Manipal and seniors...

This post is dedicated to Manipal and my seniors.
First of all, I love both the above mentioned things. Manipal: It has one of the most happening college-campuses in India. The whole town is filled with students and every day here there is some event or the other in one of the colleges. It is the coolest thing of having so many colleges in the university grounds. I mean, in which other place can you get enough liberty to hold events right in the middle of the road, paint the roads, install speakers and play loud music and importantly get a huge youthful crowd? And these same roads are the famous hang-outs for students even when there is no event taking place. The best place, where you can sit and chat with friends without having to pay for it. Yes, we actually sit on roads here. No need to worry, vehicles are not allowed inside the campus, so it is quite safe. Imagine, we actually own the roads and need not worry about our safety. Everything is soooo conveniently designed with only students in mind.
I think all the colleges might have the same atmosphere but I feel special here. It is not just the campus that is ours, but the whole town itself. We get everything here at subsidized rates, even our sim cards. The student’s offer on sim cards is mind-blowing. It is unbelievably low and we get 100 free local sms everyday!!!!
Being in Manipal, you see only one age-group of people and hardly any older or younger person, except the faculty and shop-keepers and their children. This crowd is so hep and up-to-date as far as fashion is concerned. You see the prettiest of girls here, with amazing outfits, jewellery, accessories, hair-styles with a vast collection of cosmetics and make-up kits. And the place itself is such a wonderful scenic beauty. We are right in the middle of Western Ghats, and the coast is so near. Wow! There are so many beautiful places near Manipal: Malpe, Kaup, Udyavara, Gokarna, Coorg, Hampi, Jog falls,Karkala, Moodbidri, Hanumangundi et cetera.
I feel so safe here, I can actually walk back home at three in the night. With students everywhere, who should I be scared of, students? Now, don’t start mentioning the TISS case. As long as you aren’t in somebody house outside campus, nothing can happen to you, there are security guards everywhere.
Anyways, the best thing I like about Manipal is that more than being designed as a student’s town, it has so beautifully ‘evolved’ a perfect place for college going students. I mean, a simple mess over here is more popular than any of the fancy restaurants. And I just love how so many ‘canteens’ have “maggi noodles” and “cheese maggi” in their menu. It would be so unusual to see it in a menu elsewhere. Here many have no access to any kitchen or even a thing in which something can be boiled; Maggi becomes a favourite choice of students.
And the most unique thing about a campus like ours: this place almost magically becomes empty during semester breaks. That would be so unreal to picture any town or city to have this trait. I cannot even measure how much the localites might miss “its” crowd “twice every year”!!! Also, Manipal being somewhat in the middle of a not-so developed (so-called) city like Udupi, you can clearly see a remarkably extraordinary mixture of cultures. In Manipal, there are many foreign students and NRIs, who are comfortable in going all the way to a beach (via the city) in shorts and spaghetti tops. And on the other hand, you will see localite-girls wearing salwar suits and with nicely oiled and braided hair. It is a bizarre sight if you are a good observer, especially because both the cultures accept the other in a welcoming way and don’t mind the difference.
And also because of this huge range of places from where students migrate, you might not find any particular uniform code of ethics that are followed because you cannot narrow it to some rules as all these various students have different definitions of ethics, of what is wrong and right and of limitations. So, the college lets you free to set your own limitations and define your principles in the way you are comfortable or have been brought up. Fair enough.
Now talking particularly about our college, I can easily say if Manipal itself is the best college (from a teenager’s point of view) then MIC is the best among the best. It is the most chilled out place you can think of. The reasons we have, to go regularly to college are: to socialize with friends in the common room, to spare yourself from the scathing heat outside in the air-conditioned library with comfortable sofas (the library I must mention has an audio-visual room where people go anytime to watch their favourite shows in TV including cricket matches), to have all-day meals in canteen (with the bill in your “account”) where you can see nice videos of typical hindi movie songs and also to organize events for the club you are active in. With maximum of two classes a day, we MICians try making ourselves sooo busy over here. And then even our classes make us do such nice assignments, of done with interest like radio productions, AM plus weekly newspaper work, making our own website, film-analysis (which other course would make you watch movies as a part of curriculum?) or watch cricket and give a detailed report on it, organize events, make television production and a lot more. The best project till now for me was the history assignment, where we had to personally visit a historically important place and write about it. The assignment demanded a trip in itself!! And then, this college has almost given me a paid euro-tour if only I had planned it better. What else can you want from your college?
And now our seniors. I still can’t digest the fact that they will be leaving in less than a month’s period. I will seriously missing many of them. With Ram already gone, I have already started registering his absence. I cant imagine this place without our “leaders” and “inspirers”. Without them, we will be bunch of haphazard people who though might have creative ideas, would be clueless about executing them perfectly. Our seniors were the ones who took the initiatives and we followed. And seriously they make a great batch with soooo many talented people. Raaga (I don’t know why, but I will miss her the most), Ashima, Aashika, Anadi, Ruchika, Kriti, Karishma, Shaz, Sara, Norten, Nida, Anaswara, Ridhima, Bala, Aakruti, Arpitha (di), Bibash are all so good in their field of interest. And I am only mentioning those about whom I know at least a little. There will be many who would be equally talented and I would be unaware of it. If not miss them, I will at least find Manipal very different without these people. And yeah, one more thing: about Raga. I remember at first, when we had just come to Manipal, many of my classmates had rated her, the scariest senior. And now, I am so sure, more than that number there will be people who will be rating her as the most lovable senior!!! She is such a thought-provoking motivating inspiration! Even Ram, he might have scared many with his assertiveness-cum-aggressiveness, he was truly a role-model.