I was not worried this time while going back to hostel. I didn't fear because I had forgotten to think about the seniors. So, I didn't have any dreaded thoughts that could trigger chain reactions in my brain which in turn results in release of chemicals that causes a racing heart, fast breathing and energized muscles. This phenomenon is called "fight-or-flight response" in scientific terms, which is said to be critical to any animal's survival. However, spiritual souls claim that this is the same phenomenon that doesn't let the humans live.
We all were just happy talking about the girls and the alphabets on their foreheads. Even Nuraz & Kanu, the two guys from Sainik School were enjoying it as much as we did. However, in the excitement I forgot to notice Jahnu that day. I was anyways going to ask Batuk about his opinion on him.
After reaching hostel we assembled for our attendance. Our commander led us to another group of super seniors and handed us over to them. Surprisingly, they were decent people. They called us by our actual names and they let us sit with them. They gave us valuable information about the college & academics. They recalled their initial days in the hostel and they laughed at each other. They didn't demand any respect as they were capable enough to respect themselves. The myth was broken, not all the seniors were bad. Good and bad are everywhere; good always remains good for no specific reason; bad however always finds a reason for its being. Good is pleasant and bad is so tedious. Their average looks gradually looked charming for their goodness. Even the one who appeared the darkest & the shortest of all in the entire hostel at the first,looked charming. I looked at him again; yes! he was still short & dark but he had the charm, he looked equally pleasant.
'I am the tallest & fairest person in my home.' He said, as he saw me looking at him repetitively. We tried not to laugh on this. It was fun with those boys, our minds were relaxed. We too felt like we were a part of the hostel, the younger ones.
When we got little comfortable, they also had requested us to perform something for them. We didn't want to let them down so we did what we could do best and yet tried to make it better. Nuraz sang with all his heart and maintained as much of a pleasant face as he could, Utpal told a joke and tried to make it funny too, Batuk narrated another English song in a much tolerable way, Golla (Baldev) also had over acted in a humorous play and tried not to make it serious. Every one of us performed something. Meanwhile, we heard the dinner bell from the dining hall. It was time for dinner and after that we had the meeting as commander had mentioned.
In the dining hall we had to stand in a queue and we were not encouraged to exchange our positions with anyone. The rules of the dining hall were equal for everyone. In the hall, none were allowed to come in pajamas. The food was low in salt, oil, color, aroma and mostly taste. There were few hostel menials who also had to distribute the food equally to 150 boarders. There were two big tables joined together in a row. Another table was kept separately in perpendicular to the joined ones. The separate table was meant for the senior most batch alone i.e. the fourth year batch students. The joined tables were for all of us. I was quite tempted to sit on that isolated table, though it had nothing special to it except that it was restricted. Restrictions are the cause of yearning. As humans we long for what we can't have. I thought to myself, what if someone fails in third year? Will he be allowed to sit on that special table along with his friends who got promoted to the fourth year? Perhaps, the rule was to encourage everyone to study hard and get there as soon as possible. It will take me three long years to get there, I sighed.
After dinner, we all had gathered for the daily meeting in the right hand side corner room of the ground floor. As expected, the second year students were waiting for us in there. They all had just become seniors and were filled with a sense of power. This power was not earned, it was given to them. “Power" in fact is a wonderful thing, it brings a sense of responsibility to a worthy person. But, if it falls in the wrong hands, it can cause evil. Power itself is not evil; it's like the sacred fire on which a man can be tested. An unworthy man can't hold this fire for long, soon they start to reveal themselves and the same fire annihilates them all. But for now, all of them were holding the fire. They looked like powerful commanders.
We all entered the room and placed ourselves on the floor. One of them started explaining about the daily meeting:
'Hi, I am Abdul. This meeting is not just a regular meeting. It's the soul of the induction process. This meeting is to teach you about discipline & respect. It is to make you humble. This meeting has a great value, which you can only realize in the years to come. During these two months, things can get worse and quitters will quit. It's easy to quit a temporary pain. But, this will permanently make you a quitter. However, the strong ones will learn to endure and will succeed in this test. '
It was a great speech, a motivating one. We got all our answers; we understood what pain he was talking about. But we were inspired by the speech. Our moist eyes were prepared to face our fear.
Abdul continued:
'Since this is the first day, we've just conducted a competition for you guys. It's for the prestigious title called "Shri Koti" which means "Mr. Buttocks".
'Yes, you heard it right, "Shri Koti". It's a traditional competition that we conduct in our hostel every year for the fresher. The rules of the game are simple: You just have to color your buttocks with blue ink and sit on a chart paper, this will make an imprint of your buttocks on the paper. Submit those papers tomorrow with us and mention your name on it, based on how beautifully you have captured the imprint, we'll decide who wins. I present before you our last years champion, Mr Balu. He will share his experience with you.'
We couldn't resist laughter.
Balu came closer and smiled with pride. He indeed deserved that particular award. There was no competition for him. God had been additionally kind to him on this matter.
Balu said with utmost modesty, 'Guys, It was just a matter of luck'. He looked at Abdul and said, 'Others equally deserved.' Abdul however didn't look so happy with his modesty. He continued, 'If you still insist, I suggest you participate with your heart and soul. At the end, for any creative work, what matters is how much love you have put into it. Best of luck, guys'
He turned his back and went to his seat. I looked at Jahnu, he was looking at the wall with disgust. Sometimes, it's so hard to read people's mind, I thought.
It was however a pleasant end to our meeting and we were allowed to leave. But, many of us were tensed about the task we were assigned. The tips from Balu was also confusing, we were not sure where to put our love into, is it on the paper or into our buttocks?
to be continued...
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