Anna University!
One of the proudest landmarks of Chennai. Spreading about 200 acres, this plush
red campus has history in each and every brick of its buildings. For the students
at their last two years of school, this is the dream destination. Everyone has
the right to step in to this magnificent campus but only a few have the
privilege of studying here. I take pride in the fact that I am one of those
few. But, this is not the story about me.
When
the +2 results came, I was delighted to be the topper. But, what enthralled me
even more was the truth that I would be entering one of the premier engineering
colleges of the country. On the day of counseling, a sense of awe dawned upon
me as I set foot into the university. “This is one small step for a man, but
one giant leap for mankind”, beamed Neil Armstrong in me. Love at First
Sight attacked me in the form College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) – the main
campus of the Anna University. As I was directed towards the counseling venue, leaves flew under my legs and cold breeze whooshed past my ears. I first
thought I had over – imagined the situation, thanks to the entry of
protagonists in Tamil movies but these were happening truly. As I threw a look
around the area, there were trees, plants and saplings of various sizes and
aroma.
After
my counseling session was over, there were still health details to be taken
from my body and I was asked to go to the Health Center, whose distance
from the briefing hall staggered me. Despite that, the mesmerism that took
control was in no mood to leave me just like that. Each and every step of my
stroll towards the Health Center was followed by trees. Oh gosh, they were
everywhere such that they seemed to overtake the huge mass crowding there for
deciding their fate in Engineering. Canteen was quite nearby from where I
started but within that short expanse, a large number of trees were nodding
their branches and leaves like a kindergarten child singing rhymes taught by
his/her teacher by shaking heads from left to right in a rhythmic manner. The
umpteen voices of unknown birds were being heard everywhere, which seemed to
welcome the freshers for a successful start.
Just
after the canteen, there were three ATMs, following which there were a row of
green benches, which I later on learnt to be the place of romance for the so –
called lovers. The spot was heavenly indeed with shady trees providing the
perfect place of conversations between a boy and a girl and a 180 degree turn provided
a glimpse of the playground. Just then, I noticed the corridors of the red
building. When I walked through them, the right proportions of trees and
pathways transformed the place into a botanical garden.
The
entrances of all departments were lined by trees, whose omnipresence stunned me.
It should have been almost 35 degrees in Chennai that particular day but
nowhere could that heat be felt. This was a different city, a different place
altogether. I prepared my mind to say, “Anna University does not belong to
Chennai. It is not in Chennai. Never! It is a demarcated universe” to
whoever asked me the location of my place of study. The day was over and I was
depressed by then because I didn’t belong there. I had got admission into some
other college in some other city far away from Chennai. My final thought before
sleep was. “I’ll get back here. Soon!”
Sure!
Fate and luck chose me as I was called in for a second round of counseling,
especially meant for the OC people. (Let’s not discuss the politics involved
in this quota system. That would divert the topic of interest) Hurray, I
wanted to yell like a rock singer, tearing my vocal cord into a thousand pieces
in fraction of seconds. First semester was a memorable one with the most
enviable classroom being provided to us. There were six set of doors with one
for the conventional entry and the other five for those who steal in and
abscond during most of the classes after getting attendance. (Perhaps, this
is called the lateral entry!) The professors had varying attendance timings
– some would mark it at the beginning of the class and some others at the end.
After knowing their templates, it became quite easy for our batch to make use
of this rarest advantage. But more than this, the eternal plus of this
particular room was the fresh air that freely entered through all the doors and
sent us easily to a state of trance and hypnotism. Very often, being
physically present and mentally absent was the state of us as the scented
air often effected in yawns and snores, how much ever interesting the topic of
discussion was. This, combined with the mingling of students from various
departments, made the first semester memorable.
At
the end of my semester holidays, a sense of incompleteness loomed as the fact
that we would be separated by the names of departments struck me. But, right in
front of the proud Department of Mechanical Engineering stood a deep – rooted tree,
whose trunk symbolized why they were named so. There were some benches for
sitting and the mere tree was enough to comfort me. This would later on go to
be the spot of assembly during the breaks for students to eat samosas and drink
flavored juices.
Suddenly
now, all the luster looks like history. The beast, which provided shade to all
budding Mechanical Engineers, is no more. Instead, there is a WiFi hub where some
students, I don’t know how they manage, sit all day with their laptops browsing
something (Though in most cases, it happens to be Facebook) There are
several other WiFi ‘trees’ like this one. Thank God, some other trees are still
alive to make our recess enjoyable but this is not a fact of relief because
nobody can assure how long they would stay. Some trees near the main building
have been cut down for ‘beautification’, many others for the construction of
hostel blocks. I have personally seen some blocks not being occupied to the
fullest but responsible people would have found an answer to this question by
now.
A
subject called Environmental Science, shortly EVS, with equal credits as
a core paper, has been included in the curriculum. What is the use of getting
marks in that subject if we can’t stop the deforestation taking place right
before our eyes? At this rate, the whole of flora in this old and prestigious
region would narrow down to zero in no time. So, why then should we study the
preventive measures against pollution and deforestation? Why mug the scientific
names of various species of plants unnecessarily when we won’t be seeing them
in a short span? In the next two or three years (or may be even the next year),
students who come in for counseling would be suspicious if they had entered the
right place. For, Anna University is not Anna University without the endless
trees surrounding it.
Even our national flag would become
incomplete without green in it. Replace the saffron by red and it is Anna
University. This red would become imperfect if there is no green.