Life is a package deal with curses and bliss packed in a single bundle. and sometimes, a curse, as perceived initially, converses to be a bliss. since i belonged to a far away place, this was such a case for me. while my friends enjoyed all the festivals at their nearby home, as they used to before their entry to the college, i had unique opportuinity to be part of some of unique celebrations at my college campus!
one of the vivid memory that i have for such an event is celebration of holi. since most of the students were from nearby places, only a few used to be at the campus on big festival days. some were forced to stay back like me because of their far away homes while some had to stay back to read for the scary examinations.
the boys' hostel was 'c' shaped at that time. the open end of the 'c' faced beautiful farms. it looked more like living in a lavish farm house than a college hostel. i lived in room no 15 with tapasvi and biren as my partners-one from ahmedabad and the other from gandhinagar. both never liked to miss any opportunity to go to home even in the routine days. so i was usually left alone in my room.
I do not remember any traditional holi fire in the campus but the next day, dhuleti, was celebrated with great zeal! i remember first such celebration. before telling that, let me reveal, i was a very shy as a kid and hardly used to play holi in its full violent flavor! back in bhuj as a child, i used to play holi with few of my friends and was always worried of some alien attack on me! i basically disliked to be wet and more to be dirty. also, i never liked someone attacking me and making all my hairs studded with the color. you can now imagine how i might be hating use of coal and mud in place of color on such an occasions.
i had no idea whatsoever as to what would happen on the day of dhuleti. I remember there was one kaka who used to come from karamsad to sell milk pouches and small cakes and puffs. he used to shout "lactose" in place of milk! he used to come on his bicycle and was very talkative. he had habit of talking a lot about any thing.just a few days before the holi festival, kaka started telling his own tingling life story about how he met kaki on the day of dhuleti and what and what not he did. you can imagine how popular his extempore speeches might have got in the boys hostel! i am sure, there was less of truth and more of fiction and fantasy in what he spoke. but truth never mattered anyone while listening to such tingling stories!
as the day of holi approached, some students told me about the celebration in the campus but i was least interested in being a part of such a celebration.on the other hand, i had great plan of taking rest in my room while let others to play holi.
but life is full of surprises especially when you are a teenage boy studying in the first year of a college. so, as soon as i rose in the morning, the noises of water fight started. i also heard some voices coming towards my room. they knocked the door. i was a bit scared to open the door of my room. was someone out there with a whole bucket of color just waiting to throw on me? or might be a whole gang was awaiting to attack!
but before i could think more, my friends started banging the door! what should i do now?
" neh! come out.." cried a voice with a big bang. " dont leave him ! no mercy on any one today!"
" neh.. come out" others also joined the voice. they were banging my door so vigorously, i felt, they would break it open! they were keen to ruin my plan of a great lazy day. ok , so be it. i gave up. i lifted my heavy holiday body with a great effort and reached the door.
as soon as i opened the door, i was firmly caught and greeted with colors from all the directions.i simply had no chance to resist. i tried to protect my head and eyes but soon it was over and i became fully colored clad like my friends! we all looked alike! my nose, my eyes and my hairs were studded with color. the boys looked such, even their mothers would not recognize them at first. voice was the only resort to recognize someone! i had no mirror to have a look at myself but the way i was attacked, i had little doubt of looking less horrible than my friends!
when you are tricked you also want others to fall prey to such a trick! in hope of getting such an event soothing my eyes , i looked around. at that moment, i saw setu being mercilessly attacked. he was coming out from the bath area. Although, he probably had taken a full bath just then, the friends dragged him to the open side of the 'c' of the hostel. As i saw, some mud colored students were there awaiting for the prey ! it appeared, they had pre prepared mud on the ground! setu was almost thrown in the mud and his fair skin changed the color within seconds! he hardly resisted the friends. setu's color became one with the horrible looking gang playing holi there!
so the day started quite unexpectedly.one after the other, the friends were attacked. almost no one was spared from the hostel. the colored friends joined and soon the gang expanded.
' come on neh, let us go' my friends asked me to join the gang. it was first time when, once a gang fearing kid like me, on that day became a part of such a frightening mob! the things that i hated till date- colors, mud, wetness some how poured an eternal joy in my heart. i felt something changed inside. probably that was joy of being one with the friends.my lazy ideas faded before i could think more. instantly, i became equally zealous to join the gang.
psmc has a vast campus spanning about three to four kilometers.our hostels were at one end , the hospital was in the middle and the staff and teachers quarters were at the other end.
Tell me,as a college boy where would you like to attack on the day of holi? of course, the targets were clear.- the teachers and the girls- our class mates and the nursing students! but wait a minute! i hardly was knowing any girl at that time and i do not remember pouring color on any one! neither had i the luxury of getting colored by the soft hands!however, some of my seniors had such a luxury!
after the girls hostel and the nursing hostel, the mob moved on to the teachers quarters. most of the teachers offered sweets and were very happy to see our gang banging at their homes.it appeared a heavenly celebration.
the fun was still not over. after the exhausting journey, lastly we reached dhobi ghaat. every one threw their mud and color stuck body in the tanks meant for washing the clothes! ouch! the water was cold but who cared such a thing when playing with friends? i must admit till that day, i never had such a holi in whole of my life!
on last note, i must whisper in your ears that some of the gang members took undue [or DUE] advantage of the festival to break in the nursing hostel and color the nursing students. as we heard the rumors, some one said some of the students did more than just throwing color at the nursing girls.
But before criticizing, i must tell you a story of an english film that i remember . the film showed the hero, a medical student, breaking in the girl's hostel after a frenzy of a football match. he was caught and the authorities, especially the dean was very keen to get him severely punished until a good professor showed old records which proved same incident against the dean when he was a medical student!
fact is more fictitious than the fiction!
history repeats!!
one of the vivid memory that i have for such an event is celebration of holi. since most of the students were from nearby places, only a few used to be at the campus on big festival days. some were forced to stay back like me because of their far away homes while some had to stay back to read for the scary examinations.
the boys' hostel was 'c' shaped at that time. the open end of the 'c' faced beautiful farms. it looked more like living in a lavish farm house than a college hostel. i lived in room no 15 with tapasvi and biren as my partners-one from ahmedabad and the other from gandhinagar. both never liked to miss any opportunity to go to home even in the routine days. so i was usually left alone in my room.
I do not remember any traditional holi fire in the campus but the next day, dhuleti, was celebrated with great zeal! i remember first such celebration. before telling that, let me reveal, i was a very shy as a kid and hardly used to play holi in its full violent flavor! back in bhuj as a child, i used to play holi with few of my friends and was always worried of some alien attack on me! i basically disliked to be wet and more to be dirty. also, i never liked someone attacking me and making all my hairs studded with the color. you can now imagine how i might be hating use of coal and mud in place of color on such an occasions.
i had no idea whatsoever as to what would happen on the day of dhuleti. I remember there was one kaka who used to come from karamsad to sell milk pouches and small cakes and puffs. he used to shout "lactose" in place of milk! he used to come on his bicycle and was very talkative. he had habit of talking a lot about any thing.just a few days before the holi festival, kaka started telling his own tingling life story about how he met kaki on the day of dhuleti and what and what not he did. you can imagine how popular his extempore speeches might have got in the boys hostel! i am sure, there was less of truth and more of fiction and fantasy in what he spoke. but truth never mattered anyone while listening to such tingling stories!
as the day of holi approached, some students told me about the celebration in the campus but i was least interested in being a part of such a celebration.on the other hand, i had great plan of taking rest in my room while let others to play holi.
but life is full of surprises especially when you are a teenage boy studying in the first year of a college. so, as soon as i rose in the morning, the noises of water fight started. i also heard some voices coming towards my room. they knocked the door. i was a bit scared to open the door of my room. was someone out there with a whole bucket of color just waiting to throw on me? or might be a whole gang was awaiting to attack!
but before i could think more, my friends started banging the door! what should i do now?
" neh! come out.." cried a voice with a big bang. " dont leave him ! no mercy on any one today!"
" neh.. come out" others also joined the voice. they were banging my door so vigorously, i felt, they would break it open! they were keen to ruin my plan of a great lazy day. ok , so be it. i gave up. i lifted my heavy holiday body with a great effort and reached the door.
as soon as i opened the door, i was firmly caught and greeted with colors from all the directions.i simply had no chance to resist. i tried to protect my head and eyes but soon it was over and i became fully colored clad like my friends! we all looked alike! my nose, my eyes and my hairs were studded with color. the boys looked such, even their mothers would not recognize them at first. voice was the only resort to recognize someone! i had no mirror to have a look at myself but the way i was attacked, i had little doubt of looking less horrible than my friends!
when you are tricked you also want others to fall prey to such a trick! in hope of getting such an event soothing my eyes , i looked around. at that moment, i saw setu being mercilessly attacked. he was coming out from the bath area. Although, he probably had taken a full bath just then, the friends dragged him to the open side of the 'c' of the hostel. As i saw, some mud colored students were there awaiting for the prey ! it appeared, they had pre prepared mud on the ground! setu was almost thrown in the mud and his fair skin changed the color within seconds! he hardly resisted the friends. setu's color became one with the horrible looking gang playing holi there!
so the day started quite unexpectedly.one after the other, the friends were attacked. almost no one was spared from the hostel. the colored friends joined and soon the gang expanded.
' come on neh, let us go' my friends asked me to join the gang. it was first time when, once a gang fearing kid like me, on that day became a part of such a frightening mob! the things that i hated till date- colors, mud, wetness some how poured an eternal joy in my heart. i felt something changed inside. probably that was joy of being one with the friends.my lazy ideas faded before i could think more. instantly, i became equally zealous to join the gang.
psmc has a vast campus spanning about three to four kilometers.our hostels were at one end , the hospital was in the middle and the staff and teachers quarters were at the other end.
Tell me,as a college boy where would you like to attack on the day of holi? of course, the targets were clear.- the teachers and the girls- our class mates and the nursing students! but wait a minute! i hardly was knowing any girl at that time and i do not remember pouring color on any one! neither had i the luxury of getting colored by the soft hands!however, some of my seniors had such a luxury!
after the girls hostel and the nursing hostel, the mob moved on to the teachers quarters. most of the teachers offered sweets and were very happy to see our gang banging at their homes.it appeared a heavenly celebration.
the fun was still not over. after the exhausting journey, lastly we reached dhobi ghaat. every one threw their mud and color stuck body in the tanks meant for washing the clothes! ouch! the water was cold but who cared such a thing when playing with friends? i must admit till that day, i never had such a holi in whole of my life!
on last note, i must whisper in your ears that some of the gang members took undue [or DUE] advantage of the festival to break in the nursing hostel and color the nursing students. as we heard the rumors, some one said some of the students did more than just throwing color at the nursing girls.
But before criticizing, i must tell you a story of an english film that i remember . the film showed the hero, a medical student, breaking in the girl's hostel after a frenzy of a football match. he was caught and the authorities, especially the dean was very keen to get him severely punished until a good professor showed old records which proved same incident against the dean when he was a medical student!
fact is more fictitious than the fiction!
history repeats!!
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