working day in the campus. I spent the whole day sleeping and reading books. In the evening I set out for a stroll with my music player pressed into my ears, isolating me away from the world of records, observations, GPA’s, exams, placements and filling my one gallon head with melodious music. I walked through the first year hostel and walked past the amazingly cheap engineering college canteen which serves the best food in the campus at really genuine rates and through the most scenic road in the campus which is the stretch opposite to the main academic building. This road is the stretch where a person who says “this world sucks” is to be bought because here he will see a gigantic mountain embracing a man made building build behind a beautiful Saraswathi statue and all this beauty surrounded by lush greenery and a deify calmness. I then settled down at the football ground after a brief walk in the campus streets.

I was listening to fusion music (I am a big time fan of Carnatic music). I went deep into thoughts as the guitars fretted in my ears and the Mridangam made me tap my feet and closed my eyes, totally cloistered myself from the outside world. After fifteen minutes I opened my eyes to see the most beautiful view I have ever seen. The moon was setting in just behind the brow, lightening the zenith as if just to decorate the crown. I kept starring at the view for I don’t know how long. I did nothing else but stare wondering how I missed this for three years now. Never did I look at my watch and when I finally did, to my surprise I had spent two hours just like that.  There was no one around and I was all alone in the steps of the football ground. Thinking of it now, I realize I was happy from inside (if you know what I mean) after a long time.  As the cold breeze swept through me, I felt a chill in my face and wiped out what I think were tears. Never knew this could happen until that day.

Fellow Amritians believe me when I say we are living in heaven. We get to see and live in the natural beauty for which tomorrow we will be paying bulky bills to some random tour guide to show around what I would rate just a park in the name of a forest. If you have not yet seen the beauty of this place, it’s high time we avert our gaze towards the beauty of this campus. This campus in my personal opinion is living in completely harmony with the nature (I would say, here it’s the ghats section). I will definitely miss it when I am out of here.

It’s in our hands to keep the campus beautiful and clean forever. Easy just use the dustbins and close the taps properly and avoid spitting on the streets. 

Then it hit me when I decided to get back to my hostel. I removed my ear phones and saw the laboratories and workshops and as I reached the hostel,(OMG) my friend waiting to ask me “machan record sign vaangitiyaa?”( it means did you get the lab record signed). I was back into the world of Indian engineering education system in the very same campus. How weird and beautiful at the same time.

INCIDENTS THAT HIT ME-THE OTHER SIDE

THE OTHER SIDE

It was the afternoon of December, 2009 when I had just escaped from my semester exams and decided to abscond from the campus as soon as possible. I was on my way to catch the part one of “Harry Potter and The Half Blooded Prince”.  The first thing I did after I fled out of the exam hall was to book a call taxi. I took up the front seat next to the driver, while my friends took the back seats.  I am loquacious person and quite predictably, it is my regular routine to begin a chat with the driver, and today was no different. It was a regular journey along the curvy and verdant surroundings from the campus to the national high way, and then from towards the city from the placid atmosphere of the village. The only difference was that I could not forget my conversation with that driver, for a long time, and that is why I am writing this article. I asked him quite a lot about his daily life and he was patient enough to answer me. I asked him if he was the owner of the taxi, and for that he said, he is just the driver. I asked him what is the longest distance he has ever driven, he said he has been driving for the past three days (he meant continuous three days). That is when the cold air from the outside hit my face. He had not been home for the three days now, and has been living in the car. He showed me his daily kit, wrapped in an old, leather bag.  His kit had his tooth brush, bathing soap, and a pair of dress and his regular medicines. He had not seen his family since three days and had not slept, just to earn what I spent in that one day for my entertainment. I just could not digest that, there are people who work round the clock, without food, and sleep. But he has his side of his story and that too seems right, from his perspective.            

        - “The other side”.

Ten days after this incident, I was in Mumbai. Mumbai is a very beautiful city, and the business capital of India. Home for the celebrities of Bollywood and the business big shots of the country. The new express way bridge built over the sea is a remarkable piece of engineering and quite an eye catcher. The seas of Mumbai have their own songs to sing and they are beautiful. Mumbai’s beauty seemed to double when it rained suddenly, but only for a brief time. One can find Homo sapiens in every nook and corner of the city, and can also find beautiful slums, dominated by huts, a midst the sky high buildings. The one thing you must not miss out is the travel in the local trains. The aerial view one gets while landing or taking off from the Chatrapthi Sivaji Terminus is just mind blowing, accompanied by the obnoxious smell that you experience once you are out of the flight(yes Russel Peters is right about this). Of all the places he showed us, there is one place which till date, has reserved its own space in my memory. He showed us a building, and said it was the house for one man, and not to mention that it is taller than the communication network tower which stood near his house and bigger than the terrorist attacked Taj and Oberoi hotels. Ask that millionaire, if he cannot spend the funds in the welfare of the destitute. – He has his perspective and that too seems right.

                -"The Other Side"                                                                                                                                                          

 I am a diehard fan of Rajinikanth. Though I do feel his movies are produced to challenge the great minds of Newton and his laws of physics, no one can refute his capacity as a mass entertainer and that is what I like about him, and not his capacity as an actor or definitely not as a dancer. His dialogues emphasize a lot upon the fact that “rich get richer and the poor get poorer” many a times, and this seems to be a universal fact for ages and the world, as we know it today, seems to dictate that this is how it should be for the years to come. If you ever happen to be in a bus stand in Chennai in the peak hours of the day, it is impossible to miss the spectacular view of the thousand youngsters, whose wardrobe is filled with Raymond, Reebok, Peter England and Crocodile rushing towards the buses of the MNC companies, is quite impressive. What makes it more beautiful is, a boy who is supposed to be in a school is sent to beg, work in tea shops, and hotels. Again there is another side to his story, and that too seems right from his perspective.  

               -“The other side”

           

  There is another side to everything; the education phenomena in India, politics, poverty and what not. Only that the other is side quite bitter, unacceptable and always neglected by The Other Side. The other side of some issues, if thought upon by the common man can lead to solutions of unanswered issues.  The most beautiful phenomena of the other side is, always there are people, on both sides. It is up to us to decide which side are we in and which the other side is. Every man has his own questions, explanations and principles. Choose them wisely and be on the correct side. These are just some of my unanswered questions which have been confusing me for long now. I have just made an attempt to bring in the same confusion in you. Hope I have done that effectively.

               THINK IT OVER