When you first start college, you feel adult. You have suddenly stepped into this world of grown ups. You are no longer in school; no need to wear uniforms and attend classes by the time table. New set of friends and new set of habits! The pocket money goes up. You can stay out late. The curfew time has been extended because you reasoned with your father that you are no longer a two year old and can take care of yourself. Although your father was not completely convinced; your mother interfered and now you can go to a party and pretend that you’re a rick bloke. You’re in college. You ‘deserve’ your first bike. You tell your dad that it’ll ease down the time of travel and give you more time to study. But he knows better! Don’t forget that he was once your age. You ‘need’ the bike to show off to your friends and impress girls. If only you knew that girls could see right through you.
But girls are not to be outdone. They too have their share of ‘needs’ in college. New clothes, expensive shoes and accessories and the latest chic mobile is a must. Cosmetics do not require a mention because they are as necessary as breathing and thus are taken for granted. It is of utmost importance that your wardrobe has nearly 30 new dresses because you don’t want to be caught dead in the same dress that you wore to your
fresher’s welcome party. They make sure that they find out which student stays closest and farthest to their house. Sociable you’d say! Of course! These details come in handy. Each category has its own value. The ones who stay closest are of utmost importance when you need exam notes because you were too busy admiring the latest colours of the season and forgot to make notes. The ones who stay the farthest are indispensable when you need to go out on a date or a late night party but pretend that you are attending
a study group for a very important assignment that is due the next morning.
This does sound like a generalization. You can always argue that there exist those studious, sincere few who do not lie to their parents and deserve a mention. Look closely, they have been mentioned. These are the students to whom the boys show off and the girls use as back ups.
There is a mystery that is an essential part of college life and is as difficult to answer as the chicken and egg question. You’d expect the outgoing show offs to make a bad show at the exams and the sincere geeks to outshine every other soul on earth. Think again! The party goers plan their next party after the results because they are amongst the toppers whereas the regular geek is still struggling to figure out where he can find the
reassessment forms.
Nobody said life would be fair then why did you assume!
Besides the party animal and the geek, there is a third category of students, popularly known as the rebels. And that is exactly what they come to college for. As soon as they step inside the college gates, they start believing that they can lead and change the world. They have a problem with everything from the classroom chairs to the canteen food. They oppose every single soul on premise and have an opinion about every subject under the sun. They pick fights with the show-offs, bully the geeks and lech at girls but pretend that they care two hoots. These are the students who believe they are the next generation of leaders and spend most of their time drinking tea and discussing politics (more like picking problems with the entire system).
You’d think that they probably feel that the western system is better and want a similar change in their society. But you’re wrong. They hate the western system too because it is ‘capitalist’. They strongly believe that the west is having a negative influence on the society and everything western should be banned.
So you’d ask that what do they want and whom do they follow. What is this big change that they keep talking about and want to bring about in the society? The answer is that they don’t know the answer. They only like talking a lot and sounding intellectual. They live in a glorified past and an even more glorified vision of the future based on books and the words of great men. But the present is not for them. They would not take a step and make the change but would endlessly talk about ‘the need to bring about the change’.
All these and more of these make college memories come alive when years later you return to a reunion party to compare notes. The show offs have become business men, the chics have married those rich business men and are the face of Page 3, the geeks are employed by these business men while they dream of overtaking their empire and their wife and the rebels have become successful politicians.
You’d probably ask where are those who do not fall in any of these brackets and make their own paths. Who were they in college? How do you identify them? They were the ones who attended classes, went to parties and walked the corridors observing each one of you. So don’t be surprised when you see someone on screen or read a character in a book and say, ‘Hey! I can relate to that character. That’s just me!’ Chances are that you know the artist.
Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely co-incidental.
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