(For NITians actually, but perfectly cool for non-NITians too)
‘Who force the Muse to this alliance?
A Man of more degrees than parts -
The jilted Bachelor of Science
And Widower of Arts.’
The smarter population of us are probably in deep thought as to the significance of these lines; the rest of us are least bothered. And I mean here, not at all bothered.
Welcome to NIT, Jamshedpur - the coolest college in town.
Hold on a second there, did I say cool? What with all those branded clothes and expensive gadgets for the sake of being cool and yet one simply can’t fit in to the definition of cool, or for that matter, hot; and this whole coollege thing? Absurd, huh?
Of the many things that this place has taught me, one is tolerance, two is don’t-even-think-about-it… Tolerance is to the many times you watch helplessly your freedom being plundered and taken away, to those times you face discrimination based on race or background, that is to say, for being different. Wake up, man, these differences are what makes the world complete. It’s about time we let go the ‘chinki’ factor; the same goes for ‘khatta’ and all those nonsensical nonsense that are so common. The younger generations need not be tolerant; it’s a seemingly unbearable process.
Point number two: for those of you who’s got the idea that college life must be full of fun - living away from the clutches of your most unfortunate homes, and with all the freedom and, ahem, girls - you’re in for a severe shock. I’m not talking about ups and downs. I’m not talking about break-ups. Forget the phrase ‘happily ever after’, forget about ever talking to her; a twitch in the eye can almost get you killed, thank you very much. My advice to you: don’t even think about it.
What then is so cool about this college of ours to be called a coollege?
Well?
Yet again, it is don’t-even-think-about-it. Don’t think about your books. Don’t think about exams. Don’t worry yourself thinking about placement. Define your own rules. Have life your way. Now, that’s what I call cool.
Don’t think about the students. Don’t think about development. Don’t worry yourself thinking about the frequent strikes. Do your own life. Now, isn’t that what we call a cool administration?
Isn’t cool being about damn-care? Isn’t it about being unique and different? Then where the hell is our sense of appreciation? Isn’t being cool what we always wanted? Then surely, the negligence in power and other amenities should occur to us as marks of a coollege, the definition of cool. And we should appreciate it. Now, that’s definitely hard to agree with, isn’t it?
It’s because we’re actors among actors, hypocrites among hypocrites, living each day with a skin that’s not ours, trying to conceal the real us with all those branded materials, and for some reason, we tag the late-riser as cool, label the person who never studies as cool, or a smoker or a drinker or the merciless and unkind for that matter. For whoever’s sakes, let’s stop this pretense. Let’s shed our masks of hypocrisy, for gosshsakes! You know, I know, we all know, it’s a natural fact that nobody wants to fail in exams or die of smoking. Nobody wants to make another promise of never drinking again when he’s in front of the sink barely able to stand and vomiting all those god-knows-what he’d had, or maybe the realization could come after a hangover the next morning. We all want to be good citizens, good friends and good neighbours. If kicking someone in the ass is cool, then I think we’re left with but one conclusion: we never really want to be cool. Never.
Face it, it’s not a coollege that we want. It’s not about the cool administration or the cool system of education. Nor about not bothered by a poem. Get up!
Waking up! We never really want to be different. We just want a normal college with normal system of governance and administration.
Awake! And we’ll go for it…baby, that’s what we wanted and needed all along, no wonder the teachers are on strike. You know, they’re wiser.
Fully awake! So, forget being cool. Forget about this whole coollege thing…I made up the term half an hour ago. If, however, you still insist, then I guess you’d have to consider a less cooler definition of cool. Something like hard work, punctuality, or honesty?!
Oh, and I almost forgot, if the smarter section are still thinking about the four-line poem, I thought I might give you a little tip - it’s Roy Campbell’s ‘ON PROFESSOR DRENNAN’S VERSE’.
Cool, huh?!
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