A Memorable Diwali

It was Diwali time and we wanted to celebrate it in a little different way. We were in 11th grade (class 11) that time and were enjoying our school days in KV BRPL. We thought of celebrating Diwali in BRPL township with our friends. It was little difficult for some of us who stayed quite far from township but finally I and Ratul decided to go for it. My house was in the mid way between town ship and Ratul’s house and from my place to township it was 15-20 minutes bicycle ride. Our plan was to enjoy the evening and return home by 9 PM.We wanted to enjoy that evening in a more adventurous way by throwing crackers inside people’s house and we also had a few targets in our mind, some teachers and few of our female class mates. I, Ratul, Ajay and Padu were the main culprits, although there were few more guys.  Padu was riding the bicycle and I sat at the front, Ratul and Ajay were on another bicycle. First we went near our Mishra sir’s house and threw few crackers inside his house and then we immediately disappeared from there. Wow! It was so much fun and we all just loved the thrill. But there was a little problem as it was quite windy and we struggled to light the crackers.

Considering the amount of fun we were having and also the risk involved we thought of some another alternative to light the crackers. Immediately Padu came up with an idea and it really worked. We bought some agarbatti’s, lighted few of them and fixed them at the front of our bicycle. It was very effective and we were able to light the crackers very comfortably even thought it was very windy.We threw crackers in few more houses and felt very happy and satisfied. Now Padu badly wanted to throw crackers in one of our female class mate’s house.  As soon as we reached near her house we saw her father standing in front of the gate in his Lungi, lighting Diya’s near the gate. We waited for a while but her father stood at the same place for a long time, as if he was testing our patience  There was a Maruti van parked just in front of the gate. All of a sudden Padu started his Bicycle and tried to hide beside the van. I was little tensed that time as her father was just standing on the other side of the van. Without wasting much time Padu lighted a cracker and threw it. The uncle was simply jolted with that act and he tried to go inside the house, he had no idea what just happened? Immediately we lighted 2 more crackers and threw at him but that time he saw us and shouted “who’s there? you bloody fool… who’s there?” Padu started his bicycle and tried to disappear from there. To our surprise the uncle started to chase us and screamed from behind. It was quite funny as described by some of our friends later who were hiding nearby at that moment. The uncle in his Lungi chased us for quite a distance but ultimately he gave up.

It was so much fun and we were having a wonderful time. We gained some confidence and started to throw crackers at random houses. I threw a cracker inside one house without consulting anyone and immediately 2-3 guys started to chase us. All my friends shouted “run, run just disappear from here”.  Unknowingly I threw a cracker inside SP’s (Superintendent of Police) house.  Those guys, not in their uniform though, were not like the earlier uncle and they literally chased us for a long time and finally caught us near the infamous township pond. We had an argument with them and as soon as we got some opportunity everyone just disappeared in the dark. I and Padu were together and hid somewhere near the pond. But Ratul was left alone and poor guy was very much tensed and he tried to hide in someone’s garden. Suddenly one of the security guard asked him “What’s up? Who are you?” Ratul was very tensed but his major advantage was that he looked quite decent and he decently replied to the security guard, but obviously  a different name. The guard asked “what is your father’s name?” Ratul was very confused and one name came to his mind that moment “Mr R.M. Hazarika “, coincidentally he was the CEO of BRPL that time. The guard was very impressed and asked him “oh! when did you come?” Ratul replied “just few days back”. Again the guard asked “so, you will be staying for few more days” Ratul replied that he would be staying few more days and tried to avoid that guy and left from there.

After around half an hour we all met at some place and it was time for us to go home as it was already 9 PM. But Padu and Ajay suggested us not to go home that time as the security people at the main gate might catch us. It was quite a good advice, so I and Ratul stayed the night at Padu’s place.

Wish You all a Very Happy Diwali

One Funny Miscommunication

People in general are very much attracted to babies and many of us don’t hesitate to approach the parents to have a close look at their cutie pies.  New mothers usually have hell lot of confusions and whenever they see a woman holding a baby they would never hesitate to approach her and discuss about their confusions.  One day my wife took Jia to a nearby park. I think Jia was into her 4^th month that time. The park is usually crowded with Parents/Grandparent and their little angels during the early evening. One elderly lady was holding a cute baby and as soon as she encountered Anjali, she approached her to have a look at Jia.

Now there was a little problem as the elderly lady spoke in Kannada. Although Anjali doesn't understand Kannada, except for a few words but sometimes she pretend that she know Kannada very well.  Specially while dealing with any auto driver she would behave like that. For example if she needs to ask any auto driver whether he would go to JP Nagar?, she would ask  something like this “Eddu… JP Nagara?“ Few times I have noticed some kind of secret smile on the driver’s face.  

Now the elderly lady asked Anjali something and Anjali didn't have any idea what she asked? She simply replied “Eddu… 4 months aaa” The lady was not satisfied with her reply and again she started to ask something in Kannada. Now Anjali was not in any mood to say “Sorry. I don’t know Kannada; can you please speak in Hindi or English?” She tried her best to convince the old lady and the drama continued for a while. Finally the poor lady realized that it would not work out like that and all of a sudden she pulled down the pajama of the baby she was holding and let Anjali had a close look at him to let her know that  it’s a baby boy. Immediately Anjali realized what the lady actually asked her?  and she replied “Oh! My little one is a baby girl and we named her Jia”

Ragging Days, Part-1

Within a few days I realized that our ragging was not an act of aggression or any kind of "Vulgar Display of Power” but it was actually some ways to open us up perfectly to the seniors. Our ragging period is one of the most memorable phases of my life. Every hostel/college has their own set of ragging rules and in our hostel also we had certain simple rules. 

1) Entire 1st semester batch  need to wear complete formal all the time.

2) The entire fresher’s required to wake up early morning by 5 AM and had to go for jogging.

3) We  had to introduce ourselves to each and every senior and that too in their own room and not anywhere else.

4) We had to memorize “full name, semester, block number, room number, branch, which place he belongs” for each and every hostel boarder, including the fresher’s.

5) Cigarettes and alcohol were strictly prohibited for the fresher’s during the ragging period.

Those were the basic rules and anyone who violated any of the rules had to face some kind of music.

It was quite painful to wake up early morning but once I woke up and got ready, I really enjoyed it. We all used to gather near the hostel gate and for the initial few days some seniors took the responsibility to escort us and also took our attendance. During jogging time all the 1st semester guys would be together.For the first time I experienced how does it feel to be a part of  such a big gang. We had the opportunity to know each other much better and during the initial days quite often we used to see some new faces. The landscape nearby our hostel is just awesome. The "Deepor Bill", one of the largest lakes in the Brahmaputra valley of Western Assam is very near to our hostel. Also the road from hostel to Saatmile pass between two hills and early morning it's too green and quite refreshing. Some of us used to hide cigarettes in our pocket and that was the perfect time to have them.

Now the level and type of ragging varied from senior to senior as well as the fresher to fresher. From my experience I think  it more depended on the fresher.  By talking to a fresher any senior would know very well about his personality and attitude. Some of us had some kind of attitude as well as ego problem. Seniors usually have hell lot of techniques to deal with such fresher's which effectively  lowered  their attitude and ego. I can remember one simple but very effective technique, the seniors used to send such guys to the nearby shops very frequently to bring their stuffs. Some of my friends were able to dance nicely and during entire ragging period they danced in one room or the other. Some  used to sing quite well and they had to sing many times. Not only that, the seniors even encouraged them to dance and sing during the college week on stage in front of the whole college and  the guys managed to gain some kind of crowd appreciation.

Some of my friends were too shy, decent and reserved kind of.  For those guys they had different kind of treatment. It usually started with the basic question “Do you use your hand?” Sometimes some seniors even asked to demonstrate, not the actual demonstration but only the expression part and they would not satisfy if the expressions were not candid enough. Now my good friend Prasu was quite shy initially. One day one of our senior asked him the same question and Prasu replied “I don’t do such things”. The senior was decent enough and only asked him to try it out that night. That day Prasu discussed with us regarding that and Nair immediately suggested him not to give such replies. Nair already had some prior hostel experience but of course not up to engineering standard. Nair and Prasu were from the same school but Prasu never had any hostel experience. Nair said to him “Look Prasu, even if you don’t do such things but whenever any senior ask you, you should always say yes. By the way, you really don’t do it?” Prasu replied “of course I do it man, who the hell doesn't do? We had a little laugh and felt good that Prasu was opening up gradually.

One afternoon I was in my room and all of a sudden Nair came inside with a new guy. Looking at him I understood that he’s our batch mate and might have joined hostel that day itself.  As I was in my shorts, he assumed me to be a senior and he had an artificial expression on his face, the kind of expression some fresher’s usually had in front of seniors. Nair said to him “No need be afraid of man, he is also one of us” The guy asked me “you are also a fresher?” After my confirmation he said in a very weird way “Bhaaaak sala” with an amusing expression on his face.  That was my introduction with Bhushan and I can never forget it. I was totally amused that time and thought the guy would definitely give us some entertainment in hostel and I wasn't wrong. 

Bhushan was one of the most entertaining guys in our hostel during our entire stay for 4 years. One evening one of our senior asked him the same question “do you use your hand?” Bhushan said that he doesn't and he even had some sort of argument with him and said he would never do such thing in life. The senior was very upset with him and he gave him a tiny bottle and asked him to fill the bottle latest by next morning or else the consequences would be very severe. That night Bhushan literally approached each and every fresher in the hostel and asked for contribution. He looked very tense and  said “Please contribute a small amount yaar, otherwise tomorrow they will beat me like a cow” We all were shocked and Bhushan got the same kind of reply from every one “stupid, are you mad or what? How can you ask such a thing to any one?” Next day we asked Bhushan “Dude, were you able to manage last night?” He replied “None of us helped me, I managed it  by myself” We asked “but you said you don’t do such things” He replied “what option I had? I don’t know what more things they will ask me to do?”

The jogging helped me a lot. Since my childhood my mother used to have a hard time to feed me breakfast. I just couldn't take anything early morning before going to school, sometimes I even puked. My mother used to give me heavy tiff-in and usually I and my friends used to finish it by 2nd or 3rd period. But during my ragging days, after jogging we used to have breakfast and I enjoyed it graciously and could easily digest 10-15 puris. During my first vacation one morning my Mom was so happy when she saw me having breakfast without any problem.

It took us a long time to memorize “full name, semester, block number, room number, branch, place he belongs” for each and every hostel boarder. Once we memorized that, to be honest we used to remember them all throughout the four years of engineering. Many of us still remember part of it even today after so many years. Whenever any guest used to visit our hostel looking for someone they would ask any guy they encounter. Say for example a visitor came to hostel and ask anyone of us “Can you please call “Nibaran Wari” The guy would usually escort him to Wari’s room.  On the way he might ask "Are you Wari’s father?" If the visitor would reply as yes then the guy would ask "so, you are coming from Barpeta?" We felt the kind of satisfaction and comfort on the visitor’s face.