College transformed me into a mature person, and I am now a very different person from what I was when I entered college, and I ultimately owe it to five idiots. They changed my life once and forever. Love can never be forced down someone, and it has to happen. Similarly, friendships happened to me at SSN college of engineering, Chennai, one of India’s most beautiful cities. I can really say that I have or instead I’m blessed with five best buddies – Boggle, Bhi, Harry, Debug and Shasha. (I have mentioned their nicknames due to privacy reasons).
College days are the best days any person can have in life. This is the period when you are neither an adolescent to make crazy decisions nor a mature person to act responsible. I have never learnt anything from the academics that college offered me would be an overstatement because nothing ever seeped into my head. But what I learnt in college outside the classroom’s constraints, from the people in it, from the atmosphere it created is just boundless. Each moment I spent outside the classroom contributed to the building of my personality. Today, I have a personality of my own, be it good or bad, I have a genuine personality.
Coming back to my friends, these five brats happened to me during different periods of college. We were one rebellious gang, with professors persistently after us to get hold of our collars and catch us red-handed. More like unity in diversity, we had different characters, yet we stood together as a gang, never breaking the bond whatever the situation posed. Each one of my friends had a novel character that people could learn from and nurture. One of them was patient like nobody else could be, one was extremely determined and confident about whatever she did, one was always a bouncy ball jumping up and down with energy, one had a heart light enough to forget everything and let it float in the air, and one always offered a helping hand even if it was to a person whom he hated with all his life.
During our first year in college, as every student sincerely attended classes, with fear towards the new environment and hopes of becoming a great engineer, we knew we were never going to become great engineers, not even close and hence bunked classes right from the first day. While the others dreaded seniors’ sight, we made sure we hung around them to get ragged. We made acquaintances with students all over the college across all years. Most of them were the wrong choices; some of them became lifetime buddies. As all of the others prepared for exams, we were busy facing the consequences of the wrong choices. We got into a serious quarrel with one of the professors and got him expelled at the end of the process. Any issue in the department, we were sure to lead. We believed in justice and practised whatever we felt was right. Our parents always questioned us, why we couldn’t be like all the others. We were unique, different and too proud to settle down with the regular crowd. From preparing overnight for semesters to fighting with higher authorities, expressing our dissatisfaction with student elections, we always stood together as a team.
As we are in the final year now with just a few more months towards the end of our college life, when all the others looked back and said “maybe we should have enjoyed life a little more”, here we are, content and satisfied in making the most vivid memories with college. There were many disputes, a lot of split-ups, and many misunderstandings, but we just made sure that we never drifted apart. The canteen was our permanent residence, the tree shades treasured our laughter, in the air we breathed freedom, the lawns cherished all our birthday moments. We stood out of the usual, distinct from all the others in college, creating an everlasting impression in everybody’s heart, engraving ours with all those memories. Today I can proudly say, men may come, and men may go, but these buddies will stick on forever.
Sruthi Muthu
I am Sruthi, a Bio-medical Engineering student at SSN College of Engineering at Chennai. Passionate about reading, writing, craft and doodling. Great foodie, frequently in search of restaurants. Any comments, mail me at sruthimuthu@gmail.com.
