Prelude: Goa Trip

We always classify different periods in time attaching to it the most significant/insignificant thing that happened during that time. For example, the green revolution, post-cold war era, renaissance etc all have a major activity attached to a span of time. We also had such a defining moment in our engineering life. It changed almost everything around us, within us for most of us! It was none other than the holy pilgrimage to GOA !!

 The planning of this trip was as exciting as the trip itself. The seeds were sown during our lonavala trip planning when someone accidentally blurted 'Goa' for next trip. It was received as lightly as it was blurted except for 1 person, CR. He takes such ( and only such things) seriously. Soon after the lonavala trip we realized the potential to enjoy with a mammoth group. CR quickly took the lead and publicized the prospective trip. We asked all members for their availability and to our surprise the tally was 23!! Frankly, we expected the girls to be lesser in number for such a big trip ( the word big is situational).

  But we had competition. IEEE was also going on a field trip on similar days and Abha and Sharanya ( the deols ) opted for it. Also Sunita along with her friend Vinay were planning to go for that trip. It took some cheek pulling from Nishit, some persuasion from other girls to have Su with us. The stranger, Vinay, was also welcome. Generally, Eagle gang members didn't flock with Paathshala. But this Eagle left his braces and flock and began to descend on the ground to live with Paathshala. He was welcome and is a proud member of Paasthala. So ya, we going to be 23 ppl on that trip! Sounded exciting and it was going to be our 2nd and biggest trip so far.

  As 3rd sem progressed, CR got maps, brochures etc of Goa as if we were going on some exploration trip. Soon, budgeting started and we came up with the cost and various quotations. All this was managed by CR and some associated which included Nishit, Darshan and Sahil.(Darshan and Sahil would play a more significant role in future trips, Darshan holds the post even today). Exactly, 3 months before the trip, on 8th Oct 2006, we purchased the train tickets so that we get the coveted tickets. We could have got it later as well, but we were too excited and hence didn't take any chance. Today those tickets are in Paathshala Archive with someone who has preserved them well. Such mementos are priceless!

  We started counting days backwards, from 90 days for a 5 day trip!! As mention earlier, at that time and even today we feel, life was divided into 3 parts. Life Before Goa, Life in Goa and Life after Goa!

I made a presentation which later became a tradition before every trip explaining the itinerary to all members.


I leave you with the slides of that presentation. Remember and cherish every memory :)

The Slope

                                                   The most distinctive feature of Indian college life is the hangout place, a place where everyone turns up without being informed, a place where you certainly know you will find the whole bunch at a particular time, a place where your comfort is as good as home and a place you long to revisit after college is over!

                                                  Paathshala was no different in this aspect. In the pre-historic days of Paathshala, the most common hangout was the canteen,quadrangle. The first 2 sems was the time people mostly spent time around the canteen and the attendance level was high. You could occasionally find sincere chaps (or ppl like Axesh) wandering around the library to complete write-ups and assignments. The pressure of assignments and write-ups was formidable at that time especially from Mr Patwardhan (Physics) { the guy used to whistle and had the cleanest shave ever). Not precisely a hangout but ya,one could spot most of the crowd around here.


                                                                  Once we started expressing more freedom better places were discovered and conquered. Most important was the SLOPE.As Patya would say,"Structurally just above the auditorium and offering an inclined terrace like feature with the angle of inclination to base being 30 degrees and having an error margin of plus or minus 2.7%!!!". {Although I don't remember him saying something like this, its not hard to imagine that I wasn't present when he might have said it :P }

                                              It began with a free Engg Drawing lecture which had some of us slipping out of the class and spending sometime at the slope. Once we discovered the richness of that place, we made it our own and till date we speak of that place with reverence and deep attachment. Countless memories have their roots on the slope. Pointless discussions, sitting in silence, listening to songs, laughing loud on anything, dancing, roller-skating,stop-n-party, wall tennis, enjoying the cool breeze and drizzle of monsoons, completing write-ups, revision and tutoring before exams, discussions after exams, celebrating exam results and crying over KTs .... .... ..... it has all happened over the slope. It was undoubtedly a part of our daily schedule, to spend sometime on the slope. Thanks to Pratik ( Old hindi songs[Kaun hai jo sapno mein aya]), Aparna (English songs[No idea]) and CR (New hindi songs and videos[Aye Hiphopper]) for providing the entertainment content in that pre-smartphone era. Hearing the same songs again today brings back the memory of that particular moment on the slope.

A normal day at slope

Our A division comrades

Ppl  in Nightout/Trip T-shirt

Sharanya's beautiful smile :) 

 The slope was the place where the Holy discussion of Goa used to take place. Columbus must have been ashamed of himself if he knew the amount of discussion we had before our trip.

                            Apart from Slope, there were a couple of locations we used to seasonally migrate to. Like the "pipes" we discovered just outside the canteen. They were literally pipes and we found the arrangement quite suitable to digest the food, listen to "english" songs reluctantly coz we didn't have ear muffs, irritate Sharanya by playing "Mere piya gaye rangoon", watch the doggies etc. But soon this place became the new hangout and some was occupied by other people more often. We abandoned this place and soon the pipes were taken away :P .

                        Whenever we all meet again, we will go to the slope and re-live the bliss that it offers. We owe it to our Slope.

The Great Partition of Paathshala and the birth of Gladiator!!

                                                        With a superb vacation and the first trip, we were well set to enter our 3rd semester as a bubbly and noisy group. Our intentions were not noble! We were already infamous for creating chaos and confusion since our 1st sem. With our grouping becoming stronger , these atrocities were only going to increase.The only way to save themselves from this lethal force was.. "DIVIDE AND RULE".

                                                         Like our politicians rule us by dividing us in the name of religion, our college "tried" to rule is in the name of surname! Plus they wanted to infuse "THE OTHERS" in our class. By others I mean dippos! (Diploma people, poor souls always got discriminated). To do this they cut apart the initial 20-25 people of B division and pasted those names at the end of A divisions list. Our Head became their Tail !! 

                                                       For the newly formed Paathshala, this was a big shock. Several comrades fell prey to this petty division. The horror of being in A division was unimaginable. They had Dombivali gang (Fast and Slow, apparently named on ppl choosing fast and slow local train!), Bakwaas gang ( No words, only bakwas ), C2D ( Co-operate to Dominate...Save us GOD, also know as Shit gang), the studious d k boses etc etc !

Missing : Courtesy Sahil

             
Finally the new sem started and the horror was real. We lost a bunch of our friends to A division and got bunch of Diploma crowd who suffered the brunt of Indian Casteism. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been for those few people left out in A division.

                                             But it is only in adversity that the inert capacities find their path out and true feelings show their best form. With the partition we witnessed the birth of the Gladiator era. By gladiator, I am emphasizing on the rebellious response to the separation imposed. It was epitomized by Darshan and followed by almost all of our comrades! Even though in div A, these bunch of Gladiators were always seen waiting outside their homeland (div B) before,after and sometimes in-between the lectures. To an outsider it would be a stupid act but we understood and felt the deep underlying feeling to this behavior. How can Lions leave their Pride, how can the wolves leave their pack and how can our friends be out of Paathshala!! I distinctly remember a Maths lecture for Div B by Lecturer D.P (squint eyes) in which Darshan attended( even though being a Div A student). In the same lecture, he was asked to stand up and give some answers on the current topic because he was fooling around in the class. Also, he didn't sit on a bench, he got a stool from outside and attached it a desk! And DP also taught div A but didn't realize that Darshan was not a div B student! Truly, we all must have been looking the same for them :) :) :) .

                                       Despite the partition, Paathshala continues to sail through the semester accomplishing many things. Slowly, the duties and responsibilities were naturally assumed by the members. Eg. Assignment (Original Copy)-> Boni  , Assignment (Multiple copy and upload) -> Rohan, Mass bunks and PJs( CR ), Headquarters ( Saurabh :)  ), Delay and more delay ( Darshan and Sahil ), Car Owner and  Driver ( CR again),  Slope songs ( Pratik's Ngage QD ), Punctuality and deadlines (Su ), Eagle gang interface ( Rao) etc. The list is endless but these guys pretty much continued these responsibilities till the end of time.

Head Gear Day!

Lunch in Canteen

Life on slope, priceless!

                                      The 3rd Sem passed very fast with these activities. Meanwhile, the inception of GOA trip took place. Almost 6 months before the slated trip the planning had begun. Maps and brochures were brought in as if we are going on some exploratory mission! It was going to be a life changing trip, stories of which would be immortal and define our dreams. Sounds superlative, I know, but it deserves to be described like that!

                                      More to come on Goa planning and ofcourse..GOA!!                              
                                                       

Term End II, Nariman Point and La Tour De Lonavala

                                           Sem II saw the  the successful introduction of Paasthala09 yahoo group and smooth, seamless functioning of the same. The misery of xeroxes was replaced with the ease of e-copies of journals, write-ups and assignments. The propagation was superb and results amazing. Under the leadership of CR the class smoothly sailed through semester II further troubling the lecturers ( I never like to call them Professors, they are all BE or at the most ME).

                                           It was in sem II that AK Chaudary have us an important piece of wisdom that English language does not have a word that Hindi has......"संस्कार" and that we do not possess it! . I was touched by the thought that he thinks that this piece of wisdom could actually change us!! However, we respected him for the fact that he was not evil like some other professors (eg U*J). Due to our influential power, we were able to spend half of our Sem II in Einstein Hall, which was a seminar room with cool rotating chairs and A/Cs ( A luxury at that time). We thoroughly continued our hooliganism but now in a sophisticated environment. During all this time, division B was uniting and by the end of the sem it became a force no faculty could ignore!!!!

                                       Sem II saw the beginning of a lot of activities which became perpetual traditions and some are followed even today. For example, on the last day of submission of sem II, many of us set for an outing to Nariman Point and visited Abha's place.

       

From sem II to sem VIII we always had our traditional outing on the day of sem end. But bigger and better things were being planned. CR had initiated the idea of a class trip to Matheran.Almost 40 people were expected to join in this picnic after sem II exams. Due to weather issues the trip to matheran was canceled and the venue was shifted to Lonavala. This was going to be the best thing to have happened to us. some 20-25 people turned up and this was this batch of people which formed the group PAATHSHALA. Fondly, I call this trip La Tour De Lonavala.

         

                                         3 cars packed, we set for our first trip and the beginning of a never ending series of trips. The bunglow where we stayed for a brief 1 day felt like home. From the rock climbing to staying up all night for the first time,it was a small beginning to huge endeavors. From Pritika's scary dance to Pandey's drunken man act to Chandresh's Umrao Jaan to Shalmali's fabulous dance, the night was amazing and full of fun. Paathshala bonded for the first time.

                                        The next day we visited Duke's Hotel and left after a short photo-shoot leaving the management puzzled. The return journey as usual was sad. It was a bit more sad for one of the car in which Rohan( Later named to be Patya) was travelling. People in that car gained a lot of extra knowledge from Tata's corporate history to the Asphalt used to make the Mumbai-Pune Highway. But they survived!!

                                       We were all weary,tired and content. Fun had been redefined and lived for the first time in college. We could not thank CR enough. Needless to mention the help of Boni and Nishit. We knew that this was going to be it, a group if 28 people who will make it through the 4 years of engineering and maybe all through. We all slept and dreamt big that night. We dreamt of GOA!!!

Rang de basanti and all the khalbali....

                                 This was the first outing we had...more than 30 people, bunking lectures and going for the first movie together, "Rang De Basanti". The decision was unanimous and within no time we were all out of the campus and reached Sahkar Theater near our college.

                                  Many of us interacted with the rest perhaps for the first time and just like a new beginning in the movie, it was a new beginning for us. We were inspired by the spirit defined in the movie and we made it our very own, later on redefining it. It was first of the countless events to come, to enjoy and live. Even today, half a decade past that day, the moment is very fresh and alive in our minds. Thats how we became "Paathshala"!!!!

Paathshala09 Formed

                                           By this time the 1st Sem was over, Vishal was claimed as the Topper and all of us were pretty set with our daily usual college life. The practical sessions became synonymous with gossiping, assignment/journal completion, parasitic presence and great discussion nowhere related to academics. B1,B2 and B3 were the batches which divided our class into groups of 20-25, and this would later be the foundation of our bond and collective accomplishments.

                                          Copying assignments and journals, utterly useless work, consumed 60-70% of our "creative" time. Moreover, everyday at the end of the college, huge groups of students would have to take photo-copies of write-ups for the next day of practicals. Something had to be done to save all this effort and optimize the entire process. A small step was taken which led to a great beginning.

                                          I remember Sahil coming to my desk and discussing whether we should start some kind of online group which would be a portal where all the assignments, journal material and other stuff could be hosted, in order to be accessed simultaneously by everyone at one go. There was no reason not to go for it. After a quick discussion, I took up the responsibility of creating a yahoo group for the same, and requested Sahil to pass me everyone's email address on a sheet.

                                         THE CHARTER OF PAATHSHALA09

 This piece of paper, is what I call the Charter of Paathshala09. It said, " LETS UNITE !!". And we did!!!

 This was the initial list of email ids that was passed to me along with their suggestions of probable names of the group. The air of our class had mischief filled in it and it was reflected in the names suggested. Here are a few interesting ones, 

Boni :  Somaiya Eagles (Errr!! were u an under-cover agent of Eagle Gang?? chi chi)

Pankeet: Woh Rehne Wali Mehlo Ki ( Dude! It can only be you who can suggest it)

Sunita : Latakti Lash Bhatakti Aatma ( No comments Su)

Madhura: Paapi Gudiya ( Y not !)

Rita: Sukhi Nadi mein Behti Lash ( Go marry Su! )

                                   So, it was not difficult for me to choose what I had suggested and hence we names the group Paathshala09.  Little did we know at that time that this was not just a yahoo group but something that would redefine us over a period of time. 

Semester I : We have a leader and a community ( CR...CR)

                                 The 1st Semester had just begun and classes were becoming a routine. "Professors" like Veena Naik and Chaudary(AKC) were intensifying the chemistry between us and them. No one can forget that Veena Naik always used to mention "roti ka aataa" (dough) atleast once in every lecture, she missed he kitchen in the classroom! And AKC was the epitome of moral values and boredom. The dryness of Borde's lecture was balanced by Shivangi Ruparel's class. Legend has it that she was asked out by "some1" in comps dept.

                                These lecturers woke up the animal sleeping in most of the students. Most of them quickly learned the art of imitating cat, dog, owl and other species effectively. As the lecturer would turn to the board, the humans turned into the animals and off started the barking, mewing and scary screaming. It stopped at once when the lecturer turned to us. This was how we paid back those goons!! We were and are proud of it. We resisted tyranny and oppression.

                                One day we had a few seniors in our class canvassing for "INFRA" (which would supposedly change our life and be a highlight on our resume). I don't understand how, being amongst a bunch of losers, transferring benches and furniture to and fro and enjoying some free vada pav, was going to help me now and ever!! Anyway, they inquired for class representative (CR)! I looked back from the first bench. I saw Sahil and his long hair, Nikunj and group upto some mischief, Saket with Pandey concentrating into books and Varun besides me in silence.We had appointed no CR yet..and who would..this was no school. Suddenly, we found a thin, short student claim, " I WILL BE THE CR".

                                 No one knew this guy. Who does this kind of thing, like a self proclaimed hero! But since there was no one else to challenge, he anointed himself as the class CR. Although it seemed a pretty stupid thing to do, it was one of the first defining moments of our journey. We had a leader, a figure to look forward to ( he could have been passed as one of the tiniest person in the class). The children felt safe!!!

                                शशिकांत Shashikant  ( No one calls him that, some don't know who is Shashikant) was our CR. His ministers were Boni and Nishit. His popularity rose exponentially and the barking, mewing was replaced by .....CR CR and then clap! clap ! clap!! It was amazing and genius. I never thought I'd miss this insanity, but I do!

                       

Once in BEE lecture:

  Hetal Doshi: " So you have to submit this assignment on next Wednesday, alright??"

CR rises and says, "Ma'am, we already have an assignment to submit that week, won't be possible to submit two in a week".

I thought ( so did many ), "Huh!! Which assignment do we already have?? Did I miss something??".

Hetal Doshi: " Ok, then next to next Wednesday you submit it."

CR: " Ma'm, but we an assignment that week also, all other Profs have lined up then assignments for us!". 

I thought again, confused," How did I miss noticing 2 assignments!! Shame on me, I sit on first bench!. 

Hetal Doshi: " Uff!! Ok submit it at after a month".

CR responsibly agreed. He had won his bargain.

Later I went to him and asked, " Abbe ..kaunsa do assignments hai re?? ". He replied, "Koi assignment nahi, ye to aise hi delay karna k liye. Sab aish karo! ".

Our respect for our leader increased.