The Narrow Escape (REC Diaries)

The occassion was Onam and the festivities had already begun everywhere in the universe except in the REC campus. This was not unsual as we had never so much as heard a single cracker burst even in Diwali in the campus. All the parties seemed to be happening everywhere else. Being in the final year also meant that we had nothing remotely related to studies in our minds to utilize the one week Onam break. Not that any other year would have made much of a difference, but atleast in those years we used to be home sick and nothing more than a quick trip home came to mind in any one week break. This year was differnt as we knew we would be going our separate ways after this one and we were sort of college sick. So, most of us had stayed back on campus with hardly anything to do.

An Onam plan eventually materialized. Four of us - the studious Paggu, suave Pacchu, ever enterprising Raj and yours truely, decided to head to the Calicut city for wine and dine and a bit of fun and frolic. Plan was executed with no glitch whatsoever and we returned to the bus station a happy group. We were loafing around till the 11 o' clock last bus arrived and presented itself as a rude shock. There was barely space for anyone to breathe inside the bus - let alone four extra seats for us. We were wondering in a dazed state as to our next course of action when the whistle blew and the bus started moving.

Necessity is the mother of all invention, they say - and they could not have more been spot on! The slowly moving bus gave us the required stimuli and the very next moment I could see Raj and Pacchu following me in climbing the ladder at the back of the bus. Paggu for some good reason decided to give the opportunity a pass. Everything seemed to happen at such rapid pace that reason had taken a back seat. In minutes we started getting a trifle scared what with the electric cables and poles passing inches away from out heads. The pretty picture of the moon moving between the braches of trees made our nerves soothe and we almost fell asleep in a dazed state. After all it is not everyday luxury to get to travel "top" class on a public bus.

Our sweet slumber was prematurely terminated with a ruffling noise. Some of our fellow passengers started disembarking rather hastily. Before we could wonder what the reason for such untimely exit could be, someone intimated that there were lawkeepers in the vicinity. Things started to become crystal clear in no time. In our excited state what had escaped our reasoning minds was the possibility that travelling on top of public vehicles could be regarded as unlawful by certain section of society. Disregarding our predicament of having to spend the night without shelter as the only alternative to not travelling on the bustop, the policemen herded the three of us to the station of law and justice. At 12 in the night, it was not a pretty sight to be walking like ramp models among a herd of ogling bystanders with no control whatsoever over the proceedings.

It was only the intervention of a well connected local youth leader of sorts that saved us from having to spend the night behind bars. This presented with the next problem of treading the next few miles to the hostels. After some heavy considerations, we decided that the only sane option was to walk the distance. No sooner had we started, we could see a passing bus with the happy face of Paggu sticking out through the window. The extra bus during festivities is not unheard of in Kerala.

The Great Escape (REC Diaries)

There are many fond memories of REC that come to mind. But probably not too many that can be associated to the first few months in 'A' hostel - thanks to the near-prison-like enviroment that was in the offing. There was only a single window to the outside world (barring the one facing 'B' hostel which some of the seniors used to subject us to ragging assignments) which was guarded by the "mashe"s as if their life depended on it. Any amount of cajoling would not make them budge and allow so much leeway as to even let us sit on the benches right outside the gate. So, most of our adventures were confined to the indoors.

This remained the norm till we discovered the third "window of oportunity" in the form of a ventilator in a certain room number 109, ground floor. Free spirits can be kept bounded only for so long. Subhash Chandra Bose's name comes to mind and the way he had fooled the British who kept him under house arrest to make good his escape. A certain gang of notorious NEXI youths thought in similar lines and creativity soon led their attention to the ventilator that had mere glass panes loosely fitted obliquely to let air pass in. What the designers of the premises must have carelessly omitted was the possibility of carefully removing those glass panes and providing with a sleek exit point for under-fed first year inmates.

This is what precisely happened at around 2 in the night of Saraswati pooja early in the year 1996. I shall refrain from disclosing the names of the participants of the heist for fear of late rebuke, but make a special note of the feeling of accomplishment they must have had when they made their re-entry after an ecstatic stroll in the Chattamangalam wilderness unrecognized by guards and seniors alike.