Reminiscing Dude
A Story Untold…
My story goes back to the day when a shy, soft-spoken guy- a guy who has just completed his 18th year and had excitedly stepped into adulthood, walked into the university for the first time. University was a whole new place for him as he expected and he came here to learn something, but what he was going to learn, he never knew.
As he looked around, full of anticipation, the first thing he noticed were the hep flamboyant dudes in their branded outfits chilling out with divine beauties on the most amazing road scorchers (read- automobiles!) Not flustered he moved on, his eyes full of dreams and his heart full of hope. He expected to become a great guy with a bright future and of course prove to be a great kid to his parents. There was a lot he wanted to achieve but he never knew what lay ahead of him in the coming few years.
He was a guy who liked watching movies, roaming around and much more… and le behold! He is none other than me!!
And now slowly his life at the university unfolds…chapter by chapter…
After a few days of my entering the university, I met a girl. I’m definitely not a guy who believes in love at the first site but surely one who likes to know people. After meeting her I felt like there was a strong connection between us. But I still kept meeting the girl without disclosing my true feeling.
Chapter 1: Fear that Vanished!!!
I was undergoing a new thing called “PDP i.e. Personality Development Programme” which was just a civilized name for “Ragging”. And also a secret name to call fresher to their rooms. But this was a nightmare for me. My Heart pounds hard at the first sound of the word “hey, fresher!” and turns to attack by the end of the phrase. Department ragging and hostel ragging for the outsiders which was even wwas there. Oh sorry!! PDP (if any of the seniors hear this, they will kill me) was the worst thing, worse than the department ragging that I had to face. There were activities from mental to physical to sexual that we have to do in front of those perverts. And even offering of alcoholic drinks, the one thing I hated the most. But one thing best about all this was the feeling of unanimity among the fellow fresher and the turning of this shy guy into an open person.
Chapter 2: Burn the Midnight oil???
In this manner 5 months passed and then came the first semester exams. These were the worst prepared exams of my life. Collecting notes the evening before the exam and studying at my friends house, just the night before the exam were my best and the worst experience. Worst because there was a feeling of guilt on the part of the good guy inside me and best because I never enjoyed my exams so much before. From staying awake the entire night talking to friends, to the laughter to ease our study load, to the coffee that I would volunteer to make, those were unforgettable nights. I called myself the best coffee maker not realizing the fact that sometimes I misjudged the amount of coffee to be put in. And my misjudgment was always on the higher side and my friends had to bear the consequences with gastro problems. But whatever, I still know that they had fun too.
Chapter 3: The Vodka – resolution../ Vodka ‘n’ new year…
Here comes the first major experience of my life “The New Years Eve”. We were 5 guys who first roamed around here and there in Chandigarh trying our best for entry into the clubs but didn’t get any. So, we planned to go to a place called ‘Perch Dam’ for the Eve. I had no idea about the place but my adventurous side told me that no matter what we’d have fun anyways. We picked up some stuff to eat on the way and not to miss, a bottle of Vodka. We were passed through some villages and some farmlands and then a ‘black cat’ crossed our way. We just laughed it off cracking jokes on each other with the fact that what worse could happen after our totally screwed up exams. Suddenly, I heard some screams and shouts from the front seat and I realized that we had fallen into a huge pit after the broken bridge. The rear wheels of the car were what we were hanging by. But please don’t worry, no one was hurt or injured else this story wouldn’t have been so amusing for me to share with you! Anyways, we somehow pulled ourselves out but the car was still hanging to the bridge. Two of my friends went to bring some help and they came back with a tractor and some village people. We were out of the pit in sometime and it was half an hour to go for the Eve. We enthusiastically moved further forgetting what had just happened and reached a totally dark place with closed gates. But, it didn’t feel so bad after we all poured some Vodka and started drinking after raising a Toast to the New Year. This was the first time I drank with an awesome start.
I, of course, continued drinking occasionally, although the occasions were fake most of the time but I still call myself an ‘occasional drinker’.
Chapter 4: From Denice to Devdas
My results for the first semester showed that I had barely passed, but I was happy because I knew, I didn’t even deserve to pass. In the meanwhile, I started going out with the girl more often and started liking her a lot and deep in my heart I knew that she also liked me. We would hold hands for hours without realizing how time flew by. My friends pumped me and told me that if I didn’t confess my love the girl would go for someone else. So I decided to propose her but thought I needed time to prepare before that. So I started planning but before I could plan properly, I proposed…now I know why they say patience is an important virtue. But she cleanly said ‘no’ and clarified that we were just friends. I saw my dreams shattering in a manner worse than glass and it was then that I understood the real essence of the movie ‘Devdas’. And then my friends made me realize that she was just flirting with me
I knew no rules of the game but promised myself never to fall into the same trap again.
Chapter 5: Visit to a …………. :-(
Then came the workshop days when we just had to go for work for around 2 hours a day and spend the rest of the day getting bored and doing nothing at all. In those days, one night as I was about to slide into deep slumber, somebody knocked on my door and asked me if I wanted to go downstream, to a place in the hills. “Tafri” was one thing that I was always ready for, so I agreed.
In an hour, we were on our way up hill. And while on our way we talked only about getting drunk. Finally we just decided to stop on the way to have a drink. We were talking peacefully to each other but as usual, our peace makes other people uneasy, worse did happen again. A vehicle first crossed us, but soon turned back and came to us, and we met our worst nightmare… it was a Police Jeep. Police Constables came running and picked up our glasses. After smelling them they rounded us to the police station. Shit scared we played along. And eventually we ended up giving a huge bribe to save our asses. But we were relieved and decided to finish our drinks in the univ only. Now we didn’t have glasses and it was so late in the evening that no shop was open either. To our luck, a marriage was going on in the campus so we did what was only natural… we gate crashed, picked up the cold drinks and came out with the glasses only to end up drinking in the chemical ground with a group of mosquitoes.
In this manner, a year passed. This is not all that happened but this is what was the most important of what I recalled. And considering the fact that I have trouble remembering my subjects, my remembering all this, is huge for me!
Chapter 6: Midnight Madness/Midnight Mania..
Then came the second year. A new semester, a new life and a bunch of new experiences.
Yes friends this was the flirting time. Juniors came and seniors flirted with them in the daytime, all in the name of ragging.
This Session started in July and soon after its start, it was my B’Day. I, along with some friends, decided to throw a Party at a Disc “Cyanide”. The Music and DJ system were amazing there but provision for Air Conditioning wasn’t that great. Now you can understand in the month of July a DP in a place without AC, awful but the party managed to be fun somehow. Not to forget, the presents that we got from the hostellers. One of us got women’s lingerie, just because he had some Jockey babes pinned up on the wall in his room. One got a pack of condoms as he had just started going out with a girl, and the gift was a good luck present for him. One of us got a bottle of petrol as his vehicle never had petrol! And an honest confession here – the first gift was for none other than the little old me!!!
And the same night, a little after midnight, there was knock on my room door, and voila! We were on our way to Chail. A nice place I must say but very wrong planning and timing. We were damn tired and a drive in the Himalayas in the midnight! That was huge! And not to my amazement, we all were sleeping in the chai wala’s hut in chail that morning. And now you have a question about the morning emergencies. We did it like Maharaja’s. I am damn serious about what I am saying. We all did it one by one in a Palace in Chail and had to run from there after that. And as there was nothing much to see there and there weren’t many trekking freaks out there with me so we just about managed to see the “Highest Cricket Stadium in the world” and a few other places that we could cover on bikes and then rode back.
In the mean time, my love life was beginning to blossom again!! I was getting close to 2 junior girls in the college. Out of the 2 junior girls, I had a crush on one but the other used to be with her all the time.
And I don’t know what the hell happens with me but when I’ m hitting on one, her friend surely has to have a crush on me. Sigh!!!!
This girl’s story doesn’t end here but neither did actually happen with her after this.
There were 2 junior guys I became good friends with. I used to rag them but save them from being sent into processions during elections but one of them came out to be a thief and was beaten and chucked out of the hostel. I built a great bonding with the other, who also became my room partner later on.
Chapter 7: Jail House Shocks/ Me.. an emergency Dealer
College days were going on in the same monotonous fashion, so 6 of us planned to go to Kasauli. 3 couples in all, one of them was going around but we 4 were just good friends. We all left in the morning and were having fun on the way. The official couple planned to have lunch in a restaurant on the way and the others opted not to disturb them, so decided to take a leave and go up to Kasauli. But what was on the way, we never knew.
We were just about to take a turn towards Kasauli from the Shimla-Chd highway when I looked back to see that my friend was stopped by Police. I went back for his rescue but as I could have never imagined, I had to see the police station and the torture rooms from inside in true life that day and that too for no fault of ours. It was just ‘coz we were hanging out with girls and that was a crime for them. But we were all cool as we knew they just wanted bribe from us but when the policemen talked about calling up the girl’s parents, the girls panicked and burst into tears. This made that situation pretty rough to handle. But we managed to pacify the girls and talk man to man with the cops. And to my amazement, I discovered that I was a damn good negotiator as I managed to bring the bribe down to Rs.500 from Rs.5000. That was an amazing but haunting experience for all 4 of us. We preferred not to talk about it for years but now when we look back, we laugh on it lots!
Chapter 8: The First Kiss
A few days later, I got close to a girl, became amazing friends and a proposal was popped to me from her. But since I was never really into her and took her just as a friend, (though, I definitely liked her company a lot but never did feel like romantic about her) so I said NO. You must have heard, “Fear of losing a friend, makes u fall in love with them”, the same thing happened with me Trying to console her, I fell for her. And I still can say that it is till date the most amazing experience of my life. She gave my life all flavors, of being loved, being wanted, being respected, being cared about, being detested and also of jealousy and possessiveness that I never admitted but it was there.
Anyways, as I had said ‘no’ to her earlier, I had to get back to her. While on a trip to IIT Delhi, I had a nice opportunity to spend time with her and tell her how I felt. But as we were together in a group, so I couldn’t say much. The time there also passed by quickly. And then came the last night at Delhi, I was all drunk but conscious enough. We were sitting in Nescafe that I still call the ‘sacred’ place and I proposed to her. She accepted and I kissed the first Girl of my life. Thereafter we had great fun together. Bunking classes and going on dates was a regular routine. But other routines were also being followed with same passion.
Chapter 9: Exam mania!/ Routine Madness
In this time I shifted with the junior friend of mine. During the 3rd Sem exams. Me, my room partner, and another friend of mine had a nice routine. If you were thinking this to be the study routine, then you are insulting each one of us. It was a routine of having Aroma’s Ice-Cream Sundae at roughly around 3 in the morning and that too in the month of December during exams. Mind it, this was the routine that me and my friends abided the most in our lives. Not to forget we also shop-lifted a cake once and as we didn’t have patience we ate it all near Kiran Theatre. But later on we didn’t have to shop-lift, rather a tip to the waiter would get us packed anything we want, for free. Anyways the exams went fine and not bad as the earlier ones. But still too dicey as the Engg. exams generally are.
Chapter 11: Love is in the air!/Good Old Days of Love
The semester coming to an end, we had a great event lined up – The Indian Science Congress where me and my girlfriend, along with a bunch of other friends volunteered to work. That was the most amazing time of my life in the Univ Campus. That was the time when Univ was decorated like a Bride and I had just started going around and the icing on the cake was the lovely winter season, my favourite time of the year. So it was like all the best in this world coagulated around for me and I had whatever I could possibly wish for.
Life was pure bliss! Nothing imaginable could go wrong. Then in the beginning of the 4th sem, I went on a college Trip to Nainital ‘n’ Corbett National Park. That trip is still as fresh ‘coz of the lovely memories of those morning talks, those long walks, that quality time I spent with her. Yes, you are right, she was with me on this trip, may be that’s why this trip is so memorable.
And in some days I had the only Valentine of my life on which I was not single. So even I had something to do, especially to show someone how much I care, someone to think of and to go find a gift for her and to do something to make her day special.
Chapter 12: The Three Musketeers (V3)/ V3-The Masti Makers
After some time pass training that I did, we planned another college trip in june to manali. We were three close friends (The V3) looking out for something that everyone there looks out for on reaching Manali. It’s nothing but the ‘Hippy Party’ people. We had heard about it from a friend of ours, and after a long futile search we finally came across an auto wala who told us about the party and its location but also said that it usually starts late in the night and is very risky. V3 were ready to take any risk, so after leaving our other friends in the market we went on to catch a quick nap before the long ‘partying’ night. We woke up around midnight and moved out towards the main market. We met an auto wala who demanded 500 bucks for leaving us there. We thought he was out of his mind so we tried others but no one else knew about the party so eventually we had to hire him. We were asked to carry a torch along. The reason you will understand soon. V3 followed his advice and went back to hotel with him to grab some more money and a torch.
He then left us at a place which was pitch dark and he told us that we had to trek from there following the tissue papers. We thought he was making a fool of us but had no choice than to nod and follow. It was a moonless night and we did what we were asked to. After a tiring trek of around 2 ½ hours in the total dark, we began to hear some nice music and understood that we were going to get something great. And in another hour we were there. And about that night let’s just say that, THE JUICE WAS WORTH THE SQUEEZE.
That morning after the party, we returned in a truck ’coz of unavailability of any other vehicle and after that I could never laugh on Saif’s pillow story in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’. That trip also had some other experiences like a bonfire, after river rafting, on ‘river side’ while feeling the gentle breeze on our faces, and lots more.
Chapter 13: Jumping Doodle/ Denice the menace
It’s 5th semester. I never recognized the early signs but me and my gf was parting ways. We were going through severe fights followed by long spells of not talking to each other. Slowly the spells became so long that I sometimes feel that we just met to fight so that we could have a reason not to talk again.
This is end of semester i.e. the exam time. Let me ask you a question. What do u do, if you have a gap of 8 days between your second last and the last exam? You relax, have fun, watch a movie and so on. But do u ever think about jumping out of the balcony? You say ‘no’ but this is what one of my closest friends decided to do. But of course, the consequences were huge, 5 fractures. My friend’s nephew, still asks him the reason and I just wanna say, please tell me the reason for this ‘madness’ too.
Chapter 14: The ‘Booze Trip’
This was the beginning of 2005; I went on a college trip again. This time to Bombay-Goa. Me and another friend of mine joined the others on this trip at Bhopal, after a visit to Indore. And I bet I saw and felt some amazing things there in MP.
If I would want to rename that trip, I would name it “The Booze Trip” coz that’s all that we did on that trip. In Bombay one night we 3 people drank around 13 bottles of beer with individuals no of 5,5,3 with me having consumed the highest no. I am still amazed as to where all that alcohol went , but my belly says ‘here’. And in Goa if you get water for Rs 15 and Vodka for Rs 7! What would you prefer? Do I hear Vodka? Yeah, we concur. Don’t we?
Beer in breakfast, vodka in lunch, Tequila and whisky in dinner and wine in-between with the view of some amazing beaches, and nudity. Can a man ask for anything more??? I know I can’t.
Chapter 15: The Worst Nightmare
The beginning of a new semester, the 6th Sem. My girlfriend and I finally broke up in the month of February, ironically called the month of love.
I engrossed myself in work and became friends with the best people I know. That’s the jumping guy and a laughing gal. I don’t remember when I got to know them but whenever it was, it must have been the best moment of my life. Both can laugh on anything, and make me laugh on it too, turning the toughest task into an easy one. These two people have the power to pull me out of any state of distress or grief. We have the loudest laughter around here so If you can hear laughter but couldn’t see anyone, it must be us, you just have to find where?
One day a couple of friends of mine pointed out my beer belly to me. Agreeing with them I planned to go for a jog regularly. My first day of jogging, the weather was pleasant and I picked a friend of mine for company. But his feet started paining in some time so we decided to sit. There we have nice green benches in the way. As I am stepping up the bench stairs I suddenly feel am in the air, flying. Its isn’t a dream. I wish it would have been. But in a sec, after shouting words like Oh F***! Oh S***! A couple of times, I am lying on the ground with mixed emotions. Am I all right or am I screwed up? I tried to stand up but realized that aah…. m fucked. But then we went to PGI and I came to know I broke my ankle cup.
Anyways, I had to be operated and fitted up with screws and wires but am just thankful to all my friends who have been there to help. Still I had to experience crutches and other supports for a period of 4 months because of this.
Then came the placement days. I was clueless about what a company looks for in people they recruit. So I went about the placements only prepared for tests and not for the interview at all. After facing initial failures and feeling the real heat for jobs or what can be termed as “The early struggles for a good career”, I got placed in a good company.
Now came the end of the 6th semester. During the exams, in fact the night before my last exam, I received a call asking for help as my 2nd year room partner and another guy had met with an accident and were in PGI. I rushed there and after some time of yelling at the doctor, learnt that my ex-roomie had passed away. I was devastated and standing beside his dead body I realized that there is someone still above all of us, which controls everything around.
Chapter 16: The Journey Unknown
Having been placed, college life became a total time pass- whiling away time sitting on the stairs whole day, roaming around here and there, going on girl hunts, flirting whenever I got a chance. My MBA entrance test results showed no success and neither did my flirting. I am still single but definitely not shy-natured anymore. I don’t know what lies ahead but the last four years of my life have been hectic but worthwhile. Memories that I would cherish for life!!
People ask me the reason for the heading. I just have to say that this story was not to be told, but it has been, so now it becomes ‘A Story Untold’
