Unpleasant Experiences, Pleasant Memories!

Not so pleasant experiences often become pleasant memories in later years. And this is what happened to my experiences in the little town of Hubli.

The trip to Hubli was a forced one. From seniors we had heard terrifying tales of how they were given bittergourd juice for breakfast and boiled vegetables for lunch and dinner. Presentations went on till the wee hours of morning and most often they managed two to three hours of sleep before they were woken up for yoga. But there was very little we could do. The seniors had survived it. So we hoped we would too.

The day we were to leave, we reached college at 8 with our luggage. The monitors were busy taking attendance, while the faculty barked orders about how drinking was forbidden. A couple of boys helped us load our bags into the buses, while a small group bought bottles of water that would come in handy during the journey. We were to start at 10. But we waited and waited. The three bus drivers got into a fight. Meanwhile a faculty member decided to back out. And several of us decided it was time for lunch and sneaked out to go to the nearest restaurant. We got back hoping they had left without us. But they hadn’t. No one wanted to go, so no one else was going to be allowed the privilege of getting away with missing the trip. Finally, at 3 in the afternoon, the buses came to life and we were on our way.

Singing, eating and watching a popular Hindi flick, we reached Hubli at four in the morning. Our director, who had reached the previous day, was there to welcome us. We got down and a guide told us that there were a couple of cottages for women and a hostel for the men. With half-open eyes, we dragged our bags to the nearest cottages and plonked ourselves on the beds.

Hours later, we woke up to the sounds of someone screaming, "Breakfast time." There was a scramble for the bathroom. But on reaching it, no one wanted to enter it. But closing our eyes and noses, we managed quick baths. On our way out, we changed the bedsheets on the beds we had been sleeping on. My mattress had a huge red stain. I imagined a gruesome murder had taken place on my bed. The ugly hospital beds seemed ancient and they exuded an odd musty smell.

Anyway, we had to live there for three weeks and there was very little we could do about the living conditions. I managed to pay the bai a little extra so she would wash my clothes and change my sheets regularly.

On the first day, breakfast was the popular Maharashtrian "poha" not one of my favourites. So I settled for two cups of coffee instead. The food was served in a huge hall, while the presentations were held in a spacious hut called the "Bendre Kuteer."

After breakfast we were allowed the privilege of looking around. While a vast majority preferred the idea of sleeping, some of us ventured into Hubli town. We even bought a bottle of Harpic, so we’d at least have a presentable toilet.

After a lazy day, we went to sleep. We had a different set of monitors each day. And their duties involved making sure everyone woke up in time for yoga at 6 in the morning. So each morning, we would be rudely woken up by these monitors and dragged to a huge hall. An old man welcomed us to the sound of "Om" and taught us the basics of yoga. We were often tired and quite a few of us would fall asleep on the mat. But the yoga master would wake us up and we’d be forced to continue. We all liked "shav aasan." For shav aasan, we had to lie down like a dead body. We were only too happy at being allowed to lie down for those few minutes.

After yoga, we could go and pamper ourselves with mud baths, steam baths and oil massages. But after the initial excitement, many of us returned from yoga and slept till it was time for breakfast.

The South Indians had no trouble with the food. For breakfast we often got idlis and idiappams. And after breakfast, we would all settle down in Bendre Kuteer, and begin the presentations.

We had been preparing for these presentations for months. After collecting all the information from experts and libraries, we had prepared Power Point presentations on various subjects. And after we made these presentations, the director and the guests of honour would ask questions. We were being marked. Members of the audience were also asked questions and if you couldn’t answer the questions, it meant you were probably fast asleep. So you lost a few marks.

We would break for lunch at about 12.30. Lunch was vegetarian and after a while we got tired of it. But by then we had discovered a bakery close by. So during lunch, the whole class would gather outside the bakery and buy goodies. The unclean surroundings didn’t bother the hungry lot. So they ate buns and pastries, oblivious to the pigs that were also hovering around in the vicinity (I’d never seen so many pigs before).

Dinner was at 9. After dinner, we could walk to a nearby ice cream parlour and buy the only flavour available - pista. Then we could also make calls. And it was then that we complained to our parents about the living conditions and the tiring schedule.

After making these calls, we would get back to Bendre Kuteer for the last session of the day - Film Appreciation. The film teacher usually began class with some Osho music. He told us to close our eyes and let our imagination loose. The music gradually got louder and he ordered our imagination out of the universe. A lot of us fell asleep during this time. I spent a great deal of time waking up my snoring neighbour, so she wouldn’t get caught. We were shown portions of popular films such as Sholay and Pather Panchali. Though the time table said that this class would end up 12, it usually ended at 3.30. We kept ourselves awake with several glasses of coffee and by the time classes we over, it was time for yoga.

To break the monotony, guests were invited to conduct workshops. We also had cultural programs each weekend, where the talented few performed.

We worked very hard those few weeks. We barely got a few hours to sleep each night, but we also managed a lot of fun. An occasional shower was welcomed with much excitement. The first rains brought with it so much excitement that the director was forced to cancel one session of presentations. We all ran out and danced in the rain. Loud film music was played and the film teacher ran around with camera, catching memorable shots. During this time, even the usually timid M__ got rid of her inhibitions and danced happily.

Krishna Jayanthi was celebrated as well during that time. The boys tried to break the matka tied on top, while the girls poured buckets full of water on them. Finally, we were all wet and not in the mood for the session after dinner. But we had no other alternative. So we changed and got back to Bendre Kuteer for another session on filmmaking.

Despite the fact that we were all dead tired, we managed a lot of fun. We came in our own little groups, but by the end of the trip we had made many more friends. I got to know and appreciate people I hadn’t much cared for earlier. On the other hand, I also got to see the selfish sides of some others I had imagined were nice, generous people. After the first week of pretending to be polite, nice and flawless, most of us had removed the façade.

We got to know people and appreciate them despite their flaws. After all we were sharing filthy bathrooms and unpleasant bedrooms. Finally the three weeks passed by. We all claimed that if we could survive such a place, we could live anywhere. And like one of the seniors said, we got back as a close-knit class. And for the first time, we weren’t only Delhi-ites, Chennai-ites, Mumbai-ites or Bongs. We were a class, with a lot of variety!

And more importantly, we were returning with memories of tiring experiences that could be shared even years later with friends and family.