My college days..Those wonderful days
Its been 3 years I've left my college... I passed out in june 2004 from the Goa Engineering college as a Electronics and Telecomm enggr..a class of 70. The above picture is my Class photo in the final year final semester..the time when everyone was busy with their project completion....n also final placements..Those moments wen evryone laffed n cried as a class..
I remember the first day i entered GEC (we called our college by this short form...n we were ENGICOS..we called our selves tht...Engg college students...) It was full of chaos.... I had come to this college after completing my first semester from PCCE Goa..a well organised college..n now here i was in this chaotic situation with just 1 gud friend i knew... n i cursed myself for choosing this option...i literally said..."Aasman se tapki..khajoor mein atki.." Wow wat a college...wat a building...seemed like it was painted in the 15th century... n soon i was supposed to get adjusted here.. n least did i know tht 7 years after this moment i was supposed to write a blog on this ...n call it the "Best days of my life".
Ok..coming back... my first day was a horror....n the deadliest part was.."THE SENIORS" ..coming from a college where ragging was just time pass..this college showed the severity of ragging..answering embarrassing questions..n running away wenever the seniors were around... i remember we used to find ways to escape... i remember having our tiffins in some bushes jus coz of seniors...hiding in the mechanical workshop where we had our mentors protection... Though ragging was banned it was a huge craze amongst seniors... its was their birthright to harass any newbie... I remember we used to walk everyday from the hillock on which our college was located ..to the bus stand...avoiding the college bus since it used to b full of seniors...n why shudnt we....it was a rule..no fresher allowed on college busses...rule made by our seniors...I just preferred travelling..n so did all freshers..travelling everyday from all corners of Goa jus coz hostel was the deadliest place to stay..n it was really very tiring for me to travel 4 hours everyday in the crowded buses of Goa..where half tickets was a crime in the eyes of the private bus conductors..
My college was situated on a Hillock on a 100 Hectare area..Labs..hostels... Gym... ground.. workshops.. staff colony..electricity dept.. childrens park etc etc..was a mini colony...
The first year passed by ..it was the longest year i can say.... but yeah... i did make lots of friends..really a lot..so many seniors..the ones we used to get so scared of now became the best of pals..n yeah..my batchmates too... since during the first year we had mixed batches..so now we had gud friends in almost all the streams..be it mech..civil...computers or electrical.. n mine was electronics..tht constituted the 5 streams in our college.. Second year was pure fun..tht was the time i started staying in the hostel affectionately called the SE girls hostel(second year girls hostel..) full of roaches..lizards..n all possible insects.. it was a 5 storey building (appartments like) n we stayed 5 ppl in the flat... It was so much fun during tht time... my roommates became my best pals.. n till today wenever we meet we remember our days in the SE hostel... Me n my roommates...going on the terrace after a stroll after dinner n sitting there till morning 2 'o clock.. cracking jokes...enjoying.. looking at the faraway lights.. the deadline for us to be in hostel was 10.00 at nite we had to be in... our SE caretaker was a funny kinda character... i a very naughty SE at my time..i remember locking her once in her room n running...n then slowly unlatching the door as if nothing had happened... making a fool of her in front of others..
The SE days were fun... we had hardly had classes during college days... tht was wat was nice abt GEC... we studied every semester on our own n we dint expect lecturers to spoon feed us.. in fact we made fun of every lecturer who use d to b strict abt time n studies ... Now it was time for us to take our birthright... we did rag..n believe me..it was fun..but our ragging was not of the extreme type we had had..it was pure fun..n i made lots of junior friends... i still hav them in contact...
Here we got the first taste of GEC life...almost every 3 months we used to hav our HOP..or Hostel party ... full of fun... it used to start by 10.00 at nite n get over by 2.00 in the morning... wid ppl dancing til they fell on the ground..n guys boozing n smoking.. those HOPs every ENGICO will remember... day scholars used to stay in the hostel for a day for the HOP... so tht they could enjoy...
Our Happenings... The biggest ever youth festival in Goa... visit GEC Happenings
Our happenings.. every participant college used to start preparing themselves long before the event ...it was the biggest honor to win the most prestigious youth event...the Happenings...
N ya...our college used to bag prizes at other college youth events...n why couldnt we... we had the best breed of students from every corner of Goa..it was considered to b the best college in Goa.. 3 days of fun filled activity...wid loads of competitions n activities... n the biggest attraction was our Rock show ..used to b held on the last day... n i along wid my group used to witness it till the end..i.e. till morning 5.oo and of course we used to hav the Engico nite..exclusively for engicos and the DJ nite for everyone...Rock show used to be the biggest rock event in Goa..with the best bands playing...
Ok the Second year passed and we were now TE's.. the happenings organisers.. TE time was hectic as well as fun.. i remember playing so many pranks on so many people.. our class used to b very naughty.. guys hiding lecturer's shoes... drawing lecturer cartoons on the board etc.. we had some lecturers who had passed out from the PCCE... n ya we did hav a tough time wid them.. obviously...they were the well organised lot..n our GEC was the fun filled lot.. but yes..finally we did change our lecturers..n guess wat some of them hav become my close friends..I still stayed in the SE hostel..coz there was no separate hostel for TE's... but again the same story of hostel nites...fun filled...
We used to just wait for Fridays... dear friday to pack our bags n start for home... every hostelite used to b waiting... TE days..so wonderful of them... WE.. (me rupesh priya farooq shilpa rowee.. etc) my group..used to hav fun sitting in the childrens park n chatting... my dear swing on which i used to play like a kid...n every person used to shout seeing me go high up there... but i loved to do tht...
We all used to get fed up of our food.... the hostel food was bad.. we used to hav a bus going down the hillock at 7.00 pm n it used to come up at 8.30.. the last bus... n we used to go down for dinner..me rupesh farooq shilpa rowee... n literally finish dinner soon n rush back... coz else it was not possible to get back to hostel..no other mode of transportation.. but it was really nice.. i made lots of friends in my TE days..n tht too close friends... My roommate Shilpa and my best pals rupesh, rowee ,Priya, Karishma, adi... i just miss them..
The Aunty's Gado... it was the place for hostelites to hang around during evenings..for snacks..n Chai... n ya who will forget the "Zhopdi" or the HUT.. called tht...but was not.. it was a small eating place where we could get snacks..n colddrinks n also i suppose booze for guys... it was a gud hangout ..
n ya..my dearest Windmill,it was said to b a final year project or somthing... but watever... for us it was our dear windmill...we used to go there once in a while n stay there under it.. was a nice place...it was around 50 m high.. i remember climbing half of it..n had to come down due to my friends shouting from the bottom... The following year we left GEC..i heard lightning struck our windmill..n one fan blade got burnt entirely.. but it still is present in our campus..
The water problem in the hostel..was worse... if there was a water problem...no bath..heheheh no food also... literally... but yes..we did hav tanker facility... imagine climbing 4 floors with a bucket of water.it was too tiring... so we used to fill 3-4 buckets in our room n keep... so dont worry..we used to hav bath daily...heheheh..
This picture is of my College library a big place where i spent quite a lot of time during the approachin semesters.. Come semesters and the 15 days before it used to be hell..photocopying books..making notes..nightouts.. etc etc..but tht used to b over by the end of the semester exam...i remember guys taking their toothbrush n going to reading room at nite..stay there entire nite.. get up in the morning...brush n again start studing..hehehehe
Final year was very hectic... with no time to rag..we had to finish wid our project n also start for our campus placements... Now i stayed in the BE girls hostel... the same rocking hostel life continued.. 7th semester we had just 4 days college with one day spared for project n final semester we jus had 3 days...n 2 days project.. But yes..happenings.. hops... childrens park ...Aunty's Gado etc still continued...
How could i complete this blog without riting about our Fun week... the best part of an Engicos life.. the fun filled 5 days... the first days normally chocolate day with some dresscode for particular stream... the second day.. cards day ribbon day and water day... wen every one used to get drenched n every person throwing water on each other..i remember taking 6 big bottles filled wid water to college..the campus scene used to b nice.. The third day normally satyanarayan pooja and traditional day..wen girls normally used to wear sarees and guys...dhotis.. it used to b a gud blend...all religios meet kinda wen any person of any religion used to arrange for the event n also sing aratis...
The Fourth day .. Formal day with Cross feast.. The entrance of our college had a holy cross.. every year on formal day we used to hav a cross feast with a big procession and also a mass...again a blend of all religions...
The last day used to b any other normal day...say Hawaian day where girls used to dress up like Hawai ppl...this day used t normally change every year..
The friendships became more stronger... n the only thot of leaving GEC within few months brought tears into our eyes... we just couldnt think of leaving GEC... the place where we spent 4 years of our life..n had so many friends... n we being hostelites knew almost every person b it electricity dept... the cooks in the hostel..the PWD.. the campus staff kids... the transport dept... everyone..
Classroom sessions used to be naughty...throwing paper rockets in class during classhours..passing paper messages... looking blankly wen questions were asked in class. drawing funny cartoons on the board... gossiping.. rumors about results.. viva preparation... staying out n noting all the questions asked for viva..
I miss u GEC...n the atmosphere der... It used to b fun wen in college... all the fun filled activities... the events... everything... Feel like going back to those days... be there at the Gado.. stay in my room...eat the same old food we once considered uneatable... i just miss those classrooms.. those friends... tht mischief...
There are no better days than my college days... Those were really ... "THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE"
