We were allotted the air conditioned reference room over our central library. Some of you may say that an air conditioned room can’t be all that bad, but we on the inside know better. These are the characteristics of a typical ac classroom in our college – no fans, no windows to open, one side-wall is glass accentuating the greenhouse effect, and most importantly, NO AC. In those rare instances when the ac did work, the only noticeable effect was the sound coming from the vents. The drop in temperature was so minute as to be undetectable by all but the most sensitive thermocouple. In such a sweltering environment, our first class began. What happened in class is typical of all classes – each table had its own inaudible conversation up and running in a matter of minutes even though most were total strangers and the subject being taught nothing more than a vague background din. One announcement that really made us listen was that we would be served fruit juices and buttermilk in unlimited quantities along with snacks such as pakodas, biscuits, cakes etc. during the 10.30 am break instead of the coffee or tea (we are still not sure which one of those they serve as both taste and smell like each other) we are usually served.
After class got over at 5 pm, we picked up our luggage and went to the men’s hostel to pick our rooms. It turns out each room’s occupants had been predetermined, but since nobody even bothered to see that list and took any room they pleased, that hare brained scheme was done away with. We were under the impression that each room was to be shared by 4 people and hence were hoping to find 2 rooms side by side to accommodate 8 of us. Upon reaching the hostel, we discovered to our chagrin that each room had to accommodate 6 people and that every room allotted to our department was taken. Not quite every room. There was one room at the corner of two wings - Room Number 71 - which was used as a sort of dump yard for things such as broken beds, torn clothes, stolen sports equipment etc. Since that was the only room available, we took it and went about the tedious process of cleaning it. Cleaning took a lot of time, effort, and water. We decided to sleep on the floor as it would have been impossible to place 8 beds inside the room and have space to move around. We left the window open to aid in drying up of the floor. Little did we realise our folly then.
We then had to attend a programme designed to keep us entertained from 6.30 pm till around 9.30 pm when dinner would be officially served. The majority of the hostellers “chose” not to be entertained and stayed back in hostel. Out if curiosity and hoping to listen to some songs, I went for the programme. After a few cursory announcements, the programme began. It was an English movie - The Flight of The Phoenix. The moment I saw the title, I decided to head back to Room Number 71. I found my room mates heading for the mess hall to have dinner and I joined them. Dinner was almost identical to that day’s lunch. After dinner, we discussed the day’s happenings in various classes (we had 5 different companies training us in various aspects) in terms that one cannot use here without being flagged for inappropriate content. Sometime in the middle of that informative discussion, I fell asleep surrounded by hundreds of the second most feared creature on the planet...... the mosquito.
