Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Nostalgia

I was visiting my alma mater,Manipal Institute of Technology last week for my final MTech presentation.While walking around the campus with my old roomie Nisha,it suddenly dawned on us that these were our last few days here. Two years had just flown by.Technically speaking, I was in Manipal only for a year- my first year of MTech. I got an internship in Bangalore for the second year and had to move out, Nisha stayed back though. But that one year of hostel life at MIT was the most exciting, memorable, enjoyable year of my life and it was as if I had lived an entire lifetime in those two semesters. I promised Nisha then that I was going to pen down a few of these memories for my blog. Coming back to Bangalore, I got busy with my work and today, finally I have managed to find the time to put up this post.So here it goes...this one's for my Alma Mater!

Things I can never forget about Manipal......

  • B3 Quarters, a home away from home. The staff Quarters converted into a hostel for the Post Graduate Students and the experience of living in it with 5 strangers for an entire semester!
  • Room No.307, 4th Block: My home for the second semester and a taste of the 'real' hostel life..All the pains we took to get into it, including a verbal fight with the MIC girls (my debut ;-) )
  • The Group Study Hall in the MIT Library, where we watched movies, chatted for hours together, had long discussions, spent more time than in my hostel room and ofcourse, sometimes managed to study too ;-)
  • Maddy a.k.a Madhuri-A vegetarian roomie who would freak at every sight of me having chicken in the mess and our vegetarianism v/s non-vegetarianism fights that would go all night in our hostel room.
  • Murgi a.k.a Nisha and her strange fascination for sun-rise photography!
  • Channveer, my classmate and study pal, who always treated me like I was a guy and taught me how to ride a bike.
  • Uma, my old roomie and the only other gal besides me in the class of MTech CSE 2007-09.
  • The taste of Maggie cooked with a forbidden Electric Heater in the hostel room in the middle of the night:Noodles never tasted so good!
  • The Chicken Kababs from Ashraya Mess...Mmm..I still remember the taste....why would they give only 6 pieces in a plate :-(?
  • The Manipal End point: Our own spot for the little trekking adventures
  • The adventure trip to the mountains of Kodachadri with Akshay, Channveer and Uma and the bumpiest ride of my life from Kollur to Kodachadri
  • The General class train journeys from Manipal to Goa and back and all the interesting experiences I had aboard.
  • The juice Centre at MIT Cafeteria and my favourite, the mango milk shake!
  • The open book tests in AI: the number of reference books we would carry to class and come out dejected every time coz not a single one would be useful.
  • The First semester presentation in the class and how I managed to get an A+ despite all the odds.
  • The Second Semester Results and the excitement of becoming a 9 pointer for the first time in my life.
  • The sizzling Chocolate Brownie at Saiba and how we would order it just for all the attention we would get when the waiter would arrive with it.
  • The pappu from Andhra Mess with the extra ghee
  • The last minute preparations for sessionals
  • The Swimming sessions at the MIT swimming pool
  • Diwali Celebrations at B3
  • The Day I cracked VMware Interview
  • The birthday Treats at Saiba, Guzzlers,Dullops and Kediyoor
  • The Trip to Malpe at the end of semester one with Channveer and Uma
  • The screening of RDB at the MIT Quadrangle
  • The Manipal Rains and how no umbrella or raincoat could save us from getting wet coz it would rain in all directions :-)

9 comments:

Akshay Sangodkar said...

Wow.... Glad to know that you had a great time at your alma mater. I never knew most of the things you mentioned. It is very nostalgic; all these memories and I know I am going to miss all these days here too, once i am done with masters. Wishing you the very best in whatever you do in the future. May these memories live on forever in the form of this blog! :)

Kiran said...

ok now you've succeeded in making me nostalgic about my hostel days in Karkala (less than an hour away from Manipal)!

I had stayed for 2 years in hostel during my PUC .. and frankly I was never attached to the college - but the hostel? I miss it till date - 8 years after I left the hostel! You have reminded me of everything - Each and everything .. from warden-bashing (and thats not just speaking figuratively mind you ;) to mess-fights .. those were the days!


You've been to Kodachadri? Shame one ME. My mom's place is right at the foothills (less than 20 kms away) .. and I've never been there :(

Train journeys from Udupi to Goa eh? Fun. Esp arriving at Margao station at .. like 4 a.m and deciding to wait at the platform till day break - then almost dragging the reluctant auto-waala to the bus stand (and the revenge he takes by driving like maniac - that brings your heart into your mouth)

No mention about the South Kanara weather? Rains? and hey what about the city bus trips that would put Micheal Schumacher to shame complete with break-neck speed racing and overtaking?

Janaki Sincro Mulay said...

Damn!

i've never had d experience of a hostel life!

loved reading ur experiences.......@least i shud send my kids to a hostel :)

its kinda a must experience! a mixture of sweet n sour memories!

Di said...

@Kiran:Thanks for reminding me about the Manipal monsoon(I added it in the list now).Damn, how could I forget it in the first place?The campus looked amazingly beautiful during those 4 months!
@Train journeys..I used to take the 4pm Matsyagandha Express from Udupi and 2:30pm Mangalore Passenger Train from Margao station so I would reach the destination during normal hours. I cannot even imagine what I would do if I had to reach Udupi at 4 am. The hostel would only open at 6 am and the railway station used to be always deserted!
@City Bus Trips to Udupi:It was nothing less of a torture, sitting in those buses,having to listen to Kannada songs at full volume and it was one of those experiences I would prefer to forget ;-)

Unknown said...

aww.. real nostalgic memories. read this a couple of times!
liked the way you have described some of your friends... its funny!
your memories reminds me a lot of school days :)
i remember on rainy days we used to go under a tap and deliberately get drenched... next teacher used to send us home... and then instead of going home...we go for mangoes :D

well well, the writeup on a whole sums up how exciting alma life is!
Glad that you had so much fun in just a year :)
long live these memories!!!

Di said...

@Akshay: Make the best of your time as a student coz these days are never going to come back :-).
@Janaki:Yes,I will see to it that your kids definitely experience hostel life ;-)
@Melvin:School Life is even more exciting than College Life but its been a really long time since we finished school and memories have to be penned down when they are fresh, otherwise they lose their essence :-)

CSP said...

I still miss those days Devki :(.. We all had a great moments of our lifetime @ MIT... I wanna see those days again... But i know we lost it in TIME.. now only memories... never ending.........

Priyanka said...

MY Goodness...I can very well associate every word being put here to myself...
N top of it , I went to Manipal for my presentation this weekend and saw ur post here...it's actually every bit that i might 've wanted to jot down.. ;-)...So, whenever we miss manipal i'll read ur blog :)

Di said...

@Priyanka: Thanks,dear! If I'm able to remind you of Manipal through my writing, I think I have done a fairly good job! ;-)