Happier days at College

The following story is a part of complete writing called ,"Feeling Love in the Air",
put up on the same blog in Feb. 2008, at this address:
http://surrenderlistenandgive.blogspot.com/2008/02/feeling-love-in-air.html
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I had a wonderful time in college. Life was relaxed for a change. Once again, I started singing (in the cafeteria), dancing at the college festivals and laughing (in the corridors) with the friends. Sometimes, we would laugh so much that our eyes would water and tummy would hurt.

Life was great with so many lovely friends, so much of time, no attendance compulsion and boundless creativity. There were no worries, no responsibilities and no complains in life.

In college, once again, I was comfortable with boys around me. I no longer wished them to be sent to another planet.

I and my friends would fight over those crumbs of chocolate cake in the college gardens. We would read each others palms in the bright-sunny-tennis-lawns. During palm reading session, they would chase me till the far away boundary of the college, when I would tell them about the number of affairs they would be having.

I had started celebrating every small little event, by buying coffee for all friends, be it for getting the highest score in a small test or for buying a new dress.

To reach university, I had to travel for an hour (each way) in an exclusively university student's bus (called U-spl). But that long commute time never bothered me. With my new friends (made in that bus), I would sing endlessly, comfortably sitting on that dirty floor of the bus. We would, read famous Lynda Goodman’s “Sun sign book” as a group and analyze each others characteristics. Discussing what we wanted most in life was a favorite topic of discussion during that “seemingly short” commute hour.

Together, we would create happiness by doing anything, anywhere. One day while eating with my friends at a restaurant and getting bothered by the smokers around us. We decided to find out from those smokers as to why on earth did they smoke. To get our answers, we pretended to be reporters (for “YuvaVani”, a radio channel for the youth) and started interviewing smokers in that restaurant. That afternoon, while moving with a folder and a pen from table to table, we did get some very convincing and interesting answers for our research problem; but more than anything else it was PURE fun.

Hanging out together as a group, we would play games, take vocabulary tests, sing our favorite advertisements and stuff ourselves into that small Archie’s card shop while trying to help a friend choose one card. Also, we would (very often) start singing together in the middle of serving ourselves food at a party, the moment we would hear the starting music of our favorite ghazal (“Who kagaz ki kashti”). That animated chorus (which was most of the time out of tune) while holding those serving spoons/plates in hands, closed eyes and bodies swaying to the rhythm of the song; is one of the most memorable-musical-moments-of-my-life.

When it came to studying Physics, we would all study together (sincerely), but just before the exams. The "fun" did not affect the studies or the grades. But, truly speaking, studying was only a small fraction of the college life.

In that sunny-bright-spread–out-green-campus, I was myself once again like what I was in my first school.
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Aum Tat Sat (God is Truth)