Have you seen the parents of today on the eve of board exams results being declared?
They are tenser than the students themselves! In our days, the excitement, I think was, limited to the students; parents were not too involved with their children’s education (there were too many children!). The thrill of seeing your name on print on the walls of the University was an event to remember. The feeling of pride when we found our names in the gazette also an unimaginable pleasure!
In 1951 we appeared for the matriculation exams, (this was after the XI class) which was conducted by the university. This was a land mark event in our lives. From being irresponsible and carefree and fun loving we were on the first step to leading a responsible individual. But the holidays that follow this examination is always long and we had a wonderful time. From February to around July we had all the time to roam; see movies and meet friends. Meanwhile we had shifted to the official quarters near the stadium to a bigger house and the SP of Keonjhar with his family had moved into the last house too. His son (Chandi) had been my friend at Keonjhar. We renewed our friendship along with his classmates from another school.
The excitement of applying to various colleges for intermediate classes was next on the agenda. Which of your friends would take up the same course; who would be sharing your classes and other trivialities were the main topic of conversation in those days! Ravenshaw College was the premier college of the state and this was the only college I applied, very confident that I would get in! Again very different from the modern system where you applied to at least ten colleges and only if you are lucky you get the college of your choice!
I remember the year very clearly as we started late-normally the colleges opened by July, but there was a strike by the students as the fees had been enhanced from Rs 8 to Rs 9! I witnessed all the excitement from a safe distance which I think included an episode of police firing.
The next two years were hectic. I took Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics with optional Biology and for final exam took Spoken English too. I joined the NCC and the Rover Crew (the senior version of boy scouts), joined in sports and games due to the influence of my classmates. The study was hectic with full 9 to 4 classes with no break, as against the arts students with all the leisure at their disposal. With the lab work and the classes we had no time for library.
We had several girls with us with the most comely one with roll no 57, and then there was roll no 99 and 102 who were also pretty attractive. (Girls of my generation were being slowly encouraged to be educated and later on to take up jobs) The first two groups with optional Biology were treated as superior students, and the fifth group with optional Geography was next. Most of the girls were in sixth group, with a few in our groups.
In 1952 Bapa got transferred to Baripada. I had to stay in the east hostel in a room shared by four of us with an additional fifth bed and after years of delicious homemade food had to adjust to the hostel food. Fortunately the fifth student was the cook’s relation thus I used to get some special treatment. At night we raided the Mango Groves in the history professor’s quarters. He had several daughters and dogs too! Then Chandi used to come and visit us and we had other distractions too. I had a cycle which was temporarily stolen on the day of final Math’s exam, and obviously I did badly! The cycle was useful to visit one relation at Rajabagicha, who had a daughter in one class lower than ours.
NCC parades were fun, where we used to get one samosa and a rasgolla, (which I used to look forward to) and finally I was promoted to the rank of a Corporal with an olive green uniform. Rover crew meetings were very few due to the preoccupation of the leader. Sports were an annual event where I could get a few 3rd prizes.
After the final exams I applied only to the Director of Industry, who gave me an option of Patna, Sibpur and Trivandrum for Civil engineering. I choose the third since my brother was already there; it was the farthest from home and the degree was B Sc (Eng), which was prevalent in England and not the usual BE as in rest of India and also because most of the engineering colleges had a minimum age of 17 years whereas I was below 16, and therefore could not apply. I did want to join medicine but because of this age restriction I would have to wait for a year and Bapa did not want me to waste it!
These two years expanded my horizon; I was exposed to the big city culture; I experienced new things like the cinema and large shopping areas but missed the wide open spaces and natural beauty of my birth town. It marked a transition from a child to becoming an independent responsible adult.
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