Tempest

All around it was the Annual College Festival time. Ours was known as Tempest. What an appropriate name for our College Fest.....Miranda being the heroine of Shakespeare's "The Tempest".

The 3 days festival was eagerly looked forward to by one & all. All kinds of competitions are held and students from all colleges can participate. There are - debate, just a minute, quiz, rangoli competition, and many more. Didn't participate in any....but went to see....

Hostel Nite!

We all looked forward to the Hostel Nite! This is the night where we could invite guests...which means guys can even come! There's going to be entertainment & good food & friends! Yippee!

My friend & I, we too had invited some friends over....four to be precise......all Hinduites! (as in from Hindu College. Three of the guys were Hostellers themselves and the fourth, she was obviously a dayski!) This is a pretty formal affair. Nearly all the guys were in suits complete with ties while there were loads of girls who were dressed in sarees! The guys looked dashing all formal while the girls looked so grown up!

The Hostel was lighted up for the occasion.....flower pots placed nearly in all the possible places.....small circles of chairs scattered all around.....chowkidars (watchmen) posted strategically....to see that no guys stray to the residential area!

Dinner was delicious.....the menu was pretty elaborate! We all enjoyed it thoroughly! After dinner, we made our way to the Auditorium.....for some entertainment....the grand finale of the evening. I don't remember what all there was but the ending was the much awaited Fashion Show put up by us First Years. It was sort of a tradition. I was in it too! I wore a blue dress....which was actually my Mom's.....a gift which she had got long ago from her German Penpal who had stitched herself! I also wore a ghaghra choli....courtesy a friend...it was beautiful! After our show.....some of the Seniors took to the stage....and spoofed our entire show! How wicked of them!

The evening finally came to an end...before the clock could strike, the magic midnight hour. The goodbyes to our guests were prolonged as much as we could..........we lingered at the gates as much as we could...

Diwali in the hostel

Diwali...the hostel is all lighted up....candles everywhere....down the pathways....it looks beautiful! There's crackers too! Some of my enthusiastic friends in lighting rockets, crackers & various fire works have bought loads of it. I have never been the Participant....always have been the watcher....it was my brothers domain.

Here again in the hostel, I watched. A friend asked me to try it out for myself.....if she can do...couldn't I? I tried...I blasted off a rocket...it was thrilling!

Quite a few had gone home....or to their LG's place (Local Guardian)....to celebrate......but quite a few of us were here. I thoroughly enjoyed my first Diwali in the hostel. Dinner was special......as always on occasions!

Miranda House?

I go home for the holidays......short Puja Break. I get to meet Mom & Dad's friends once again. They ask me where I am........what am I doing...translate studying...which College? The moment I say "I am studying in Miranda House College", I invariably get the raised eyebrows looks with..."Miranda House?" Actually, I love seeing that look. It amuses me to see them scandalized on hearing that a girl like me (I am suppose to be a prim & proper girl, minding my Ps & Qs!...having studied in convent schools where the Nuns have done a good job on me) has landed in that notorious College and secretly wondering if I am now Wild & Fast!

Miranda House.........I don't know exactly when and how it got this wild reputation......but no other Girls College can claim "Holier Than Thou" Title too!

Tea Time/ Visitor Time!

Yes! Tea time was also visitor time in the hostel.........looked forward to by many of us girls!

A visitor walks through the hostel gates manned by a "Chowkidar" (watchman in Hindi). He signs the visitor book - Name, address & the name of the person he is visiting and a second "Chowkidar" shows him to the visitor room/common room where he can sit & wait while the "Chowkidar" goes to inform the girl for whom the visitor had come. Yes, the "Chowkidars" are the only men allowed in the residential block!

The "Chowkidar" usually would shout from below, (if the girl lived on a first or second floor)... "Mary, D-14....Visitorrrrrrrrrrrrr". Other girls hearing it would in turn pass the message....from one girl to the other till it reaches Mary. At times, if we had a feeling that it is an unwanted visitor we would ask the "Chowkidar" whether he knew the name of the visitor or to describe the person. If it was the same, we would send him back to tell the Visitor that we were not in!

Apart from the common room, the visitors could also hang around just inside the gate where we had a "Dhaba" serving "parathas" or bread slice & omelet served with tea.

For girls who did not have any visitors coming in, it was equally interesting to see who came for whom and this "watching game" we could do sprawled on our lawns with cups of tea!

Miranda House Gardens

Miranda House has beautiful lawns. Come winter and there would be a whole lot of beautiful flowers adding color to the green-green lawns. It is simply a sight to behold. Many a picture has been taken in these lawns and amongst these flowers! Additonally there would be many potted plants/flowers lining up the college building and the inner structures too.

On the other side is the Hostel entrance. As one enters the hostel gate, we have "The Island".....a small patch of green surrounded by a paved structure. There's a pole right in the middle where on Republic Day or Independence Day the National Flag would be hoisted.

Entering further, we have the Porch..........beyond which we have huge lawns spread in front of the residential area. Paved pathways divides this into 4 units. The pathways are lined on either sides by Palm trees on which some of us girls have profusely scribbled.........leaving our names for posterity. Somewhere you would even find my name too!

During winter, these lawns look exceptionally beautiful as now the flower beds are filled with such gorgeous flowers. Many of us would be sprawled on these lawns......at one time or the other.......doing any 1-2-3 of these activities or all....reading, knitting, gossiping, eating peanuts, having chai (tea)/coffee or simply soaking up the sun!

My First Social - IIT

We got an Invite from the IITians........for a Social!

We are allowed one social each year and for us Hostellers this was an event to look forward to. Had never attended such dos.........having studied in all girls convent schools. My friends and I decided to go. We were real excited. There was the usual flurry......what to wear....what to wear..........the perennial question for us girls! The makeup had to be right too!

Come the day....evening to be precise......the Boys came to pick us up........a couple of them on a hired bus to take us to their lair........hee-hee-hee........I mean, to their hostel! The rest of the girls who were not going, all came out to see us off.....wishing us luck & to enjoy ourselves while some to see what we were wearing!

Reaching IIT and the venue where the Party was.........I was pretty apprehensive....I guess the other girls must have been sailing in the same boat......maybe the Boys felt the same. The place was quite nicely decorated and there was music playing too. The girls & the boys eyed each other and sized one another up......the boys trying to muster up the courage to ask one of us to a dance and the girls hoping it would be a cute one who does!

A tall handsome guy came to ask me for a dance. He turned out to be the Cultural Secretary. He was a real decent guy and we stuck together for the rest of the evening. Every now and then he would go off to attend to something........but then he made sure I was comfortable. He was a thorough gentleman.

The dinner was wonderful..........the evening was a success........and before the clock struck 12.00pm.........we were dropped back to our hostel.

My First Social........was a wonderful experience!