Long back when I was doing my
undergrad course in Tiruchirapalli I faced a dilemma during my practical
examination. A few of my catholic friends suggested that we pray for success in
our examination by reciting Our Lady’s Prayer “Hail Mary full of Grace …..” 9
times, for 9 consecutive hours. After each recital we had to make a wish. This
kind of prayer was called hourly Novena. We all readily agreed and on the said
day we assembled at a friend’s room and prayed very sincerely. The theory exams
went off well and we had to answer our practical exams before dispersing. Our
Lab boy Chinnamuthu was given the task of collecting plants from the
neighborhood for the exam. He offered to give us a duplicate set of around 40
plants for a charge of Rs. 2/- per head. My friends found nothing wrong in
this. After all it was up to the examiner to decide on the plants that would be
given for the exam. Of the forty plants hardly 4 or five would be given. It was
just a kind of revision and did not amount to cheating. I opposed the idea and
refused to shell out my share of money and said that I would not even have a
look at the plants. A walk around the campus was sufficient to familiarize us
with plants that were in their flowering phases and that were enough, I said. After
having prayed for divine intervention it was not proper to rely on a lab boy
for help. We had a big argument and finally my friends called me a nut case and
left.
On the day before the practical
exam Chinnamuthu did bring in the plants and all except me went and had a look.
My good friend Maria Stella tried to convince me that it was not wrong to have
a look – so what if I had not paid my two rupees. I did not give in. A few
other friends started dropping hints and I requested them not to do so. The
practical exam went off well and we were to disperse the next day. It was a sad
evening for all six of us who had been very close for the last 4 years. Stella
in particular was known to be very outspoken was a favorite. We got our warden’s
permission to sleep in one room but none of us actually slept. My friends tried
to convince me that getting a duplicate set of plants was not cheating and I stood
by my stand that paying for knowledge about the plants that had been collected
for the examination was not correct. It indicated that we neither had faith in
our own capability nor in the deity we prayed to. I admonished Stella for ever
agreeing to pay the lab boy.
“Were it legal our teachers would
have called us to the lab and asked us to have a look at the plants that had
been collected. It is supposed to be a secret and it was wrong of Chinnamuthu
to earn money by giving us a duplicate set illegally”. I said.
“Were you not familiar with the
plants that were actually given?” Stella argued. It was just a kind of
revision.
Be that as it may, that night was
a memorable one. We laughed and cried at the same time knowing that our world
would never be the same again. We disagreed on specific issues but enjoyed our
disagreements on a few issues as much as agreement on several others. Of the
six friends I only met Stella once before my marriage. Another friend Prasanna
wrote a few letters and we later lost touch. Vinolia and Jaya were equally dear
but somehow we did not remain in touch. Angammal was the only one who returned
to the same college to do her Masters.
Years later I happened to meet a
gentleman who had retired as DEO from Tiruchirapalli. He was visiting relatives
in Jamshedpur. I enquired after Stella’s dad Mr. Maria Susai whose promotion as
DEO was due. He informed me that Mr. Maria Susai had died of heart attack before
being promoted. He had no information about his family. He was rather surprised
that I was friendly with Stella because he knew Mr. Maria Susai to be anti
Hindu, anti Brahmin.
“He would never have approved of
his daughter’s friendship with you”.
It did not matter to me. Till
date I cherish her friendship – a friendship that knew no compartmentalization
in the name of religion or community. I have nothing but fond memories of my
friends of my college days. We did not have the internet or mobile phones to
connect us. Memories alone persist and I wish them well from the core of my
heart.
5 comments:
This post reminds me of how my mom is going about finding her old friends ... college friends now through facebook and what not. She is determined to find them.. and she has had some success.
During the hustle bustle of marriage, child-rearing, job etc, these memories of our school/college days recede to some remote corner of our memory, but come out of hiding, now that our day-to-day responsibilities are not so many.
Sometimes I feel so strange that we lose touch with those people with whom we spend such nice moments and that too without reason :-) But that's life !
Aathira:Your mother is lucky to have found old friends on face book. I too met a friend after 40 years in 2006.
L:I somehow hold on to memories of my college friends but I am not sure if the same closeness would prevail if we actually met.
NBose: In our days connectivity was negligible. I had to actually sever ties with those who regularly wrote to me because in the initial years of marriage my in laws were wary and suspected that i may be complaining about them so I deliberately restricted my communication.I felt bad but bonding with my acquired family seemed more important. But I would have loved to remain in touch with quite a few of my friends.
Reminds me of the old days. I felt happy.
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