A walk through the memories of my college days

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I reached out  to plug my ears when the record from the public Auto stand suddenly blared, 'ABC, ne vaasi' (an old Tamil song which means,You learn your ABC if you  want but just leave me alone) and I couldn't help smiling, Let the auto people  celebrate Ayutha Pooja (a festival of tools and machines) as they please, I thought. I'd forgive them.

My mind raced back to our college days.With 9 of us sharing a room in the hostel, different groups needed different study patterns. Meena of English Literature would often say," ABC ne vaasi" and escape to chat with others.No records for her to complete, no tests and sometimes no classes even. 9 of us with 9 different backgrounds, different natures.Yet I don't remember a single serious quarrel.We'd go to the college together, had almost all our adventures together. On holidays or in the evenings we'd go for walks in the settings just meant for walks - long winding roads where we could follow newly married couples and comment about them among ourselves (perhaps some of my friends got ideas about how to enjoy  their future from these
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When we had more time we'd venture further off and then remember our time limit at the last minute. And then with an 'about turn' and a view of the nearest short-cut we'd run, skirts in hands, over ridges of radish and beet-root fields, leaping wherever required, till we reached the campus, squeeze through the fence if necessary and then,



with a cat like expression, we'd talk calmly to others.When the clock struck 6, we'd sometimes wonder whether it was really the clock or our heart beat because it sure sounded so loud. We'd wink among ourselves at our narrow escape and once within closed doors, laugh at the various observations  like ,'I'm  sure nobody was here till now. Where did you people suddenly appear from,'etc.




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  Now and then we'd take our books and announce to others that as the exams were nearing we were going to this and that spot to study. 'Study? They'd ask in surprise. How can you study at such a beautiful place?' "Why, where there is a will,there is a way,"we'd say calmly. And we sure did. For half an hour or an hour maybe. And then we'd call each other to play. After all life was for enjoying and if we missed this chance who knows when we'd get another? Moreover  if we had some play now our brains would work faster later. And then only some of us would go for higher studies, the others would get married after this degree and be loaded with tons of responsibilities, then what a waste of time it would be if they didn't enjoy life now,etc. So we didn't waste the 

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idyllic  settings either. After all it was really crowded near our houses, you know.

Suddenly my daughter says that she's hungry and I come out of my reverie.


I wonder if the poor girl will  ever know the thrill of adventure as we did then. Nowadays children may boldly accept  their situation and say,'Yes, I became late, so what? I didn't do it on purpose.' They might phone for a bike or an auto to pick them up.
Maybe I'm really old fashioned after all. Because I think that even the fear of adults or of order added to our fun as we used all kinds of tricks to escape them.

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