The College Days

An insecure child till 5^th, a shy and nervous teen till 8^th, a drop out eventually - who had to complete his schooling through NIOS due to given circumstances; I was now all set to enter the college as a confident youth. It was the year 2016 and after all the toil in NIOS; I was able to get admission in SOL, where I applied for BA Eng Hons. We all know that open college is way too different than the regular ones but I think, that’s what makes it all so unique and interesting.

My classes started somewhere in late October and I went there all decked up with my goggles on which I removed later before entering the class. As I was on the threshold of the room, I felt like a “Raja” (king) entering the court and all the courtiers would stand to welcome me. Initially, I didn’t make any friends owing to my semi-introvert nature but then after two or three classes, I made friends and yes, my friends broke the ice.

Now we were a bunch of 8 people, occupying the full bench and studying. Sorry, studying- I mean really. Do you believe that? We chatted the whole time, whispering things and eating. Yes, that’s what happens I guess, when you make friends in college. We were meeting only on Sundays and we were not going to just sit and study the entire day. We were like, “Come on, it’s college time guys; time to chill and thrill”.

Did I bunk my classes? Hell yeah!! I mean how could I break this age-old established practice? So I set out with my comrades to experience what was going to be one of the best episodes of my college life so far. We walked to a nearby park where the number of monkeys was more than the number of people. We were wandering aimlessly talking to each other, cautiously watching out for the monkeys if any came our way. It so happened that one of my friends tried to offer chips to the monkey and the monkey I think was a fast food freak. It pounced on the packet like anything, leaving me and my friend fallen down on the ground and obviously, others laughing.

Two years have passed now and one more to go. Even if I get separated, I am never going to forget all these wonderful memories that I made with my college gang. They will always be there, every time I look back in the past and will leave me smiling at how crazy we were.