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Saturday, December 29, 2007

Chai, Samosas and the batch of 1982 BHU-ITs

Over a 100 plus ex-BHU-ITians descended in Varanasi, some braved the roads, other took the trains and still others came by air. Some with family and some without. All eager to meet their batchmates after 25 years.


25-Dec-2008 Christmas in Kashi


A contingent of 'n' people left their hotels for a la BHU. The buses could not take the main streets of Varanasi and had to take route via DLW and soon arrived into Lanka - greeted by the tring-tring of the rickshawallas, the incessant honking of the motor vehicles and of course the aroma of samosas and kachori on the road side, the tea vendors overboiling their tea to kill any kind of bugs. Groups of people huddled around the chaiwalla cupping the kullad and having hot chai and warming themselves on a cold Christmas morning.

Thus began our silver jubilee journey in Kashi......


Seeing the main gate took me back 25 years, there were goosebumps on my forearms. Some good and some not so good memories came to me - only to be shaken by the sudden braking of the bus which halted strategically in front of WH (Women's Hostel)









Going by the number of hugging incidents we had since 24th Dec 2007 we could have easily broken any previous Guiness record for hugging.















Chera yaad hai lekin naam yaad nahi araha hai!!!!!
The Name tags help resolve a lot of memory lapses and saved a lot of embarassment, thanks to organisers and volunteers (Thats Keshav not a post card vendor)




Chaos at Birla Mandir

There were more photographers than the number of people being photographed.


















And dont forget there were some first time visitors to Birla Mandir

We then proceeded for lunch at Morvi...........

Visit to the Hostels, Chai at the nukkad....
Each of us parted ways to look at our hostels - of special interest to me was the Dhanrajgiri where i started and the final year hostel - Visveshwaraya - nothing seems to have changed - its all frozen in time......however there are fewer cycles and Wifi in hostels...that at times works...and note Ragging is punishable - the guys don't have to visit Birla temple as often as we had to do to avoid ragging...

























The chai at the Rajputana nukaad still tastes the same....and the Sada Panwa costs Rs 2.00




While the guys were having a good time the ladies too made friends and were enjoying themselves......



Thursday, December 6, 2007

210 minutes of not going through the bridge....by Crofty

It was 6:00 am on the morning of 4th December - the Janpur railway station was complete confusion and disorientation. We stumbled along behind ButtFloss, who had taken it upon himself to lead the herd with superhuman speed. For lesser mortals like me who’s legs need to do two cycles to match one of the rest, I put my head down and sped along, avoiding men and mucus with equal dexterity.

We positioned ourselves under the largest public address speaker (or so it seemed) and for half an hour were brainwashed by the Janpur Railways to ‘go through the bridge’. Just as I reached a hypnotic state of heading towards the bridge in blind madness, Buttfloss hurtled down the platform, once more followed by a team desperate to keep up. Saved from a suicidal trip through the bridge, I was suddenly awake as we found a landmark next to a pile of garbage. And I saw samosas.

Rows and rows of fresh station-made samosas lined up and selling like hot cakes. Corona Discharge and Lung Farang were especially impressed by this sight, having been deprived of such treats during their growing years - the good old days. Lucifer’s demons watched transfixed as golden brown, deep fried, management, teamwork and leadership examples emerged till rudely disturbed by a cow.

Repeated pleas by to move away from the beast went unheeded, and suddenly the animal was inches away, head in dustbin and Lung Farang in considerable danger. The dustbin’s lid flew off, agilely sidestepped by Lung Farang (who refused to retreat), and the cow was balancing precariously, neck deep in trash. The tension lasted a few minutes until someone threw water all over the beast. Shocked out of position, it staggered off, leaving us to battle another problem.

Draped in traditional albeit rather dusty Indian attire, this new problem stared us in the face, neck and back. All movement from Paneera, the Sergeant Major and myself were watched from various angles. Romeo found considerable entertainment in providing a running commentary of the gentleman’s eye movements and the Sergeant Major’s reaction was to stare back with equal intensity.

As time passed and the train got further delayed, ButtFloss emerged with food supplies and Corona Discharge alternated between listening to music and assessing if a body on the platform was breathing or not. Lung Farang’s expression of gloom had increased since morning (if that was possible) and Paneera had been sucked into the pages of Bollywood. This left me to discourse with whoever was ready to listen, on the state of the country, female infanticide and subconsciously fight the urge of going through the bridge.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Waiting at Wimpy's....by Lung Farang

It was cold. It was dark. It was 5:30 in the morning. And we didn't care! We were young, rich, and flushed with the success of snatching two more for Lucifer from the jaws of IIT Janpur (and Sleeping Jerk). We piled into the taxis for the short journey to the train station and the horror began.

Two cars turned left. Two cars turned right. A plot? Where were the others being taken? We would call the police when we got to the station if the others didn't arrive. Fortunately, it was only a difference of opinion as to which was the best route that avoided the train gates (which spent a lot more time staying open for the trains than the cars). Nearly 30 minutes early for the train. Just enough time so that we could take it easy finding the platform and where to stand for our carriage.

210 minutes later the train arrived. The drivers who were waiting at the other end to pick us up would have to be informed. So Crofty called them and let them know we would be a bit late. They said they would wait at Wimpy's.
They called back 15 minutes later. Apparently Wimpy's had moved