CAMPUS DIARIES: SASTRA UNIVERSITY valam, thanjavur.

There’s a certain charm to college cricket tours. Whether it’s the competitive spirit going around or the chance to rub shoulders(not literally though B) :P) with pretty girls from other colleges, there is something definitely special about these tours.

This particular post is about my recent tour to SASTRA UNIVERSITY, tanjore. The COLOSSEUM which is their sports fest has always happened to be lucky for me as far as cricket goes. But this post is not gonna be about cricket. It is gonna be about all other things other than it.

The COLOSSEUM has ALSO been a very memorable sports fest. The first year I went, I remember sitting under the makeshift tents in the cricket ground and chatting with a couple of friends well past midnight. Never, I repeat never before had I done something like that. The last year was also unique. The whole team had left to chennai after winning with only me and my friend staying back to collect the trophy. As fate would have it, a murder had occurred that very day and by the time we left the campus, the campus that had been quiet until then was suddenly a bee hive of activity. truly, that was one incident that I will find hard to forget.

Well this year was much much more. A new friend, new places to eat and new memories to cherish. As always, the matches were a breeze. It was the things we did after these games that is worth putting down here. :D

DAY 1

After the first game, me and a few of my friends set off along the highway for dinner @ APPU MESS. A small little eatery but something that had mightily impressed my friends. The walk along the dark highway with nothing but the stars for company was something I had never experienced before. It was scary, dangerous and enthralling at the same time. Scary because there were speeding cars racing towards and past you , dangerous because of the potholes along the sides of the road( the big ones could leave you fighting for life and the small ones would leave you with a sprained ankle if you ever happened to step into them) and enthralling because the night sky was such a beautiful sight that particular evening. After a total of 15 halfboils(take my word, they were the best I’ve tasted in the country) between the 5 of us, we set off back to our rooms.

DAY 2

After the semifinals, me, senti and SRK[ Shiva Rama Krishnan to be more accurate :P B)] set out to tanjore city. FOR LUNCH! :D after a round of the best limited non veg meals I’ve had in this part of tamilnadu, we set out to shop for SRK’s big interview. The dresses were brought but the trousers had to be altered. The shopkeeper gave us directions to a reid&taylor’s showroom somewhere near the bus stand. As to how the reid&taylor showroom would agree to alter a vanhuesen pant, we never knew. But since there was no other option, we set out. Only to realize that it was not reid&taylor but this place!

Talk about innovative marketing!

Dinner was again, great! But as much as one loves food, when it isn’t light on your stomach, it can have nasty consequences. Like a growling stomach and lack of sleep. But then, when u’ve got a friend you can text and still be confident of getting a reply well past midnight, it really helps. Oh I almost forgot, amidst all this, I also happened to go searching for the switch that could turn off the corridor light that happened to be flashing straight at our particular room, going all the way till the end of the corridor only to realize that the switch had in fact been right outside our room! and ya, did I tell you that our room was actually a classroom(the desks had been moved aside and blankets had been put up in their place. Of course, NO pillows! B) :/) and where 15 of us were put up? One of those few unique things about college sports fests. :D

DAY 3

The finals were done with. After winning the game hands down, we got lost in our discussion. A discussion that had been carried over from the previous day. Something that included a wide array of topics. A few as complicated as life. And girls. I mean, we can atleast understand the concept of life. But girls, nope too difficult! B) the details I wouldn’t wanna divulge here but it was most illuminating!

We happened to stay a night more than the other teams because our train wasn’t scheduled to leave until the next day. But then classes were supposed to begin the morrow so we were shifted that night into one of the hostels. Since the hostels were also full, what we got was a long oddly shaped room that could have been best used as a store room. We later came to know that the people accused of the murder the previous year had been temporarily locked up in that very room. Oh ya, WE SLEPT WELL THAT DAY. B) ;D

DAY 4

I am normally a very early riser. But that day, I decided to give myself a break considering our train wasn’t until 2 pm. After a leisurely breakfast we got back to our rooms only to find it locked. We were supposed to leave by 11 and the guys who actually had the keys didn’t arrive until 10.30. but then, being guys, all we needed was 45 mins to pack and get ready.

A small fight later as to who was to carry the trophy and a few tender coconuts and a bus ride later, we were on our train(a train that was unnaturally slow!) from trichy, heading back to home sweet home.

Like I said, the COLOSSEUM was truly special. :)

And ya, we also happened to successfully break the trophy while getting back to Chennai! B) when we went to meet the DIRECTOR, SRM UNIVERSITY a couple of days after reaching college, the trophy had one out of three stars missing. Well, they’ve promised to repair it by the time we meet the VICE CHANCELLOR. But that is another story. :D

Until next time,

ADIOS!

10 DAY YOU CHALLENGE- #5- 6 PLACES

Sorry for the delay guys, just been busy breaking my back over assignments in college.

To be frank, another reason this post has taken so long to get uploaded is because its been going through several stages of editing. One thing I’ve realized over the years Is that Blogging is a lot like cooking. Be it salt or sugar, the food would taste good only if it is used properly. Its the same with blogging, you overdo the humor element and you end up destroying the readability of the post.

So Ms.P, I’ve heeded to your request/order(:P) and I’ve done up a serious(albeit, my style) version of the post. Read on. :D

6 PLACES

1. Theni, for its pleasant weather and scenic locales.

2. Spain, for the scuba diving, the ‘jumping off the airplane’, the ‘bull race’ and everything else they happened to show on ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA. B) :P

3. Greece, for my immense interest and love for greek mythology and architecture.

4. Seychelles. Again for the water. Well you cant really keep a Piscean away from water can you. :D

5. South Africa. For its adventure sports and wildlife parks. For a wannabe wildlife photographer, south Africa is paradise!

6. Mount Everest’s peak. Just to find out what it is like to be ON TOP OF THE WORLD. As to whether I would take a plane to get there or go trekking risking my life is something I might wanna consider. :D

Until next time though,

ADIOS!

10 DAY YOU CHALLENGE- #3- 8 FEARS

Well to be frank, this particular post was even more difficult that 10 SECRETS. Well not that I don’t fear anything an al but its just that I don’t really feel they are worth putting down.

Sounds complicated? Well it is. But I’ll try breaking it down for you.

My friend suggested I write about my fear of crowds and strangers.(believe me, she does know a lot abt me. :D) But then I realized that it wasn’t really fear, just an inhibition. Yup agreed, I don’t exactly get into a crowd like a fish takes to water but ya I kinda manage to pull myself together in a while. So ya, I guess that doesn’t count as a FEAR.

I thought about writing about my fear of watching horror movies. But then, having watched 7 in the past 1 month(the power of the internet ;)), I guess that wouldn’t count either.

Option 3 was to write about my fear of certain people. But then I realized that it was not fear but respect towards them that made me stay away from them. So that didn’t count either.

Option 4 was of course the fear of god. I would agree on that one though. Yup I am religious. But not to the point where I demolish mosques and build a temple in its place(Or was it the other way round? Whatever. Who cares if it was the chicken or the egg that came first! :/) anyways, getting back to the point, yup I am religious. And like a true Indian, I am secular. Secular? Well ya, I love going to temples, I did about three fourths(probably even more) of my schooling in Christian institutions and I love mouthing ‘insha allah’(break your shackles man, there is so much meaning in that word!), I live in sowcarpet where Jainism is prominent(is that even a separate religion btw? o.O who cares, there are so many religions in india that is hard to keep track :/) well taking all these into account, I guess that would officially be fear no 1. *LOUD APPLAUSE*

Option 5: oh ya, I got stuck when thinking about this one. So ya, I tried to take inspiration from the movies. (The internet is a boon I tell you! :D) so I thought ok, do I fear dogs? No. cats? No. snakes? No. spiders? No. coacroaches? No. bats? No. white bellied sea eagle(o.O)? No. the basilisk? Probably ya but mr.potter already took care of it so what the heck. That wouldn’t count too.

Option 6: elevators. Well it is a closed space and I do feel uncomfortable while being in a closed space. And ya I do prefer taking the steps rather than the elevator. But after much thought, I realized that wasnt a fear too. Its just that I cant stand in one place for a long time. I keep fidgeting around and THAT is probably what makes me look and feel uncomfortable. So ya, that makes two things clear. 1. Chances are more for someone to bump into me on the stairs rather than on an elevator. And 2. That didn’t count as a fear either.

Option 7: mom and dad! No no just kidding. Its more love than fear that keeps me grounded. So ya, that doesn’t count either. :D

Finally, option 8: being alone at home. Nah, I got over that when I got into srm. That’s when I learnt to put the internet to constructive use and that’s probably when I added a few more dishes to my repertoire(and miss psycho, that doesn’t include maggi ok. :D :P). so ya, that doesn’t count either.

So ya, 8 options there were and if you happened to be good at English and math, you would realize that there was only one thing I feared. GOD. Well, for a simple man who yearns to live his dreams, guess that is all he has to fear.

Until next time,

Adios!