College days!!!

Oh yes, I did write too.... but that was long time ago... these are some stuff that I had written ages ago - it about my life at the Hostel.


OF Monkeys and Banyan trees ........

Banyan trees always remind me of Pritesh. Pritesh reminds me of monkeys. Since I get to see more monkeys than I get to see Priteshes, I will rephrase the above sentence. Banyan trees always remind me of Pritesh. Monkeys remind me of Pritesh.
The very first time I set eyes on Pritesh, Pritesh swinging on the banyan tree near Giriappa!. It was early first Semester. Life couldn't have been more miserable. It was those days where one used to hide and venture out even to class, scared of being "caught" by the "Seniors". Everyone was a stranger, everyone was an enemy, there was always a senior lurking around the corner waiting to rag us. We had to walk with our heads between our knees, walking to class meant that we are invariably going to "meet" seniors. I preferred to stay holed in the darkness of my room.
Suddenly! Sunday It was! While the whole world rested and rejoiced, we the "les miserables" had nothing to do but entertain the "seniors" most of who had equally nothing to do. Shankar, Nixon, Shibu, Senthil and Raghu decided to venture out to Giriappa. (I have mentioned names for you to recollect their faces) That was one place that I did not want to go. That damn place was haunted!!! Haunted with seniors."How long can you hide?" was their question, I had no answer! I finally collected all the courage that I could gather and walked bravely as a goat going to an abitor.
Shankar, Shibu and Senthil confidently got themselves a "King" some girmit, mandaki and a round of tea. We rested our arses, heavy hearts and fears on Giriappa's modest benches life seemed to be better. Suddenly there was a sound of laughter accompanied by Hindi and a language similar to Hindi! My ears were standing straight! My heart dived in deeper, begging my stomach to move aside and give it some space. Oh shit! it was the Damn seniors! My frightened eyes scanned the whole place. No one around, except us! Shankar, the giraffe, stuck his head out and and spotted the source of the voices and the noises. He assured us that they were juniors too. that was of very little consolation. Shibu and Shankar decided to join the jing-bang at the banyan tree. As usual I didn't want to go! My eyes followed their trail and spotted something swinging on the tree. PPM !!!!!
And here was PPM swinging, swinging on a banyan tree as as though he had nothing to loose. Here, this guy in such unfriendly environment was radiating laughter, happiness and joy. I immediately knew that I am going to like this person (among all those on the banyan tree includes AB, DP, KCS) Something told me deep within that I am going to get to know this guy. A little voice inside said that PPM and I have something in common, something like a jig-saw puzzle, although different frequencies, different shapes, different colours, different cultures, but yet something that can be placed together, something that could gel together.
Pritesh is a kind of guy you will like the very first time you see him!!. He was the confidant guy with a ready smile always on his face, said "Hi" even before you could smile at him. Happy go lucky, carefree, quick wit, capable of turning anything into a joke. This guy was capable of making any one comfortable. He had an excellent choice of words. He could churn out enthusiasm like a plague. He could spread happiness around him like a disease. He was a very good acquaintance an excellent neighbor. He knew almost every guy, and everyone knew him too! He knew me too! He knew that I had a name. Getting to know Pritesh wasn't exactly easy!
The first semester was coming to a close. The exams fast approaching. Pritesh was cramming at the library. I somehow missed him. Dakshesh teamed up with me, both the Satan’s within us got together, and decided to screw his earthly possessions. His table ransacked his ultimately cute table lamp was hung upside down with paper stuffed inside its bell. Its wire entwined around his cot. His clothes were hidden on top of his Mosquito net, his trunk transported to my room. (I smile as I type this! Man, it was real fun). The atrocities against Pritesh's possessions increased by the day and reached the pinnacle point of no return on the third day, when his soap and toothpaste disappeared.
The third day Pritesh broke down in my room as he came to collect his trunk. Pritesh spoke to me of the tension he was undergoing to do well in the forthcoming exam. This tension was being topped up by us raiding his things. I was real ashamed of myself. What had he done to deserve this? I had some soul searching to do. It may have been bad on our part to do this to him but Pritesh got to know that I existed.
A year later, on Dec 25,1993 (Christmas day) the four of us were studying peacefully peacefully, for the III Sem. exams. My big mouth opened and reminded PPM about the incidents’ first anniversary!
WOW! It was then that I realized that this guy could store anger for over a year. Time had not healed those wounds that I had caused over a year ago. I think that was the first time (and maybe that was the last time) Pritesh had raised his voice, (Pritesh and I have had our share of misunderstandings over the years but he has never raised his voice, he just ignored my presence.) The both of us got verbal, I tried to laugh it off but Pritesh was in a mood to let go off the accumulated steam. Later, that night, when PPM had a gloomy face plastered to his neck, I told PPM that I will relate this incident to his children. I told PPM that he will look back years later and shrug this away, He may even laugh at the fact that both of us fought over such a "petty" thing, Poor guy, I am sure that PPM does even not remember this fight! Oh! and poor Linku mediated during this fight and got raped by both of us. Dinesh preferred to keep out of this fight --- Mr. Wise-guy as usual!

I have said Sorry for the incident a long time ago, I have also told PPM that I will relate this Dec 25 incident to his children, I have written this basically that I do not forget this fight and the day. No Christmas passes without me thinking of PPM. No Christmas passes without me realizing what a monkey I have been.

Please note that I say that I have been ashamed for causing agony to PPM during his first Sem. exams. I say that I have SAID Sorry for this a long time ago. But I, even today, do not feel sorry for the incident where Dakshesh and I screwed his possessions, for, it was this incident that made me close to PPM. If not for this incident PPM will be another acquaintance to me, just another Gujju, that I would have not cared to care about. This incident is something like the age old adage " throwing small fish to catch big fish” except that here I had to throw the little monkey within me to catch the bigger monkey outside. Looking back, I think it was at REC that I have brought out the Best of Monkeys within me
(25th March- 5th April,2001)