The Pilani Pilgrims
Nine boys. A dust storm. And an Oasis.
The Pilani Pilgrims
Nine boys. A dust storm. And an Oasis.
L Suresh
Notion Press
5 Muthu Kalathy Street, Triplicane,
Chennai - 600 005
First Published by Notion Press 2014
Copyright © L Suresh 2014
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN: 978-93-84381-76-9
This book has been published in good faith that the work of the author
is original. All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free.
However, the author and the publisher disclaim the responsibility for
any inadvertent errors.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidences
either are the product of the author’s imagination or have been used
fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead and
actual events is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means without written permission from the author.
In memory of:
Ashwin (‘86 batch)
Rajagopal (‘86 batch)
Anoop Singh Sahni (‘87 batch)
Bala (‘87 batch)
DBD (‘87 batch)
Leuna Harkawat (‘87 batch)
Seshadri (‘87 batch)
Ashish Virmani (‘88 batch)
Krishna Mohan (‘88 batch)
Vamsi Krishna (‘88 batch)
Jacob Jose (‘89 batch)
Kaivee (‘89 batch)
and others…
You made the campus a better place with your presence.
Foreword
When was the first time I met Suresh? I think it was sometime between
the age of ten and twelve. I think I ran into him when he was visiting
a mutual friend who lived in the flat below mine. But ask Suresh when
he met me, and he’ll tell you that I was wearing a blue striped shirt
(or maybe one with red checks), and that I looked right past him (or
maybe I didn’t) and that it was only on the second meeting (or maybe
the fifth) that we exchanged our first words to each other. It’s not that
he remembers things. It’s more that he never forgets anything. One of
the surest ways to feel inadequate is to be seated beside Suresh when
he says “Remember when...” and launches into the anecdote with an
astounding wealth of detail. I’ve been there many times.
This aching love for all things past – if there’s no word for it, then
one demands to be coined instantly: sureshism – is something you’ll
encounter over and over in this book. It’s Suresh’s past. It’s your past.
It’s my past. It’s the past of everyone who went to BITS. It’s the past
of everyone who didn’t go to BITS, but still went to a college with
a hostel, little knowing that the four or five years ahead will become
the bar that all future experiences will have to clear (and few will).
Nominally, this is fiction. If this were a movie, you’d find, at the end,
this disclaimer: “All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any
resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.” But
I dare you to reach the end without finding yourself, or someone you
know, in at least one of these pages.
What is it about college life that makes it so unforgettable? It’s
the bookends, really. On one side, there’s the time you spend in school,
where concerned parents (from their point of view; you may want to
use the word “annoying”) are always breathing down your neck. You’re
not your own person. You’re on a leash. On the other side, you have life
waiting – you have to think about a job, money, you have to grow up. In
between these deserts of what you are forced to do and what you have
to do comes this oasis where your parents give you money and yet are
not in the picture – could anything be better? Yes. When you finally
settle in and find your friends.
This is the story of a few such friends. And it’s the story of Pilani,
a godforsaken place in the middle of nowhere that somehow is more
Foreword vii
memorable to many of us than the places we were born and brought
up in. C’not. Shikanji. Paneer Maggi. Shiv Ganga. Audi. Music Nite.
MB. These are almost talismanic words, capable of evoking a smile
wherever we are. But that’s just the surface of BITSian life. The core is
always about the boys and girls who, by some random throw of destiny’s
die, become your family. As in all families, there is love, there is strife,
there are expectations, there is disappointment – but at the end of the
day, these are people you keep coming back to. And later in life, the
memories you make with them somehow end up being fresher than
most of the other memories you make. And one cold night, when you’re
nursing a drink somewhere, hit by a bout of well, sureshism, these
memories, these people are what you’ll reach for to bring you back. In
a sense, we’re all Pilani pilgrims.
Baradwaj Rangan (Baddy)
88A1PS248
Writer. Blogger. National Award-winning film critic.
Author of Conversations with Mani Ratnam. BITSian.
From the author
How many lacha sessions have you been a part of - after passing out
- where someone has brought up the topic of BITS being ‘a world by
itself ’? (I’ve lost count.)
On the face of it, BITSians are supposed to lead similar lives on
campus. They are pretty sacked out through the year and come alive
during Oasis. They are better known by the department they are a part
of, than by the course they are pursuing.
But scratch the surface and what appeared to be a homogeneous
stretch of desert sand suddenly reveals a mosaic of infinite designs.
There are the nerds who’ve never been to Sky. There are the geeks
who’ve never allowed themselves to be separated from the tech labs.
There are the dudes who’ve spent more time in rehearsals than in class.
There are the sacked out creatures who’ve never stepped out of their
rooms, except to write an occasional test. And there are the mysterious
ones, who are heard of, but never seen. That’s the reason why the ‘oneworld’ description is perhaps too generic. In reality, BITS comprises
several worlds that coexist in the same space and time.
So how does one touch several thousand BITSians, each part of
a different world, each from a different era, each living a life different
from the rest, with one story? I gave up after a few migraines and
decided to focus on what I had to say instead.
Passion, friendship, nostalgia – these are the three faces of BITS
that I’ve discovered over the years. And these are the foundations on
which the book is based as it attempts to transport you to the epicentre,
to the very heart of BITS, where you can find an emotional connect
that brings back all those memories that you cherish.
Each day in BITS was a journey for us –the best part was, it was
a new experience each time we undertook it. We were constantly
discovering new things, about the place, about ourselves and about our
final destination.
As we look back, we realise that the journey was so incredible that
some of us still relive it - time and again - in our minds. Guess that’s
what makes BITS the Promised Land and all of us, the Pilani Pilgrims.
L Suresh
Acknowledgements
To Biju, Deepak, Dharu, Manesh, Rahul, Ram, Shashank and Subbu –
the book would not have been possible without you guys.
To Mukund and Baddy, my pillars of strength few others would take greater pride in a friend’s progress than you would.
To Anu Hasan,
for inspiring me with your boundless energy levels.
To Niru, for putting up with me through these tough months.
To all my friends who have offered me unconditional love and support.
To BITS – my alma mater, my birth place.
You gave me wings, you showed me the skies,
you planted in my head a dream that I could fly.
We are mere journeymen, planting seeds for someone else to harvest.
- Wallace Thurman It was a journey like no other,
to a different era,
to a different world.
It was an excuse for men to turn boys.
It was an occasion to live out a dream.
It was a ticket to revisit a life already lived.
It was a passage to the past.
It was an opportunity to meet the future.
Nine of us embarked on one such journey,
to paradise.
When we got there, there was exhilaration,
nostalgia, high energy and above all,
an overwhelming feeling of familiarity.
We were home.
This was where we had spent our youth.
This was where we began the search for our future.
Some of us found our calling.
To the rest, it just didn’t matter.
The journey sufficed.
Contents
BOOK 1
1.
The end of a journey
3
2.
Paradise calling – book your tickets!
4
3.
Let’s make our own road…
7
4.
Ooh, it’s getting hot…
9
5.
Things to do, places to see…
11
6.
‘High’ way to heaven…
16
7.
Packers & Movers Inc.
21
8.
The countdown
23
BOOK 2
1.
Here we go again…
30
2.
Plaani, Plaani, Plaani…
31
3.
Paradise – 175 kms ahead
33
4.
A man called Joe
37
5.
The first letter
42
6.
Ek plate sam…
47
7.
Only fifty bucks…
52
8.
Can I rag your son?
55
9.
Water, water, everywhere…
57
10. A matter of luck
59
11. Do not disturb
61
12. Taking a crash course
62
13. How come Pilani?
64
14. Lying under the stars
66
xiv Contents
15. A room with a phew!
68
16. Nothing fresh about it
69
17. Going on a freeze
72
18. Playing to the gallery
76
19. Who invented the zero?
79
20. FPM, MNB, OMG!!!
82
21. A train to the future
87
22. Hearing from Gabbar
89
23. Little bits of India
91
24. Time for a treat
94
25. A complete mess
98
26. Here comes the bus
105
27. The Nine Social Animals 107
28. The SOC-9 Slam Book
109
29. Holy Holi!
113
30. Alpha… what?
116
31. Duel over, dual begins…
121
32. A class apart
123
33. Getting to know Joe
131
34. A chip off the old block?
133
35. By the book
135
36. A three-way tussle?
138
37. The sky’s green
139
38. No biz like the food biz
142
39. Home - away from home?
154
40. Which way to Jaipur?
156
41. P.S: I love P.S
160
42. Just winging it
162
43. Normal’s boring 165
Contents xv
44. A train to the Taj
167
45. Ta-ta, teens
170
46. Take back your job
173
47. The Desert Tribe
177
48. Reading into emotions
183
49. A mirage come true
185
50. Stop Press!
190
51. Digging deep for a Swoosh
193
52. Sorry, I’m in Sarvi
195
53. Poor PR, straight DTC
198
54. Gruel – and a gruelling sem
200
55. WTH, it’s a GKW
203
56. Stopped in its tracks
205
57. When wings turned wards
207
58. Thunder and lightning
210
59. Three done, two to go
212
60. The last frontier
214
61. Common rooms, uncommon rooms
215
62. Remember that incident?
227
63. The unreserved quota
234
64. Booking an entire train
237
65. Getting carried away
239
66. High on life
242
67. The winner takes it all
250
68. Taking memories back home
261
69. Of rockets and silver screens
265
70. Legend of the make-up king
269
71. Diving into Diu
276
72. The stopover
283
xvi Contents
73. Who will bell the CAT?
286
74. Feeling the sandpaper rub
289
75. The big interview
294
76. We’re the ‘sack’ race
299
77. From good karma to purvakarma
301
78. The voice from Sky
304
79. Finding the answer
306
80. SNAFU309
81. Random shooting
311
82. The paratha party
312
83. You didn’t miss a thing
313
84. Hail the next generation
315
85. There for you
319
86. A time for goodbye
323
87. The little surprise
325
Epilogue328
About the Author
331
BOOK 1
CHARACTERS
1. B P Sandeep
Beeps
2. B R Satyajit
Beer
3. Shyam Kumar Brij Lal
Bunty
4. Raghav Kapoor
Chome
5. Rajaraman Venkataramanan
Raj
6. Sachin Pendharkar
Sachin
7. Shrikeshav Parthasarathy
Shrieks
8. Jai Surya Narayan
Surya
9. Vijayagopal Jagatkishore Naidu
VJ
Together, they went on to become the SOC-9.
And this is how it happened…
CHAPTER 1
The end of a journey
May 6, 1992
5.50 pm
It was time for a psenti drag before we stubbed the fag out. “I’m not
coming back to BITS - ever,” I said. “What the f!$#? Why not?” he
demanded.
“I don’t know… Yaar, I’m taking with me this near-perfect image
of this place, of our five years here, of the good times… You know how
much I love things the way they are…” He remained silent.
“But I know that as time passes, things will change around here.
One fine day, we’ll come back, expecting the world we had left behind
to be the same… That’s stupid, because you and I know it won’t…
It’s always like that, isn’t it? And then the dream will shatter. We’ll
begin to compare every little thing with the way it was back then…
You’ve heard the oldies back home constantly crib about how things
were better during their times - I don’t want to turn into one of those
old grouches. I’m happy with my memories and I don’t ever want to
spoil them by coming back here.”
“But what if you have kids and they get into BITS?” he asked with
a smile. I stared at the Sky pond, as if waiting for an answer to pop out.
“Who knows? I might just come back then…”
CHAPTER 2
Paradise calling – book your tickets!
Fm: Chome <Raghav Kapoor>
To: SOC-9
Date: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 11:12 AM
Sub: Paradise calling – book your tickets!
Hey guys,
We’ve been talking about this for years – and it’s finally going to happen!
The last time we were all together was in… ’92? Mother of God, it’s
been 18 years since SOC-9 has had a full-blown meet… (Do you guys
even remember how we came to be called that? Ok, just kidding!)
I know it’s hardly any notice, but I guess this is the way it’s meant to
be… VJ, Beeps, Raj and Bunty, hope you guys have planned your trip.
You need to be here on the 28th – that’s a week from now…So move ass
like the blazes...
Me, I’m all packed and all set to go. Kachoris, Kingfisher and moi - it’s
going to be a blast, guys.
28th morning. Delhi airport. It’s time for… time travel! Paradise
beckons!
Chome
Fm: Beeps <B P Sandeep>
To: SOC-9
Date: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 12:12 PM
Sub: Re: Paradise calling – book your tickets!
Will be in New Delhi by 1.20 am. So what am I supposed to do till you
guys land up in the morning?
L Suresh 5
Fm: Bunty <Shyam Kumar Brij Lal>
To: SOC-9
Date: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Sub: Re: Paradise calling – book your tickets!
Dude, check out booze shops in Delhi, get an ice box, keep yourself
useful…
I’ll be there at 0310 hours. Keep one nicely chilled for me…
See the rest of you guys there. VJ, Raj, what’s your scene?
Fm: Beeps <B P Sandeep>
To: SOC-9
Date: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 12:53 PM
Sub: Re: Paradise calling – book your tickets!
Yeah, right!
Just one bit of caution…. Acco@Pilani is chota tension – imagine
hazaar freshers and their parents invading the place – VFAST will be
filled up faster than we can say Laxminarayan Community Center.
Can someone make something happen?
Fm: VJ <Vijayagopal Jagatkishore Naidu>
To: SOC-9
Date: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 1:00 PM
Sub: Re: Paradise calling – book your tickets!
There’s been seven minutes of stunned silence - any idea where we are
on this??? Anyone???
The Pilani Pilgrims
Nine boys. A dust storm. And an Oasis.