DADDA

Strange is this thing?

When i was High School My principal said ours was the worst batch in the history of School. My Competition exam tutor Mr. Joshi said the same thing even though i was the only one got who got through iit screening in the whole fcn batch!
So i came under a impression of high held air of snobbery of getting that infamous but highly coveted title of being the one in the worst batch ever in the history of any education or for that matter any social congregation.

Now i was in gsti and there too i was expecting the same thing to happen. So i wasnt surprised when warden in the first week self had to come in person with some tough guys to teach my batch 'some manners'. But after he was done i didnt listen him saying that ear pleasant rhetoric. He never said that we were the worst batch. Instead he said just the opposite. I was shocked.

My mechanical batch has 60 seats but amazingly breakup was like this- 30 General candidates with 25 boys and 5 girls. Rest of the seats were reserved with people continuing the same course for a whooping 6to 7 and to even eight years. Out of those reserved 30 again 21 were boys and 9 girls. Also if drop in some diploma entry students one can imagine the kind of batch we make.

Practically it was not possible to remember every body's name because in each sem our classmates change. Thus age range of mech batch is about 10 years! That means one can very much expect a student of 21 years of age studying with 31 yrs age student to be this fcn classmate.

This calls for a very tough training with mind and also physical to take pressures from peer group. I hope you are catching my drift.

Inspite of such a Versatile batch with so many different candidates our batch didnt get the title of worst batch ever. I was curious to find reason. But whom should i approach to get info.

HOD was around 62 years old. Leave the Director i never saw his face or had a chance to talk in person! Also other antiquated faculty with huge experience cant render me my info. But i was friends with the peon of the department. Same age group around 62 years of age. Same experience of around 30 years in GSTI.

I came up to him and asked- " Dada, should i ask you a question? "
" Ya go on son"
" You have seen our batch. We almost every day create nuissance in the college and outside. I mean 10 police cases in nearby tukoganj thana in last 4 years. Best football team when we roughed up those local colleges. 3 grand functions;One of them initiated only this year. I mean what else- what can be worse. We also have 3 gold medalists this year. Its the best and worst batch according to definition. But why no college staff talks about it. They just dont mind us!!!"

Dada burst in to a crocked laughter which went on for at least a minute. Then he became silent, picked a bidi from his front pocket, lit it and took a heavy puff.
I had to look sideways so that i shoudnt be seen by any faculty with him.
I asked Dada- " Why are you smoking in public that too in college.What if that asshole HOD saw you. He will fire you Goddamit. "

Dada said calmy- " You dont worry Kid. You question had in a sense made me to go backwards. Some nostalgic moments got my head filled up with something. Lets walk "

" OK"
We moved in to our Huge mechanical workshop which was easily equivalent to a small factory!

Dadda said-
" You see those framed pictures kid on that torn off wall."
" Ya but i should look closer"
" Then see them closely i ll some questions then"
" I was supposed to get an answer and now you give me this question. Not good!"
" Thats what is the problem with you young lads. You just want things without any pain"
" Ok Ok old man. I am watching them photos."
They were yellowish old photos of earlier batches of our college. But i couldnt recognise their faces
" Who are they? I can see any big deal about it. and whats the point afterall. My question stays where it was."
" Wrong! You didnt see them closely."
"I saw them dada i cant recognise them."
" Ok. I ll tell you. These photos are of mechanical batches right from year 1956 till date. Many of these when grown up became chief minister, IAS, Director, President, CEOs and some are still on that same path. Many came here and gone kid. You cant recognise them in these photos because they were like you now.
Who recognise you outside this college. You always have to tell people that you are a product of GSTI Mechanical Factory. But some time later when you will get to the place which are dreaming of now then in the most righteous way you will be able to so justice to your institution. So dont think your batch or you are worthy to be called as worst or best ever now. It will be only 25 years later when you will be coming to celebrate silver jubilee in the same premises, that the nature of your motivation be known."

I was just moved by what the old man said. That very moment there was this 25years silver jubilee reunion party of the alumini going on in mechanical porche and Digvijay Singh was there not as a chief guest but as one of our Alumini.

I was filled with proud that time. I very much am proud of GSTI mechancial and always be.
When ever i feel low or distracted i feel very relaxed in this place and the same i am feeling now as i write this laying on my hostel ground.

People always come and go. They have priorities. But when you are not in the priority of someone you feel, you should be. It feels not so good. But i don't beat my head over that any more. May i was lucky so far in getting friends who always show up when needed but this may be an overgeneralisation when applied to certain other relationships which some people call sacred but when it comes to give back all they give is pain, just because they have priorities and clearly i am not the one right now.

But this building was always there in its place.
" Give me strength to pass this moment and stay focused."

No remorse or ill feeling for any one but remember memory is a very biased set of device as it records things with certain perceptions about some events that no matter how enormous amount of conditioning you do afterward it always 'recalls' what it has to!