The Fab Four
It was admission time for the Pre-Degree courses at St.Mary’s College. As I waited in the queue, I found Delji in the same queue. Delji was my cousin Raji’s class mate of 10 years from the Holy Family school and I had met her a few times. Glad to see at least one familiar face, we exchanged Hellos and stood together. We both noticed a couple of girls at the front of the queue – one of them was slightly plump and the other had a wonderful smile. After the admissions, the two girls came over and introduced themselves – they were Binu and Deepa Das respectively from the Sacred Hearts school. Raji my cousin had finished her admission to the 2nd group and we headed home.
A few days later, the college started and I found I was allotted to the B1 section. Delji, Binu and Deepa were in the same section – a relief! I was introduced to Manju – who studied in Holy Family and knew Raji and Delji. Traditionally, students from Holy Family and Sacred Heart, both girls only schools head to St. Mary’s and Vimala (girls only college). Students from other schools like NSS(both genders) where I studied would go to Kerala Verma college. The reasons were two fold – proximity from the schools and mixed vs single gender education. In 1991 I was the only person from NSS who joined the 1st group.
Initially we were all acquaintances, but slowly the friendship grew. Soon, we were all sitting at the same desk until Julie our lovely class teacher made us sit in an alphabetical order. So, Delji and Deepa were together, but I was seated with three Sindhus. The distance of a few desks was intolerable and painful indeed. So, when it was not Julie’s hour (she taught us inorganic Chem), I would swap places and move to the ‘D’ desk.
We had a good set of teachers – Kamalakshi and Josephine taught us English, Julie and another teacher (forget her name) taught us Chem, Lakshmi taught us Physics, Sister Shanta taught us Hindi and Rosie taught us Maths. They were fabulous teachers and without doubt the best I have had.
We spent most of our time at the college together – sharing lunches, Masala Dosa & sip-ups from the canteen, chocolates that Deepa would buy when we walked home. Life was simple – study well and have fun.
After two years together, we finished the course and then Delji, Deepa and I went to the same Engineering College but choose different areas of specialization. Manju decided to continue her studies at a different college. She got married a few years later and I haven’t seen/heard from her since.
Engineering College Trichur – this was a place where we had to grow quickly from kids to adults. Life was drastically different here. The three of us met whenever we could. But we were also growing up and forming our own group of friends. We finished college in 1996 and since have gone our own ways to different parts of the globe– writing our own destinies with relationships, marriages, careers and children.
Looking back, I have come to realize how steady, enriching and simple(sans complications, quarrels)our friendship was. We were there for each other, we encouraged each other, we were proud of each other's achievements and we are really 'good' kids. No wonder the memories of those years are quite strong to this day!
• Walking back home together in the evening
• Deepa copying notes for me and for herself, she was so fast and so neat
• Deepa’s chammandi
• The one day in those 6-7 years I knew Deepa when she did not smile and Delji and I had no clue as to what to do
• Delji’s Pazham special
• Delji’s sheer intelligence - still remember the calculus problems when we would both reach the same solution, Delji would in 3 steps, me in 3 pages
• Delji’s knack of saying things directly albeit without hurting and in a funny way
• Reading our first Mills and Boon together – not that we enjoyed it
• Organizing the trip to Athirappaly
• Last day of class and how we were tearful
• Kamalakshi singing ‘Tu hi mere mandir, tu hi mere pooja’ in a surprisingly lovely voice
• Sister Shanta's usage of 'Tho'
• The impromptu skit we did at the college youth festival
• Songs from Prem Qaidi
• Trying not to sleep in the organic Chemistry class
• Antics in the Physics and notably Chemistry lab
• Bunking a class just once in 2 years and hiding in the library to escape from the Principal
• Enacting the play about a letter in the Post Office(a clock mistaken as a bomb)
• The movies we saw together in the college auditorium - Saajan, Maine POyaar Kiya
• The group photo
• Old Hindi songs, MLV songs from Deepa
• Attempting to make poori at Delji’s house
• The St.Joseph’s Church evokes memories of Manju and Delji
• Vaniyan Lane in Trichur where Deepa’s parents reside
• Any trip near Hari Sree school where Delji’s parents used to live
A few days later, the college started and I found I was allotted to the B1 section. Delji, Binu and Deepa were in the same section – a relief! I was introduced to Manju – who studied in Holy Family and knew Raji and Delji. Traditionally, students from Holy Family and Sacred Heart, both girls only schools head to St. Mary’s and Vimala (girls only college). Students from other schools like NSS(both genders) where I studied would go to Kerala Verma college. The reasons were two fold – proximity from the schools and mixed vs single gender education. In 1991 I was the only person from NSS who joined the 1st group.
Initially we were all acquaintances, but slowly the friendship grew. Soon, we were all sitting at the same desk until Julie our lovely class teacher made us sit in an alphabetical order. So, Delji and Deepa were together, but I was seated with three Sindhus. The distance of a few desks was intolerable and painful indeed. So, when it was not Julie’s hour (she taught us inorganic Chem), I would swap places and move to the ‘D’ desk.
We had a good set of teachers – Kamalakshi and Josephine taught us English, Julie and another teacher (forget her name) taught us Chem, Lakshmi taught us Physics, Sister Shanta taught us Hindi and Rosie taught us Maths. They were fabulous teachers and without doubt the best I have had.
We spent most of our time at the college together – sharing lunches, Masala Dosa & sip-ups from the canteen, chocolates that Deepa would buy when we walked home. Life was simple – study well and have fun.
After two years together, we finished the course and then Delji, Deepa and I went to the same Engineering College but choose different areas of specialization. Manju decided to continue her studies at a different college. She got married a few years later and I haven’t seen/heard from her since.
Engineering College Trichur – this was a place where we had to grow quickly from kids to adults. Life was drastically different here. The three of us met whenever we could. But we were also growing up and forming our own group of friends. We finished college in 1996 and since have gone our own ways to different parts of the globe– writing our own destinies with relationships, marriages, careers and children.
Looking back, I have come to realize how steady, enriching and simple(sans complications, quarrels)our friendship was. We were there for each other, we encouraged each other, we were proud of each other's achievements and we are really 'good' kids. No wonder the memories of those years are quite strong to this day!
• Walking back home together in the evening
• Deepa copying notes for me and for herself, she was so fast and so neat
• Deepa’s chammandi
• The one day in those 6-7 years I knew Deepa when she did not smile and Delji and I had no clue as to what to do
• Delji’s Pazham special
• Delji’s sheer intelligence - still remember the calculus problems when we would both reach the same solution, Delji would in 3 steps, me in 3 pages
• Delji’s knack of saying things directly albeit without hurting and in a funny way
• Reading our first Mills and Boon together – not that we enjoyed it
• Organizing the trip to Athirappaly
• Last day of class and how we were tearful
• Kamalakshi singing ‘Tu hi mere mandir, tu hi mere pooja’ in a surprisingly lovely voice
• Sister Shanta's usage of 'Tho'
• The impromptu skit we did at the college youth festival
• Songs from Prem Qaidi
• Trying not to sleep in the organic Chemistry class
• Antics in the Physics and notably Chemistry lab
• Bunking a class just once in 2 years and hiding in the library to escape from the Principal
• Enacting the play about a letter in the Post Office(a clock mistaken as a bomb)
• The movies we saw together in the college auditorium - Saajan, Maine POyaar Kiya
• The group photo
• Old Hindi songs, MLV songs from Deepa
• Attempting to make poori at Delji’s house
• The St.Joseph’s Church evokes memories of Manju and Delji
• Vaniyan Lane in Trichur where Deepa’s parents reside
• Any trip near Hari Sree school where Delji’s parents used to live