Fun ‘N’ Dangerous

Hostel traditions and rituals have always been bizarre and uncanny. While I was sitting down with one of my cousin, he was sharing those fun and simultaneously dangerous yester years in their engineering college where they celebrated and enjoyed Diwali in a different style. With the college being in nothing less than an isolated island around ten years back far from the reaches of urban world, they almost had nil sources of entertainment, no TV, no cell phones, the only thing they had was friends and that was enough to turn their boring and lonely world around. They found their happiness in each other...

There were almost 10-15 hostels all around the college campus both boys and girls from 1^st year to final year. Each boy’s hostel consisted of a President who received funds worth Rs.30, 000/- just days before Diwali to purchase fire crackers and celebrate the festive occasion in their respective campuses. Every year those crackers came down the hostel premises they unleashed hell. The hostels were rhombus shaped placed at a distance of only ten to fifteen steps, a lawn separating each other. As the clock ticked to 11.00 AM in the morning the first thing that came to almost 60% of those evil minds was to get drunk and by 4.00PM they could barely control their steps.

So as the time came closer they shifted the crackers to the top floor of the respective hostels and the war began. They only believed in bombs and rockets; just imagine only two types of crackers and that too of worth Rs.30, 000. Now every individual takes a bomb in his hand and throws it to the students at the front one or just besides them at a non stop pace. At least five to six of them got injured every year leading to severe accidents. But the accidents were innovative, funny and dangerous, as they where drunk to the level they couldn’t realize what they were up to. Drunker lit the bombs, it took some time to explode; they mostly forgot to throw them after lighting it. And finally they exploded in their hands. They didn’t even feel the pain till they saw their hands burning and smoke all around.

Rooms destroyed as rockets were aimed in plastic tubes, those used in gardens to water plants. They just stood helpless as rockets flew all around them. This was not the end; every hostel was instructed to conserve 50% of their crackers and that too for something extremely dangerous. The victim being the ladies hostel, sharp at 8.00 PM the drama kick started as everyone surrounded the ladies hostel with bombs and rockets in their hands. 80% of them drunk, like a mob they surrounded the entire hostel, guards to surprise were found hidden inside the hostel bathrooms trembling with fear. By 7.30PM not a single window was found open at the festive occasion in the ladies hostel and that was like a written law followed every year.

Like a rainfall the hurling of bombs and rockets began, imagine someone from inside watching those rockets striking the windows at a non-stop pace. Bombs could hardly reach as the hostel was at a distance away from the compound, so they exploded in the mid way. The drama lasted for two long hours and finally ended as they were done with their stocks. But 2002’s Diwali witnessed something different, something much more thunderous and devastating that shook the feet of the college faculties including the dean of the college.

To be continued…