JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FRUSTRATED ENGINEERING STUDENT!
As the alarm goes off, I am jolted back to the harsh
reality. I then fiddle around to find my phone to turn off the alarm. I finally
manage to turn off the darn thing and haul my sleepy carcass in a sitting
position. As I sit scratching my head, I feel a profound regret for staying up
late watching Game of thrones. The longing for a couple of hours of extra sleep
is only matched by urgency to relieve my filled bladder. Half awake, I then
make the slow march like a convict on a death roll and head to the bathroom.
And then the epiphany. Another day of college to face!! As I stare myself in
the mirror and brush my teeth working out the foam, I try to recall whether I
have missed anything . Any pending assignments? Any scheduled tests?
You may think I am a bit paranoid here. You see, I am your
average college going student. But my college definitely is not.
Even before I learnt to walk, my career was decided by our
family astrologer. Consulting the celestial stars and my horoscope, he finally
decided that I am fit to be an engineer. I think after my parents left his
consultation room, he would have had a hearty laugh. One more kid added to the
already long list of engineers!
So after 12th, lots of tears, sweat and after
visits to the Mariamman temple along with entire family and few more consultations
with our astrologer, I finally entered the Engineering life! Little did I know
it would become a sugar coated hell!
After a long bath , that involved a silent guilt trip as to
whether I could have chosen a different path, I pour water on my head hoping it
would cleanse the accumulated filth and the sins of joining such a college. By
this time, my mom banged the bathroom door twice with the usual paraphrase “Dai,
ulla ennada panra! Seekram vandhu thola! Bus miss aydum”.
Emerging from the bathroom, smelling of shampoo , I then
open my wardrobe to see the modest collection of dress. In most wardrobe doors,
you would either find a poster of your favourite movie star or a football star
or if you have an inclination towards the nerdy side, the occasional darth
vader poster. But no. Not in my case. In my case there is a print out of my
college dress code attached to my wardrobe door. I have stuck it because, I
have on few occasions violated a few rules, for which I had to shell out 1000
bucks as fine. And the dress codes are ridiculous. No semi formals, no folding
of arm sleeves, no multi pocketed trousers etc etc. The villages run by the
Taliban have more dressing freedom than my college.
After double checking that my dressing sense meets the expectations of the imbeciles who framed such rules, I then have an hurried breakfast.I try to enjoy the food cooked by my mom because, we are not allowed to carry lunch. Yes, like prisoners we have to eat lunch at the college canteen. Bear Grylls from Man Vs Wild, will feel right at home because our canteen food occasionally consists of cockroaches , lizards and the occasional beetle. Anyone who tries to raise voice against this is immediately threatened with a Transfer Certificate. This quells any rebellion which the students might be planning.
After double checking that my dressing sense meets the expectations of the imbeciles who framed such rules, I then have an hurried breakfast.I try to enjoy the food cooked by my mom because, we are not allowed to carry lunch. Yes, like prisoners we have to eat lunch at the college canteen. Bear Grylls from Man Vs Wild, will feel right at home because our canteen food occasionally consists of cockroaches , lizards and the occasional beetle. Anyone who tries to raise voice against this is immediately threatened with a Transfer Certificate. This quells any rebellion which the students might be planning.
As I walk out of my house, I longingly gaze at my beloved
Royal Enfield Bullet biting the dust! Because bringing any vehicle is strictly
prohibited in my college. Everyone has to come by the college bus which is just
short of a corpse van hauling the zombies like me from different parts of the
city. The college in itself is located in a desolate piece of land surrounded
by forests. You might have come across such scenery in either a “Black Magic”
ritual in a movie or a disposing ground for the gangsters and mafias who dare
cross their path.
The journey in the bus is highly uneventful. The passengers
would have had any enthusiasm left in them sucked long ago. The boys and girls
are made to sit separately on either side of the bus. Anyone caught talking to
the opposite sex is immediately slapped a fine, threatened, abused and
insulted..and not necessarily in the same order. So we tend to either sleep or
pretend to study. No option of listening to music because mobile phones are
banned !!!
As the bus stops inside the campus, we are greeted with a
welcoming party of 4- 5 people who look like the goons from Jigarthanda movie
assoiciated with Assault Sethu. They check your dress code and occasionally frisk
you ( read..molest ). As I wait in line
for my turn , I again am overwhelmed by the guilt that us brewing inside me. Not a
day passes by where I don’t recall all the above mentioned things.
As I approach the goon who is inspecting, he looks at me
like I am a creature who crawled out from the sewer and with a cruel smile asks
me “ ID card enga pa?”
Only then do I realize , I am not wearing my ID card and start
preparing myself to accept the judgment that will soon be passed on me for this
“crime”
WELCOME TO HELL!
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