JOIN USThis photograph was taken in September 1976 when I was doing my BA second year at Mount Carmel College (MCC). The occasion was our college ‘Social’ event. In the 70s, Mount Carmel College was known for its smart, fashion-conscious girls.
My uncle would tell me that guys would be scared to walk down the driveway as the girls would rag them mercilessly. The nuns were strict, but the girls still managed to go for movies with their boyfriends. There were many beauty queens who swung by with blue eyeshadow and lipgloss. I stepped into this new world sporting sloppy hawai chappals and an oily plait.
Coming from the casual environs of Rishi Valley, my sartorial sense was non-existent; but within a term in MCC everything changed. I started wearing bell-bottomed pants — I remember going into a tizzy when a senior told me to ensure the width at the ankle is at least 18 inches. Ragging was harmless then.
I was told to carry a bucket of water to all the classrooms and sprinkle ‘Ganga jal’. Since I was from Assam, I was asked to do tribal dances. A classmate from Rishi Valley was also in my batch, but she couldn’t tolerate the level of ragging. We both conspired to run away. We just had Rs 25 and had no idea where we would go. We took an auto and headed to an icecream parlour and after the ice creams we were broke! Fortunately, her father was in town and he took us promptly back to the hostel.
Soon I found that Farida (aka Puppy), a school senior was in the new hostel. I requested the warden and moved to the hostel. Soon, Puppy’s friends became my friends and this meant that when they went for movies, I tagged along; when they had free periods I bunked mine and in the hostel we were a noisy lot. The lights would be out at 10 pm and that’s when the candles would come out. Puppy had a pump stove and a long two-in-one (transistor-cum-cassette player) from Kuwait — both of these were much in demand. We’d sit around making coffee and then play cassettes.
From two ends of the corridor, Puppy and I would start doing cabaret. She was a graceful dancer while I tried to imitate and stomped away. Others would open their room doors and join in as extras. In the mornings we’d find it hard to get up and as I was in the basketball and throwball/volleyball teams I had to go for practice too.
All of us were above average in studies. I remember our economics lecturer would say that our degrees were like dangling carrots in the matrimonial market. Perhaps she felt that we were acquiring degrees only to get married; or worse still that men were donkeys! Those days girls weren’t as ambitious as they are now.
There were many in our batch who got married as we entered our final year; there were those who wanted to get married only to Green Card holders or to someone highly qualified. Love marriages did happen and they created a mix of chaos, grief and what-will-people-say kind of.
I’ve only remained in touch with Puppy (who is standing) in the picture since college and the other girls remain a vague memory. Swarup was a statuesque girl and our college photographer wanted her to model/act in movies. But she came from a traditional family and didn’t even consider it. Puppy now lives in Melbourne with her family and every time she comes to Bengaluru we spend happy hours together.
When I met her recently she asked if I remember the petrol bunk ‘Avinash’ at the end of the road where we’d go to have bun-butter-jam. I told her that there was no way I could forget it as my son was named after that.
I learnt a lot from my years at MCC. Although I have my family, career and many new friends; my eyes get misty when I remember my MCC friends and I softly sing to myself, ‘Hasta manana till we meet again!’