The last fortnight was truly an eventful one for me. I had my first ever glimpse of mobs (of the tod-phod type) albeit of the juvenile/minor kind. Where? Who?.. Mahatma Gandhi Mission's college yaaph yinginyering yaand tuchno(low,all time)gy, Students protesting the fee hike. Also, some really cool slogans which I learnt were: "Chor hai, chor hai, MGM chor hai", "Jhoota hai,jhoota hai, principal jhoota hai" and the tacky,corny crowd favourite "MGM hai hai!!" I must admit though; the hike notice really roused the dormant artist in them. Posters, and there were quite a few of them, were pasted on every vinyl inch of the college walls, cartoons mocking the principal and the head trustee, which they don't trust anymore, in addition to plain dumb graffiti like "NO FEE HIKE!" and the in-your-face warning "Do not attain lectures". Spelling mistake? Yes.. but as Ratan Noora would put it, "bhaavnaaon ko samjho". Those who took admission in 02-03, like moi, were exempted from the hike but to the majority it was applicable. On reading the notice (with great difficulty and with the help of last semester's PCT topper), the suave, uber-cool stew-dents formed a large mob before the entrance and shattered the glass doors in anger. Given the lack of ventilation in classrooms and inadequate sunlight, this indeed was an opportune move. Effigies of the principal and the head trustee were made and burnt using Ship matchsticks and pocket cigarette lighters. The nation's most eminent and pioneering news channels (ETV Marathi, NMTV and Sahara Samay) were drawn to this incident and the TV cameras certainly gave stew-dents their 15 seconds of fame they craved for. Giggling faces, feigned anger and "arre tikde bugh, camera aale" became the in-thing. The episode lasted for much of four days and later fizzled out into a more sedate "We are still in protest but will resume attending lectures the coming week". I doubt this would have been the stand if there were any glass doors intact though. For most, the week was something out of the ordinary given the undercurrent of excitement one could feel all around the campus. In fact, un-confirmed but largely believable reports are coming in that most vidyarthis were glued to their TV sets hoping to catch a glimpse of their exploits the whole week.
Mythology: the first man and woman to walk the face of the earth were Adamant and Peeve who had two children - Sane and Able.
Tuesday, March 27
YUM GEEE YUM!!
The last fortnight was truly an eventful one for me. I had my first ever glimpse of mobs (of the tod-phod type) albeit of the juvenile/minor kind. Where? Who?.. Mahatma Gandhi Mission's college yaaph yinginyering yaand tuchno(low,all time)gy, Students protesting the fee hike. Also, some really cool slogans which I learnt were: "Chor hai, chor hai, MGM chor hai", "Jhoota hai,jhoota hai, principal jhoota hai" and the tacky,corny crowd favourite "MGM hai hai!!" I must admit though; the hike notice really roused the dormant artist in them. Posters, and there were quite a few of them, were pasted on every vinyl inch of the college walls, cartoons mocking the principal and the head trustee, which they don't trust anymore, in addition to plain dumb graffiti like "NO FEE HIKE!" and the in-your-face warning "Do not attain lectures". Spelling mistake? Yes.. but as Ratan Noora would put it, "bhaavnaaon ko samjho". Those who took admission in 02-03, like moi, were exempted from the hike but to the majority it was applicable. On reading the notice (with great difficulty and with the help of last semester's PCT topper), the suave, uber-cool stew-dents formed a large mob before the entrance and shattered the glass doors in anger. Given the lack of ventilation in classrooms and inadequate sunlight, this indeed was an opportune move. Effigies of the principal and the head trustee were made and burnt using Ship matchsticks and pocket cigarette lighters. The nation's most eminent and pioneering news channels (ETV Marathi, NMTV and Sahara Samay) were drawn to this incident and the TV cameras certainly gave stew-dents their 15 seconds of fame they craved for. Giggling faces, feigned anger and "arre tikde bugh, camera aale" became the in-thing. The episode lasted for much of four days and later fizzled out into a more sedate "We are still in protest but will resume attending lectures the coming week". I doubt this would have been the stand if there were any glass doors intact though. For most, the week was something out of the ordinary given the undercurrent of excitement one could feel all around the campus. In fact, un-confirmed but largely believable reports are coming in that most vidyarthis were glued to their TV sets hoping to catch a glimpse of their exploits the whole week.
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14 comments:
Now we know why you weren't blogging since such a long time!
who would, when they have the fortune of being part of such an exciting, and glass-breaking protest! You also had the top TV stations capture all this! Gee, u are one lucky fellow. I am sure there are millions out there who would give a limb to get featured on NMTV. Maybe you should write a second part to this post about the intelligent questions posed by the reporters and the "die-hard" answers given.
You would really be doing service to humanity, give it a thought!
P.S. Glad you're back. Ab se itna time mat laga..
It seems so deja-vu, considering even we were embroiled in a near-similar situation. Of course, by virtue of the fact that a majority of our blokes were avowed pacifists (and essentially people who wouldn't hurt a fly), we couldn't get around to breaking the glass windows, of which there are so many, in SIESGST.
Jokes apart, I don't know how far this type of protest goes in actually serving the purpose of getting the issue resolved. The management can very well claim that the institute has suffered damages beyond reason and could close the institute down, to the general detriment of the students.
If the said fee hike is approved by the Shikshan Shulka Samiti, then the students should ideally be interacting with the same, and not breaking the college's property. In the end, if they feel that the fees quoted is unfair, they have all the right to point the same out to the Samiti. The Samiti is required to regulate the fees quoted by educational institutes, and any objections etc on its decisions should be communicated to it.
It is an enticing and attractive prospect to politicize and maybe even get a lot of such 'publicity' for the issue, but in the end, it serves only to trivialize the main point, and may even go to the end of negating the very cause of the agitation.
And I agree with Adi, we need more articles from you. Once in a blue moon is not acceptable.
Sorry guys! I'll blog and comment more often,I vow.You know what, Its basically a mix of my indolence and paucity of time that I inactive.
@Adi - yes, I was lucky *sticks out tongue*. Tereko kya laga? Sirf tu hi destiny's child hai? ;)
@Viv -
It is an enticing and attractive prospect to politicize and maybe even get a lot of such 'publicity' for the issue, but in the end, it serves only to trivialize the main point, and may even go to the end of negating the very cause of the agitation.
Unfortunately, students union has already approached the ABVP - the BJP asslickers and they've started with their antics already.. supposedly for the students cause.
Hey I get it! I've finally found out why the goons kept breaking glass. It reflected their damned mugs. lol
brilliant post mate....perfect example of bored people tryin to liven up their monotonous existence an hopin the world takes place...lame!!!(the ppl i mean)..
@bhargs
Correct! For most it was an excellent reason to bunk lectures. Sick people are aplenty over in yumgeeyumm :)
What a brilliant 'comeback' to blogging!!! Impressed and inspired I was(by your blogging skills),but this one was AWESOME :-))
The take on the mallu accent is perfect ;-) And were you on TV too?Then you should have informed us na phani.Hum bhi dekhte aur tumhari excitement (and 15 seconds of fame)mein shaamil hote ;-)
On a serious note,I hope your college authorities roll back the hike and everything gets back to being as normal as it ever was in yumgeeyum ;-))
And yes,do write more frequently.Soch le,itna bhaav kabhi mila hai kya?So many of us telling you and waiting eagerly for you to write more...
Keep it up!!!
How many glasses did u break? Hope you too had the honour of the "Breakdown"...
@Maya
Thanks Maya :) Thanks again for shamelessly blurting out the truth about me having never recieved this much bhaav ever in my last few months
@Krishna
Forget glasses, I didn't even break a sweat. I'd rather shatter glass ceilings in the future.
takes notice*..
hey...nice blog..reminded me of our days of protest in college!! but the agitation was no way close to the events you have described. You write really well!!!
Gee, thanks Mahesh babu. I've always thought highly of you.
intendedpun.blogsopt.com.. yeh hamara aashiaana hai.. krupaya isse visit karke iski shoba badayen.....
shreedhar.. hamm adi kee mitr aur sakha hoon...
new post .... aapke vichar ke liye hamm utsuk hain.....
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