The Road to Revolution

This winter, I returned a bit early to college. I love returning to college early. The place is empty and not swarming as usual with humanity obsessed with their daily, frenetic lives. It was around evening, the part which un-original poets usually call dusk. I was taking that casual stroll through Rajpath, which was littered with dry, fallen leaves. Somewhere near the main entrance gate, I saw a rusted, old REC board. Among those pristine old buildings, which had so many legends etched on it, a bunch of glassed and steel rod structures had grown up. I closed my eyes.

I opened it up to the loud sounds of the open air Dee Jay night. The loud thumps and booms. The sexes trying to hit on each other. And, that familiar smell of booze. The loudness of laughter. Of course, there's the lot of them who are too confused to understand what's going on. The countdown to New Year. The unison of the voices. Three. Two. One. A lone rocket launches itself into infinity and bursts into a supernova.

The sudden light startles me. It’s from my laptop, warning me that the battery charge is nearly over. I wake up from my drunken stupor and plug the charger. The weird music plays on. It’s difficult to turn off something when your emotions and lightness of mood depend on it. I snuggle back into the bed. Sleep does not come that easily. Those damn mosquitoes. And my thoughts drift off. Revolution. And my eyelids begin to droop. Raised fists.

“Revolution..” he screams. “That’s what this college needs.” The audience, a bunch of first years, look mesmerised as usual. Politics anywhere usually has two things in common. Unkempt promises and a dumb audience. And of course, there’s that young guy, who falls in love with Che and Neruda. He usually has a stubble on his chins. But, he’s pretty much missing around here. The screaming, I suspect, has more to do with lust than ideologies. Since, it converts itself into shaded bottles with the more experienced audience. A pile of red bricks lie untouched near the orator. Somebody should probably hurtle one of them onto his face. Get a taste of the real red, he should.

His face falls as he glances at his examination scores. But, only briefly. I was barely able to notice it. He hid it quickly with his usual burst of laughter. But, when class hours got over, I could see him looking at a distance from the top floor of the department building and contemplating his future. Interestingly, he avoided looking down.

Down below, one of those Yen-Are-Aye girls is seen giggling with that mallu dude near the coffee shop. Damn. She’s hot. Long, dandy legs. She seems to be cursing this college. The guy agrees. Even I do. We certainly do not know how to live a good life and have a good time. Too much of academics or too much of loyalty to college tends to mess up a lot of people. I walk down to the shop and approach the mallu dude. Yo, Dawwg. Gimme that mugga coffee. Effing thirsty. The Yen-Are-Aye chic merely raises an eyebrow at my dramatics. Damn.

The midnight coffee around here is steaming and romantic. I have always loved it. Neskapi for the benefit of my friend, who says “nee dude alla. Vwerum thara malayali.” After some deliberation into the matter, I decide that I agree with him. A midnight walk coupled with the coffee is very sexy. And so here I am, wandering around the college. Much of the fallen leaves have been swept off.

People are being swept off their feet. Not with joy, though. Yes! Mob fights. A left hooker onto the jaw. A right hooker onto the...er…okay…that would really hurt. “What are they fighting over? “ I venture to ask. “Eda, injustice against our countrymen. We have the right to equality against the treachery of bourgeoisie”. Seems fair enough. “He wants to become this thing. But, if we put in this guy, we thought it would be acceptable to them. Since, we don’t want the other guy. But, then apparently not. A fight started. I am trying to derive mental equations to solve this conundrum.” Chanakya mutters behind the enemy lines. That is also pretty fair. And, I walk away from the crowd.

Central Computer Centre ahead. Damn. Am I seeing what I am seeing? Revolution-Screamer buttoned up in formals and waiting in a queue. Wonder whether he can work up his magic yet again? The queue seems pretty much unending. The ones who have finished with their interviews are walking out. Some of them seem cheery. Others have a bitter, wistful look.

I turn back to look at those gigantic gates. It’s the last day of my college life. I thought I did fast forward. I cannot do it in real life, of course. But, I can around here in this piece of writing. And as expected, I see gigantic black gates.Emptiness. For a moment, I panic. And then, it sets in. Emotions and memories. It’s fall again. The place is empty. They have all gone. It’s strewn with leaves from the fall. Dejavu. A scrawny first year kid looking in awe at that majestic path ahead, culminating in the centre circle. I will myself back into my fictitious future. And, I walk away with a small suitcase trolley.

A Letter.

To,

Kaduva, (Well, that's what the kids call you.So, Don't blame me.)

The principal,

Sarvodaya Vidyalaya.

Yes.I totally understand.You would like to improve the school and you are trying to usher in a new era.Now, since this is your first year in our school and I have lived a good fourteen years of my life there,I guess I am in a position to give you a bit of advice about some of the changes you are trying to initiate.

1)English Drama

Okay, I will give this to you.This might actually end up doing something good.But, then I did be damn annoyed if you are going to censor just about everything they come up with.It's only with independence, that creativity comes into picture.

2)Re-naming the L- and R- blocks.

I am guessing you go to some Church, being a Reverend and all that stuff.And, I am guessing the church has a name.What would you feel if one fine day, the priest decides to change the church's name for the heck of it?Do not change stuff for the fun of it or to score points with God either.We have lived a good part of our lives there.It's our temple and church and mosque.We are pretty sentimental about the place.We hate annoying changes.

3)Segregation of girls and boys till tenth.

How exactly did you get that brilliant idea?Are you stupid enough to think that if you forbid interactions between the opposite sexes, it will solve all the adolescent issues riddling them?If you ban them from talking to each other, are you mad to think that they will accept it silently? They are teenagers and they'll rip your ban apart.If you want them to grow up respecting each other, separating them is not going to help.Yes, some of them will go and have relationships behind your back.But, it's a phase and it's harmless.If you are still very concerned, give them a proper education on their limits rather than treating them like babies.

4)Banning the kids from playing in Basketball court during recess and making "unnecessary" noise.

No, A Basketball court is not where you have tonnes of shelves containing books and boards with "SILENCE PLEASE" written over it.You got confused.I grew up running across that court with my friends.I haven't become a criminal yet.Kids are supposed to grow up doing precisely what you have banned them from doing.In the name of education, do not ruin their childhood.You'll end up producing a bunch of robots.

5)Reducing the duration of Youth Festival and banning events like Western dance.

A school is not a place which burps out engineers and doctors annually.A school is where a kid gets an inkling of what he or she would really love to do.There's nothing indecent about loving literature and fine arts.And, Western dance?Oh yeah, I forgot. Veerapan and Bin Laden did a lot of western dancing in school,didn't they?

6)One day Excursion trips.

It's been more than three years since I stepped out of that institution.Whenever my vacations come up, I always find time to wander in and around Sarvodaya Vidyalaya.You see,my chest puffs up when somebody mentions that name.It's called memories.It's not just physics, chemistry and mathematics with which I passed out of Sarvodaya. I had a lot of awesome moments in school.Excursions count as one among them.The sky will not fall upon your head, if you let them have fun for three or four days.

7)Discipline

It's a very interesting quality.But, it's quite over rated.Especially, if you intend to bully the kids into learning it.I have heard that you are extremely picky about queues and other stuff.But, seriously it did be much better if you are able to instill in the kids other values like the ability to speak up for their beliefs and the ability to help one another.That really is much more important.

Yes, you would have initiated other reforms, some of which might benefit Sarvodaya a lot.I might have got the wrong information about you.It does not matter.Sarvodaya is just another job for you.It's much more for me.We are talking about the place where I got a bunch of people who would probably stand up for me all throughout my life.It's where me and the same bunch of people created chaos, landed up into all sorts of shit and had a lot of fun.It's where I had my first crush and then another one and then yet another one.All of which probably wouldn't make sense to you, eh?

We built that school brick by brick.The place is filled up with the legends we created and the graffiti we engraved.

Treat it with respect.Be careful with my school.I do not care how much older or how much well respected you are.

You'll end up facing the wrath of a lot of us out here.

From,

A Damn Proud and Probably Arrogant SV-ite

In Memoriam

Suddenly, he threw the bottle onto the brick wall. The wall broke into a hundred million pieces. Brittle and Shiny. And the bottle dissolved into liquidness. And, darkness consumed him. He tried to open his eyes. He could only see a hazy vision of what was happening.

But, then his eyes drooped. A single drop of blood raced down from his head onto the asphalt tiles. He could hear footsteps. He could hear their shouts. Somebody tried to pull him up. They would always ask why. He knew that. He did not have an answer.

They would all remember him for a single day. And, then as usual, it would be back to their mundane lives, lived in order to either reach somewhere or to get a high with whatever they have. Being forgotten did not matter to him, but those murmurs about his sanity, especially when he could not reply…

He could sense the movement of the ambulance. He could also sense the numbness creeping in. And, where the numbness had not yet reached, it was searing pain that he could feel. The horns blared relentlessly. He just wished they could reduce the volume. Time appeared to be dragging itself, just like in those nightmares he usually got.

Yet,for this one time, he knew it was not a nightmare. He could see the walls. Thousands of uniformly coloured grey bricks that were slowly coming to choke him. And, then he remembered. He had tried.

When you come to NIT-C.

My beloved juniors,

Having chanced upon a blog by an ex-MITian about the hundred things to do there,I have decided that you guys might need some pointers as well,even though I am not quite an ex around here yet. ;)
Here goes..

When you come to NIT-C,

1)Don't forget to miss the last direct bus, back to college at night, from kozhikode.

You'll invariably have to take a bus to kunnamangalam and start walking from there.The fun starts here.It would be around midnight when you start walking and it's a two hour walk through desolated places to reach college.The amount of fun you and your friends will have is unforgettable.Hooting and somersaulting and doing crap on a long stretch of never ending road in utter darkness. :)Not to mention the view atop the bridge on the way.

2)Do one crazy shit after other

I remember this one time,when the current went off in our first year hostel and it started raining heavily.We took buckets of water from the bathroom and drenched everybody and the entire hostel.It was followed by this awesome rain dance.The hullabaloo that ensued annoyed the authorities so much that they came in bundles with torches.They could only slip and fall,much to everybody's delight.

3)Give your heart to Ragam

You are going to give up an entire sem for this :).Working your asses off.You are going to go hungry for three days and have many more night-outs.It's going to be a headache.But,it's worth it.I was a part of the programme committee.Nothing you would have done in your life would be more satisfying.

4)Celebrate Onam with the Mechs

All the departments would have their cute and peppy onam celebrations.But,onam will never be complete unless you go to the mechanical department at around 6 pm, the same day.Mud slinging,powder popping,with intermediate showers of flowers and finally the shrinkari melam.Then,there is that awesome procession through the entire college with people being pushed into all sorts of ditches and pools.Mad fun.As simple as that.

5)Take part for Sangam, Debutante and Spectrum

These are our first year cultural,literary and technical festivals.It's fun.Running around for your branch.Cheering your heart's out.Letting hell loose in the Audi or Aryabhatta hall.Planning.Scheming.More night-outs.Trying out all those zillion events.The bonds formed.The memories created.

6)Take part in cleaning the civil pool for Tathva.

Hehe.I remember this part.The pool as usual was very dirty and smelly.Decorum and dignity was maintained initially.And then... ;).Suffix to say,by the end of it,we were soaking wet and smelling like rat poop.

7)Play FIFA or CounterStrike or DoTA during those exam nights.

Umm.I guess this applies more when you graduate out of first year.By the end of it,you would have gotten the gyan on last minute studies.And,simultaneously, a new world of LAN and internet would welcome you.When you visit NIT-C during exam nights,screams of terror will welcome you.Nope.They are not for the imminent examinations.

8)Have a bombastic branch tour

You'll have two of them.But,not more than four days.Yes,I agree to the fact that other colleges have it longer.But,I promise you, your's will be wilder.And wherever you go,never miss out on Hogenakkal.It's stunning.Don't forget to take tonnes of photographs.You would want to etch those moments.

9)Volunteer for National Service Scheme

They'll be doing tonnes of stuff like visiting juvenile homes and orphanages, organising camps and cleaning drives in villages and tutoring kids from poor families for free.Take part.Give something back to the society.I have lazed it out on this one.But,I have seen the amount of happiness that people have derived from doing such stuff.

10)Get yourself selected into one of those clubs.

There's a whole load of them.LnD, IPF,DnD, ICA, Adventure club, Enquire, Mathematica etc.Have fun in all those random meetings and organising smashing events. Then there's the induction and the farewell.More bonds.More memories.

11)Go after random hot chics.

Of course,they might not accept you.Worse still,they might end up falling for you.Your purse might get screwed.Hmm.Maybe,you would have somebody else back home.Doesn't matter.Nothing's as much fun as trying to capture a girl's attention.

12)Innovate.

Of course,you might have got pushed into it.But,doesn't mean you should stop trying out cool new stuffs like astrophotography or aeromodelling or making those insane contraptions.

13)Fall in love with a subject the very last minute

Everybody hates studying here.But,once in a while,something interesting would turn up in your curriculum.You might end up studying that only, at the very last minute,but please do rack your brains for it.You might end up doing something big.Of course, it doesn't rain apples here.But,still.

14)Booze.

Yeap.I know.Arguments aside,don't hesitate to try it out once.:D.And don't end up trying out too much of it.The perfect balance.

15)Light diyas for diwali.

After all your toil,as you see the rows and rows of diyas lighting up the entire rajpath and other parts of the college,you would realise that the heavens isn't that great big a deal. ;)

16)Remember Rajan and Prof. Wahabuddin.

The story of a student who spoke against a tyrannical government and a professor,who stood up for him when they abducted the student,is eternally etched in our blood.Never forget them.Be aware of what's happening around you and have an opinion about everything under the sun.Never hesitate to speak out and stand up for what you think is right.

17) Come back to college during vacations.

We get long holidays.Long ones.REALLY long ones.Some of you might go for internships.Some of you might go for a great big tour.But,never forget to come visit the college.MagCom (Magazine Committee) and Tathva work will be going on.Atleast, they are supposed to go on and you would end up doing a lot of interesting stuff like learning everything imaginable about poker and bluff and other random madness.

18)Conduct events for schools as a part of a club.

It's awesome returning back to school and lording over the kids(It's interesting to note that as soon as you are in college, school is for 'kids'.) .It's awesome telling them about your awesome school days.And,it's the limit of awesomeness,when after an event,they shout out a cheer for NIT-C.

19)Make a pack of friends.

Reminiscence with them about those glorious school days.Talk to them about that wonderful college life.Share with them all those random moments and burdens in life.Discuss with them all those useless crap like "chicken or egg?".Those hi-fives and B'day bumps.All those swear words we reserve for them. And,all those plans of future.

20)Stand together.

We have proudly resisted incursions from any political party into our college.But, inspite of that we seem to have acquired an uncanny ability to fight over every small differences.
Chuck it.It's not worth it.I remember a time when a couple of our guys got into trouble for doing nothing major and one entire year chucked out classes and stood behind them.And,we had no political parties to kick us into action.It was just glorious unity and we managed to change things.
Always remember that part.

21)Do not stop chasing your Dreams.
Some of us were born engineers.But,a lot of us got pushed into this stream by parental and societal pressure.I don't care which of the former classification you belong to.Now,you have reached a place which will give you the ability to decide your life on your own.Seize that chance.
Think about what you really love.Make a practical plan on how to reach there.See,that's the beauty of it,if you really want it,there will always be a convenient way to jump to it.Don't stop the chase.

This is but a few of the stuffs that I want you to do.And,never forget that tag.

NIT-C.

It absolutely means something more than a four digit national rank in AIEEE.

Yours truly,

That Random Senior who is going to catch you by the scruff one of these days.

The Artist.

The ring of smoke curled up towards the ceiling.He let loose his long hair and they fell on to his face.He loved it's silky touch.He peered across the steel bars.He did not want to get caught for smoking.He hated the complications,that usually ensued."Nothing.", he murmured to himself.

The wall behind him was splashed with colours.Pots of paint lay all across the small,dingy smoke filled room.He slowly turned his head and took a peek.The wall was the one thing that made sense to him.There were a lot of other things that did not make sense to him.Emotions.Pain.But,the wall always made sense.

There were all those stuff that he had painted.He had grown comfortable with them.But,some of them were really nasty.There was that red-pupiled eye,for instance.He was always afraid of that one.It continuously stared at him and strayed itself all over his body.However,he had painted a solid,iron box over it.The red-pupiled eye kept gasping,of course.But,he never opened it and it wilted and dissolved.

The slender and long fingers,he quite liked.They were exquisite.They often waved at him.Sometimes,it would run itself through his long,silky hair.His hairs would then stand erect and little irregularities would appear on his skin.People called them goosebumps.He felt good.But,one day it tried to run away.Not that it could.He wouldn't let it go.And,he made it agree.Over time,it became a bit shrivelled.But,that was okay.He had it all for himself.

And,the wall was made up of such intricate things,that he loved and feared.It was his masterpiece.He told them that he was an artist.And they gave him the paint and brushes.And he had made his masterpiece.They said that expressing his talent might improve him.It did.He was proud of his masterpiece.He felt satisfied.As if life finally sprung onto him, the meaning of his very existence.

"Thump.Thump.Thump."It was the patrol coming in.He stopped smoking and waved away the remnants of that lingering aroma.He hated the patrol guy.He hated his long moustache.He was always cruel to him.The noises became louder and louder and suddenly,a long baton poked him in the stomach.They usually expected him to feel it.But,his muscles hardly reacted."Sonova bitch."the patrol guy yelled at him.He snickered.He must have heard,for the pokes started to become more fast and rhythmic.Such beauty and precision.

And,then the patrol guy went away.As usual,all the poking must have made him tired.He laughed and picked up his brush.He could hear a faint murmur inside his head.He dipped the brush in the pot and started painting in a frenzy.The universe disappeared before him.There was only him and the wall.

He finally stopped and started smiling.He had done justice again.The new addition to the wall was mesmerizing,a creation which would definitely catch attention.

The moustache and the baton.

He was glowing inward,with the artistic pride,as they called it.

The Main Gate and The world beyond it.

Hello my Friend,

About 8 kms from the Thampanoor bus stand,on the Vembayam-Venjaramoodu route,there lies a mythical gate and a world beyond,which has been home to generations of youth.

The first thing that you notice as you enter through the main gate(the common name of this mythical gate),is a long walkway and a couple of old and weak dudes with big moustache roaring at you to not walk on the road(if you are a pedestrian)or to keep the correct lane(if you are in a vehicle).You would notice that the road has been widened and a footpath constructed recently and everything looks picture perfect.But,let me tell you,some years ago,it looked like something out of a village hamlet with a single tarred road marring the landscape.It was way more sexier,with a lot of trees.That's when those idiots brought in the JCBs.

As you proceed,you would see a lot of inspiring quotes written everywhere on the compound walls."Stick no bills" would have been better.You walk a bit more and to your right side,you would see a magnificent building,which is basically home to a group of chics and another group of devoted women,who have dedicated their lives to someone born approximately 2000 years ago.Of course,if you are like me,you wouldn't care about the latter.Yes,they purposefully put glass shards on the top of the wall.They know that the world is composed of men like us.

You walk for some more distance..[Loud sounds of bikes].Yes,This happens often.Any inmate of this institution,who has a vehicle,thinks that he is the king of the road.Yes,the management knew this would happen because at a certain period of time in their life called teenage,they were doing the same with bajaj scooters.But since then they have grown old and resent the fact that they have become so,they have constructed three or four ghastly bumps on the road.They are of the opinion that if you speed too much,fuck your balls.Literally.

As,I was saying,if you walk for some more distance,the road splits into two with one going to the left.As you go ahead along this road deviating to the left,you would see an institution and a lot of people trying to escape out of it.No,it's not a jail and yet I agree they are all wearing the same stuff which is such a sore in the eye.Yes,you would hear the dark curses falling out of their mouths but they seem to be such jolly chaps when they reach the walkway.

When you travel back to the main road,you would see a huge institution to the right.There are lots of legends associated with this archaic buildings.One is that great big clock tower.It is rumoured that until the clock stops,The World beyond the Main Gate shall remain impregnable to invaders from the outside trying to influence the natives.It is highly doubtful whether this is true though.There is this fountain of eternal water flow or a tap,if you are one of those lame non-poetic persons,inside this Gothic structure.Laugh all that you want.When all games are done in the nearby arena,it is this fountain that all those young gladiators run shamelessly to.Maybe you would realise it's importance when you spend a good part of your life in this world.The one beyond main gate.

Now,you slowly turn to the left...mark my words...slowly turn to the left.Yes,the slow motion is very important.You see an arena and a spectacular structure right next to it.Yes.I asked you to turn slowly because otherwise you would get dazzled by it's elegance.This my friend,is where my heart stops.All my life,it is to this place,that I keep coming back to.I have heard many an inmates of the World beyond Main Gate lamenting about their conditions.You see,my friend,I can't comprehend them.Don't they see?This is the place where friendships are forged.This is where they all slip and fall into love.(Yes,my friend you are allowed to puke.)This is where they all walk,all the way to the main gate together.(I know!I know!the vehicles.)This is where they jump compound walls to escape out of institutions and to sometimes jump into some of them,despite those glass shards.More often than not,they don't get out of this gate without a pot-load of memories in their bag.Or else,they were pretty dull to begin with.

So,friend,on one of those very ordinary days,you see a nomad wandering about this place with a dreamy look on his face and a glitter on his eyes and you think that he is a weirdo,you are very definitely right.He's just weary of all the hullabaloo outside of that Main Gate.

Kalki

It was a dimly lit room.You could barely see that swaying figure,amidst the smoky haze. But,what caught your attention when you got inside was the piercing odour of the ancient vomit,which was trying to decompose itself. Books lay torn on the ground. The wad of money and the credit cards that lay on the table was noticeable. So was a pack of unopened letters,with a handwritten address.

A photo was stuck on the back of the door. Four bobbing,smiling faces. But, it looked faded. Just beneath lay a bunch of porn magazines, crumpled as if somebody had clutched on to them like a vulture. The photos that stared back at you did not seem like the regulars. They hardly even looked like adults.

Packs of cigarettes were neatly arranged on the shelf. A lot many of them were in alphabetical order. Different names. Different colours. They hadn't been even opened yet. Broken bottles and syringes lay across the floor.

He was sitting in a pose reminiscent of meditation. But, he was swaying. His head was continuously twitching. He was giving a blank stare. His pupils were dilated.They hadn't seen bright lights for some time. Familiar sounds emanated from his laptop. But, he seemed unable to notice. His eyes kept focussing on a dark corner in the room. He wasn't wearing a shirt and bruise marks could be observed all over his body. Some bad. Some worse. His face could be hardly seen amidst his unkempt, long and dirty hair. Loud music blared from the speakers. Violent Music. Photos of beautiful, young girls adorned his wall. Some of them were encircled in red. Some of them were struck out. A bunch of red roses lay over the table. He hadn't stopped swaying.

In a nearby hospital,a middle aged man kept pacing the length of the waiting hall.  He was anxious.You could see the tension spilling out from his face.He seemed adrift in thoughts.The nurse came in."Everything went fine. See, I told you.There was no need to worry. She is fine. Go in. It's a girl." He barely mouthed a 'thank you' and rushed in. His wife was lying on the bed. She smiled at him and turned her eyes towards a small figure, lying beside her, wrapped up in towel. The baby was sleeping. He fell in love all over again. He kissed his wife and whispered 'She'll grow up to be as beautiful as you."

At the other end of the city, a police inspector was driving his car with sirens ablaze. He stopped suddenly near a garbage dump and got out. He noticed the huge crowd watching the scene in silence as his team combed through the area looking for evidence. He slowly walked towards the rotting corpse. It was a ghastly scene. There were many cuts and jabs in her body, as if she was tortured. "Twenty years of age. Evidence of drug use." The forensic surgeon murmured."Evidence of being raped as well." The inspector looked at her face and then noticed a red rose lying by its side.

"Bad business as usual eh, Sir?Need some coffee?"his constable asked. He removed his cap and nodded. It was already evening and at a distance, he could see the sun about to set. It's going to be a long night for him, he thought to himself.