My first day at Veterinary College Hostel in UAS Hebbal Campus, after joining B.Sc. (Agri) course in June 1973, ended with a jolt. When we had finished our dinner we heard a rumour, “Seniors are coming to the hosted for ragging the new-comers.”
Srinivas from Chikkaballapur and Uday Pilar were my roommates. We talked about the menace of ragging and went to bed.
After sometime, there was a knock on the door. We got up from our beds. Srinivas shouted in a raised woice, “Who is that?” There was no reply, but again there was a loud knock on the door. Then Srinivas opened the door. Three unknown persons were standing there. One of them mentioned a name and asked whether that person is in the room. Srinivas, in a rough voice, replied, “No.” Those persons quietly walked along the corridor and went out of the hostel. The night passed without any other incident.
Hostel Food
I realized a hard truth in the hosted: We can really enjoy the home-food only after eating hostel-food. Home-food is very tasty. If it is prepared by our mother, it is more tasty due to the special ingredient called “mother’s love.” In contrast, the taste of Rasam and Sambar of the hostel-mess will never change. So, eating that food day-after-day would be an unpleasant experience.
Early morning, we had to stand in a queue to get one bucket of hot water for bath. After taking bath we used to rush to the mess for breakfast. Always we were in a hurry because walk from the hostel to Hebbal Agricultural College used to take 20 minutes. If idli or dosa was served for the breakfast, we were eating it with smile. If uppittu or chitranna was served, we were consuming it with difficulty. One day in each week, boiled horsegram would be served to our plates. We used to reluctantly eat that. Otherwise, we had to starve. On horsegram-breakfast days, I used to run to the cafeteria (canteen) after the first period.and eat idli or dosa to cool my hungry stomach.
We used to consider ourselves lucky, on the days when carrot or beans curry was served for lunch. But, on many days we were unlucky because tasteless curry was waiting for us.
In the evenings, mess workers would keep coffee and tea in two containers. On some days, the containers would be empty when we return to the hostel. Then I used to drink a glass of water and wait for the dinner.
Agri College Hostel
Our hostelmates of B.Sc.(Agri) batch were shifted to Agri College Hostel in the beginning of second year. We were happy for 2 reasons(1) No more daily walk (half-a-kilometer) from Vetrinary Hostel to Agri College. (2) No more bad food prepared by the cooks of that hostel.
But our happiness was short lived. Tastewise, there was no difference in the food. However, cafeteria was next to Agri College Hostel and that was an advantage. Last Sunday of each month was “Feast Day” in the hostel. On that day, we would wait for the special lunch. After enjoying heavy lunch, most of the hostelmates would go to Bangalore city for wandering or watching a film. M.G. Road and Commercial Street were the most popular locations for wandering. For students like me, who remained in the hostel, such evenings with unusual silence were welcome.
Mess Committee
In the hostel, Mess Committee was managing Vegetarian Mess, Non-veg Mess and Special Mess. All the items like cereals, milk, vegetables, fruits, firewood, etc., would be purchased by the Mess Committee. For each trimester, new Mess Committee would be formed. Hostel-students were competing to get selected as members of the Mess Committee. The reason was an open secret: After the completion of a term of Mess Committee, the members would purchase 2 to 3 sets of new dress. Corruption in the dealings of Mess Committee was known to all the people in the University. In those days also, how to root out corruption was the challenge.
Once, I became a member of the Mess Committee. I knew that purchase amount of each lorry-load of firewood was one of the big items in purchase-list. Therefore, I accompanied the Hostel Supervisor to City Market. We negotiated the price for one lorry-load of firewood and paid cash. We both sat in the driver’s cabin and returned to the hosted in the same lorry. The Hostel Supervisor was well experienced in such “delicate dealings.” Even now, I have a suspicion that he had done “firewood price-fixing” on that day. Many purchases for the mess were “deals.” The proof for this was the bad quality rice sometimes served to hostel students.
In the first year, our mess bill was about Rs. 78 per month. Then it increased month after month and crossed Rs.100 per month, in the second year. That was big news in the campus. There heated discussions about the steep rise in the mess bill. Then, we protested by giving a memorandum (signed by all the hostel students) to the Warden. Subsequently, we also submitted a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor.
Corner Room
When I joined the Agri College Hostel in the beginning of the second year, I was allotted the “corner room.” That big room was in the first floor of the rectangular building. Eight students were staying in the corner room when compared to 3 students in each of the “normal rooms.” Ananthan and Dinesh Upadhya were my roommates along with five “Super Seniors.” (They had not completed the course in 4 years and came to continue the study in the 5th year.)
“Siddaiah” was the name of two “Super Seniors.” Other three were, Siddaraju, Lingaiah and Mahadevaswamy. We were calling the Siddaiahs by nick-names. The taller one was “Lambu Siddaiah” and the mild one was “Gandhi Siddaiah.” On many occasions Siddaraju with his big tummy was the target of our jokes. Always he enjoyed the jokes with a broad smile.
In contrast to Siddaraju, Lingaiah was very thin person. Siddaraju and Lingaiah pair was known as Laurel and Hardy pair in the campus. After dinner, Lingaiah would persuade one of us to play a game of chess with him. All others would sit around his cot and watch the game. In those days there was no Television and the chess games were the real entertainment. Mahadevaswamy had an old tape-recorder and many casettees of old Hindi Film songs. Every morning, he would play a cassette and enjoy the tune. We all lived like a family in that corner room for one year. Those were the most memorable days of my hostel-life.
Disturbing Incidents
However, there were a few disturbing events in the hostel. In the mess, there was a servant boy. He used to serve well. One day, 5- 6 students threw the plates on him because they felt that he delayed to serve the food. They were still angry with him. After a week, they called him to a room. Then they thrashed him and tore his dress into pieces. He was profusely bleeding. Next day, he left the hostel. He was a poor boy. Those who thrashed him had no compulsion to work like him. Whether they were fair to him?
Another incident shook all my belief about good nature of human beings. That fateful day, at about 10 pm, we were in our rooms after dinner. We suddenly heard people shouting, “Kick them, break the legs.” I came out of my room in the first floor. Some students were running in the corridor. They were chased by a group about 20 students. The students who were being chased were pleading, “Kindly leave us, don’t hit us.” But the angry students in the group hit them and started to kick them repeatedly. The students who were begging for mercy fell on the ground. Hocky sticks and cricket wickets were used to beat those helpless students. Other weapons were also used to thrash the terrified fellows. On that night the air of the hostel was filled with the sound of senseless rage. Next day, the blood stains at the main gate of the hostel were the only evidence for the violence of the previous night. After that terrible incident, the life of many students in the hostel changed forever.
While looking back after 33 long years, I feel, such memories make us more humane.