It
was a great break….I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I’d come to spend
the next four years of my life here!!
And no one I’d come to meet, did
either. It seemed like we were all thrown on this little hilltop to find futures
for ourselves.
It is, I must say a great place to do so many things including
your Bachelor of Engineering.
Let me first take you to where Manipal
nestles…..
On the western front of India, that faces the Arabian Sea lies the
coastal belt called the Konkan coast. Near the southern part of this coast in
the state of Karnataka, lies the highly progressive district of South Kanara.
And Manipal shines in the pack of places. Up on the hill from the temple town of
Udupi, the road finally winds up through some dense wild to a huge billboard
that says:
“ Welcome to the University Town of
Manipal”
You really feel nice to read this, believe me!
Your
eyes easily roam around to see some huge buildings that look like hostels. But
of course !!! the plethora of bikes in front of them confirm your doubts. If you
are looking out from inside of a bus, which is usually driven in some
inexplicable hurry, you don’t miss the feeling what is generally called a
‘culture shock’.
Am I going to live in this place???? I remember asking
myself when I first underwent the same kinda feeling. But scarcely did I know
that it was just a li’l more time that I’d be very soon a part and parcel of
this diaspora. The first few days were of course one of a splendid blend of
independence, fear, curiosity and above all a new feeling towards everything.
Whether it was in sharing stories of your life before, with your new friends or
in being drudges meekly obeying the orders of Seniors, you would tend to stick
around with others. Classes in college were of a different kind where I must
admit it was a big letdown in terms of knowing your classmates. You never did…
infact !!
The majority consisted of people from areas surrounding Manipal
and there was, rather it at least seemed, very little existed in common between
you ‘n’ them….. The Hostel life was one of immeasurable fun and frolic. One
would have to spend a quantum amount of time to pinpoint things that we didn’t,
or realistically-speaking, couldn’t do. The first year took the cake, which saw
the intrinsic talents of an individual out in the open…like for instance the
most undercover noisemaker in the block could be your silent roommate. Singing,
Dancing and all the other ings of life- there was no looking back. Everyone knew
everything. If someone didn’t he’d soon would.
All of us somebodys once
played out an act that’ll haunt me really for a long time to come. And so will
it amuse me at the same time. Here’s
that star-studded story...
Time flew with something or the
other always happening.
A matter of time and we all had stepped into the
shoes of a “Senior”. And you could see the cycle repeating with first timers
thronging to Manipal with those curiosity-mixed-with-fear filled eyes waiting to
join our college afresh. And pleasure it was to walk amongst freshers then where
they were really afraid of you !!! Its like an Answer to a Question that you
know and they don’t.
It was an open fact and we never tried to set aside that
trend.
Manipal is , also ,by the way blessed with natural beauties in
and around. A lot of greenery, waterfalls, two beautiful stretches that go till
the end of the hillock that go by the name of Points, make it a nature-lover’s
paradise. I’d kill anyone’s memories if it weren’t for me to mention the
splendid beaches that are a few miles away. Lots of dreams have supposedly
occurred to the Junta here on many an occasion. Be it in rain or sunshine the
vrroommm…of our enthu never dimmed. And there was hardly anybody who’d say no to
a Beach trip. If a bike was supposed to take only a single pillion, we furthered
its capabilities by taking two. After all we all had a common motive. To be
there together at the scene of the action.
Wherever. Whenever.
Watches
were one of minimal use. For the classes to begin and end there was the
unmistakable siren, for the exams there was your friendly neighborhood
hostelmate. And for the rest you had to learn the biological clock. It was just
a little while before we all came to know Manipal’s strange climatic behavior.
It had only two seasons – one of Monsoon and the other of No Monsoon. Either it
rained or it didn’t both making the respective halves of a year. It scarcely
mattered !! Rains to come in the way of your plans?? No way! People dutifully
turned immune to such acts of nature. In fact it meant a pre-cursor to a bevy of
things that were to come ahead. One could notice the change in the concerns of
an individual. Lots turned spiritual at the drop of a hat. And
there were plenty of watering holes out there to take care of that—24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Guys, who the other day were teaching you
Engineering Drawing Made Easy were today preaching the favorable
effects of wine drinking. And with scant regard to debate I must say that this
was what that made us all closer. There were discussions galore, which started
merely from what ailed our mess food to the corridors of power somewhere in
Washington or someplace closeby.
But all said and done, Manipal never fails
to make a monumental influence to your life. It is here that I maintain I came
to meet some of the most talented people anywhere. You always seemed to meet
someone far more superior to you in a given field.
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