A year ago, as I stepped across the threshold of high school and into the daunting world of college, I remember feeling nervous, yet excited for the life that lay ahead. Most of all, I was just relieved that the constant worry and sleepless nights caused due to the 12th entrance exams were finally over. None of my cousins or relatives had ever studied in Manipal so it was unfamiliar territory for me. My family was hesitant to send me away to a different state for college but I decided to take a leap of faith and step out of my comfort zone. After a tearful farewell with my parents, I reluctantly walked back to my hostel, anxious about the new journey I was about to begin. I was so focused on what I was leaving behind that I did not anticipate all the new experiences and situations I would encounter.

The first week went by in a blur—attending orientations about our branch and eagerly exploring the sprawling campus. The food courts had surprisingly better quality food than what I expected in any engineering college and the Student Plaza was the perfect example of the melting pot of cultures that Manipal was known for. Taking long walks till the VGT grounds with the cool breeze on my face became my respite after a long and tiring day.

The New Lecture Hall and Innovation Centre in MIT, Manipal

I had taken a triple sharing room in Block 1 which was the oldest block and known for being true to the fabled hostel life. I was initially worried about the common bathroom which our entire floor shared but the cleaning staff made sure to clean it properly thrice a day. Living in a hostel also made me realise the value of something as simple as doing your laundry. Simple tasks like waking up for a class on time and remembering to punch in our fingerprint before our in-time make up some of the fondest memories that I share with my hostel friends.

Despite the initial awkwardness with my roommates and the people in my class, I started getting more and more comfortable with them. It may seem like a daunting task to find your place in college, but one should remember that we are all in the same boat. Somewhere between sharing food, playing card games, random midnight jamming sessions, and even pulling all-nighters a day before the exams to complete the vast syllabus; our group of friends became inseparable. There were regular pangs of homesickness once classes began but they soon became more of a bittersweet ache, as we looked forward to going back home at the end of the semester.

The panoramic view from End Point, a popular tourist attraction in Manipal

For students who come from bustling metropolitan cities, the peace and tranquillity of Manipal make it seem like a world of its own. The clear blue skies and sunsets which paint the heavens in a kaleidoscope of colours, all make you want to kick back and chill.

There is no dearth of variety when it comes to student clubs and projects–both technical and non-technical. Joining one provides ample opportunities of pursuing what you love, and in the process, getting to know the seniors and shouldering responsibilities.

The Yellow Diary performing at Revels’20. (Image credits: Rajat Shenoy)

The entire college is humming with energy and enthusiasm as the campus comes alive with a flurry of activities before and during the fest. It’s an emotion which can only be felt rather than described. The true experience of what Manipal is like comes to the forefront during two college fests–Techtatva in the odd semester and Revels, the cultural fest, in the even semester. It will be an unforgettable and amazing experience for freshers. You will feel the pulse of what Manipal stands for during those four magical days and nights. Since during the days of the fests, only morning classes will be held, many of you will be tempted to grab the opportunity to book your tickets to go back home. Pro tip–don’t do so, as you wouldn’t want to miss the eclectic vibe of the college during this time. There will be innumerable opportunities to showcase and nurture your talents like open mic nights, and various other competitions during the fests and workshops organized by individual clubs throughout the semester.

As I look back after a year, I am grateful for the amazing experiences which have truly shaped me as a person. First-year seems like a blur of adjusting to college life with assignments, labs, exams, fests, parties blending seamlessly one after the other. I remember entering college nervous yet brimming with anticipation for the journey I was about to experience and ending my first year as a more independent, responsible and hopefully wiser person. My first year in Manipal was an experience like no other. Countless memories were made which I will forever hold close to my heart and remember fondly for years to come.

Featured Image Credits–The Photography Club, Manipal

A week after my 18th birthday, I arrived at the place that was to be my home for the next four years of my life. I didn’t really know what to expect from Manipal; it was a small town, quaint and quiet. A bit odd to a person who lived in a steel and concrete jungle, but a refreshing change nonetheless.

I was greeted by the infamous Manipal rains as I stepped out of Mangalore airport: a light shower, unlike the constant deluges we would be battered with for the rest of the semester. I got into a cab and promptly fell asleep. By the time I got up, we were already in Manipal. Was the town well equipped to deal with the urban student populace? As we drove through the city, I saw all the big brand shops and food chains, something that gave me a slight sense of familiarity. Perhaps I had been too quick to judge the place.

I got a room on the 10th floor of Block 17. Sheer luck had me choose an odd-numbered room, and that was excellent because the view I got was insane. A vast wooded expanse with rolling hills in the distance, it gave me the motivation to get up early in the morning. That, as I would come to find in the subsequent months, was one of the many beautiful sights Manipal had to offer.

The breathtaking view from the First-Year hostels

The first few weeks were a whirlwind of classes, exploring the campus, and meeting new people. The rains were ferocious, relentlessly beating down on us as we made our way to class at 8 in the morning. As per tradition, most of us would have our umbrellas stolen, and would, in turn, steal a few of our own. Living alone might have been a new experience for a lot of people, but I was used to it, and I adapted quickly. The campus had stores with pretty much everything you could need, and if there wasn’t something you could find, there was a market right outside campus. Pretty soon, I made myself at home in Manipal.

Soon after the start of college began the sickness. A new environment, different weather, and long hours took its toll on most people, pretty much everyone fell sick a couple of times. The all-important 75% attendance rule had us walking through the cold rain to get to class, no matter what. Around the same time, we had various clubs and student projects wooing us. There are a ton of options to choose from and motivated by newbie fervour, most people opt to join more clubs than they can manage.

The heart of the campus: The Student Plaza

By the time club membership was finally done, their ranks solidified, we had our technical fest: TechTatva. In my opinion, the better of the two fests, TechTatva had us MIT Post recruits running around campus covering events and then slaving late into the night working on the next day’s newsletter. A thoroughly exhausting experience, yet still fun in a weird way.

After TechTatva, the rest of the semester was a rush of tests and labs, interspersed with a beautiful Diwali celebration and a food poisoning event that put half the college out of commission. The first semester ended with parties and hugs all around, and we went on the month-long sabbatical none of us wanted.

The night sky bejewelled with lanterns on Diwali.  Credit: Debarun Ghosh, The Photography Club, Manipal

Back in January for a new sem, we were stoked. With more fests, Holi, inter-section football, and no rain, this sem was bound to be a lot more fun. Unfortunately, the forces that be in the universe had other ideas, but we still made the best of the time we had. Revels, the cultural fest, was a lot more fun to cover for the MIT Post, and we still had plenty of time to hang around campus and explore the fantastic food available.

The only other event we had was Holi, a wild celebration, and shortly after, the year was cut short to send us back home in the wake of the coronavirus. This time there were no goodbyes, owing to the general confusion and panic.

Though the end was sudden, the first year of college was unreal. It is everything you dream of, and it can be everything you want it to be. It really is the best time of your life.

Finally, as a total abstainer, I never really got to see the wilder side of Manipal, but there are plenty of opportunities for that too, in case that is your game. I wouldn’t know.

Manipal was familiar territory for me, with my sister graduating from MIT the same year I joined. As I reached Manipal, I assumed I knew plenty about the town already. I was pleasantly surprised, however, as my first year here was not only fresh and invigorating but also a transformative experience like no other.

The first couple of days in Manipal went by in a flurry of activity as I attended the numerous orientation sessions organised for us, and did some last-minute shopping with my parents. Early on, I realised that an umbrella is a valuable possession to be guarded fiercely, having lost two in my very first month here. The classes began after the end of the orientation week with students from all branches mixed up in twenty-four sections. There was a natural awkwardness in the first few classes, but that was soon forgotten as we got to know each other through the icebreaker sessions.

Rumbling clouds and downpours are constants in the odd semesters. (Credits: Rahul Manshani, The Photography Club, Manipal)

The absence of a freshers’ party was a vehement complaint among us first-years. The Student Council, however,  had something more exciting in store for us—the Talent Night. A few first-year sections assembled in the MV Seminar Hall where everyone got an opportunity to showcase their talents. Never having been shy of speaking in public, I got on stage and decided to deliver a famous speech by Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. While that was all I had planned, my friends persuaded me to sing before I got off the stage. It was the first time I had sung in front of an audience, and that performance is now one of my fondest memories of the first year. The experience of letting loose in front of others kindled a feeling of comfort and camaraderie towards my fellow first-years. A few of my classmates even staged a group dance while the rest of us hooted and cheered in support. These are the people with whom I eventually developed a deep friendship, and whose company I enjoyed as I set out to explore the town of Manipal.

A fascinating thing I observed about Manipal was how the whole town had become student-oriented. A majority of the population here consists of students, and the place has developed with the university at its heart. It is no wonder that when you google ‘Manipal’, most links lead to MAHE websites. Having lived a fast-paced life in Delhi NCR, I was captivated by the peace and tranquillity of Manipal. Getting around in Manipal was never a problem. In the rare case where I couldn’t walk to my destination, there was almost always a long line of auto-rickshaws waiting to ferry passengers around the town. For travelling to Udupi, or the beautiful beaches nearby, my friends and I chose the local buses because of their reasonable prices and comfort. Manipal never felt lacking in options—from fast-food joints such as McDonald’s to fine dining restaurants, and from multiplexes to supermarkets—it has almost everything you would look for in a modern town. 

The road leading to Kamath Circle.

While the town of Manipal is pleasing and peaceful, it is the bustling campus of MIT that most students fall in love with. The greenery surrounding the well-trodden path from the hostels to the academic blocks offered much respite to dreary walks to 8 AM classes in the rain. The imposing structure of the Student Plaza comes alive and turns into the centre of student activity in the evenings. Students mill around the Plaza catching up with their friends, grabbing a bite at Just Bake or a sip at the Juice Centre.  There’s also almost always an event or publicity work for upcoming events in progress at the Student Plaza.  However, the best time to witness MIT in its true glory is, undoubtedly, during TechTatva and Revels.

Tech Tatva, the technical fest of the college, was one of the first instances in the year where we transitioned from being participants in events to volunteers and club members who contributed to the working of the fest. Wearing The MIT Post tag around our necks, my fellow writers and I ran around the campus covering events and at the end of the day, burnt the midnight oil with the staff of The Post to prepare the daily newsletters. The Manipal Conclave, held on the last two days of the fest, proved to be a star-studded event with its excellent speaker line-up featuring popular YouTubers like Jitendra Kumar and Shivankit Singh Parihar, and actors such as Radhika Apte and Jatin Sarna of Sacred Games fame.

Even more vibrant and exciting, however, is the college’s cultural fest, Revels, that is organised during the even semester. It was accompanied by another round of covering events, preparing newsletters, and participating in competitions. While the days were filled with an assortment of events and the joy of eating from the food stalls, the Pro-Show performances in the evenings provided a perfect conclusion to each day of the fest. It was only after a long and busy day that I would enter my comforting hostel room.

The Local Train performed during Revels 2019, for the third time in Manipal. (Courtesy: PAV, Revels’19)

Each student’s hostel experience is a distinct story in itself. From late-night birthday celebrations to waking each other up on Sunday for the special breakfast, the hostel life has been a journey with countless ups and downs. Small music sessions, a few games of cards, and a game of mini-militia after a long day of classes proved to be our source of relaxation. There were evenings when everyone on the floor would assemble in one room, with their laptops and phones, only to watch an IPL super-over together. Adding to the experience was the beautiful view from my room. Waking up to the scenic beauty of the valley was divine, and it made my first year of hostel life truly breathtaking.

The valley, as seen from Hostel Block 16.

Despite the comforts of my hostel, however, most of my time was spent in the college library. This wasn’t because I was solely fixated on academics, but was rather due to the fact that the well-equipped library gave me a peaceful workspace to finish all my tasks. With multiple study rooms in the building, finding a place in the library is not difficult, unless it’s during exams. On the day of an exam, the library is so crowded that at times I had to request my friends to reserve seats for me, provided they managed to get seats for themselves. With the group study room having more desks available than chairs, I’ve even sat beside the staircase to complete my last-minute revisions.

Looking back to the time I bid adieu to my parents, before the start of the year, I remember my excitement being coupled with apprehensions. Since I had never stayed away from them before, I had no idea what to expect thereon. However, as the year progressed, I realised that my time in Manipal had shaped me into a more responsible adult—one who’s capable enough of making his own decisions, instead of depending on others. Manipal provided me with ample opportunities to build upon my skills and personality and do something new and innovative.

Credits: Harsh Kumar Singh (The Photography Club, Manipal)

As I began writing this article, it dawned on me that despite having lived every moment of these two semesters, my first year of college appears to have passed by like a running train—with the assignments, exams, fests, parties, and outings being different stops on this journey. Continuing on the same track, it is time for me to get onto the next train in line, with fresh energy, added responsibilities and the new role of being the immediate seniors to the new freshers’ batch of the college.

Featured Image Credits: Rishi Raj

There is no dearth of choice regarding engineering colleges in India. Every year over a hundred thousand confused freshers seek admission into the best possible colleges. For the lucky few who end up in Manipal, this place proves to be unlike any other. After much deliberation and enquiries, the one thing that eventually persuaded me to come to MIT was a rather grand claim made by a school senior, who is currently an alumnus of the college. He said that coming to Manipal was the best decision of his life, and as my first year here comes to a close, I think I can wholeheartedly back that claim.

While I made countless memories in my eight and a half months at the college, the first few days that I spent in Manipal remain the most cherished. From staying up late with my hostel-mates playing bluff, exploring MFC (that’s Manipal Frizzled Chicken, for the uninitiated) and TC (Tiger Circle), to waking each other up for those early morning classes, we did it all. It would be unfair if I did not mention that like most other freshers, my early days in Manipal were marked with the infamously unpredictable monsoons, so carrying an umbrella at all times was a must.

My first experience in an MIT classroom came during the orientations and through my TG (Teacher Guardian); a concept which is novel in MIT. The classrooms themselves threw me back a year as they bore an uncanny and uninvited resemblance to all my previous coaching classes. Nonetheless, we went on to make some insane memories in these rooms in the months to come. The many positives about the college are often left undiscussed among the more sensationalist and scandalous rumours surrounding the town. What makes the town of Manipal unique, however, is its culture and its people.

The MAHE Administrative Building.

Being a university town, a majority of Manipal’s population is comprised of students and is a true melting pot of cultures from all around the country. One meets and interacts with people from all over India and even the world, and lives the fabled college life to its fullest. The hostels are far better than what one expects from an engineering college. A little pro-tip for boys would be to opt for the seventeenth block over the sixteenth, as the majority of MIT students reside in the former whereas the latter also has a few of the DOC and FOA students. Another helpful advice would be to opt for the x15/x16 rooms as they are significantly more spacious than the others. The caretakers at sixteenth block can be a bit strict with the freshers but they hardly ever give anyone a difficult time aside from imposing the perm. The seventeenth block, however, has the most relaxed and friendly caretakers. While an ‘in-time’ might seem like a frustrating rule, especially with the freedom allowed in all other aspects of the college, it is there for a reason and only serves to safeguard the student populace.

The view from Block 16.

Aside from the mess, people mostly eat out at various local eateries, which are all hardly ten minutes away from the campus. Manna Roll, MFC, Red Kitchen, and Hit and Run are relatively inexpensive and sustained me through an entire semester during my abstinence-for-the-mess phase. Shawarmas are perhaps the most consumed item on the menu and are present at every corner of the town. A growing trend has been ordering food online, with Manipal attaining the highest order frequency in all of India, through Zomato (keep an eye out for the 50% off offers). Despite the various offers one comes across while ordering online, the restaurants in Manipal are relatively much cheaper than in other cities across the country.

What makes Manipal unique is it’s geography, with many beaches and hills at an easily accessible distance. Weekend getaways are typical in the even semester with multiple bike rental services also available. It isn’t advisable to venture near the coast during the odd semester, however, as the weather is less forgiving with a six-month onslaught of unpredictable monsoons.

The road leading to the Student Plaza through the Academic Area.

As a piece of parting advice, I’d like to say that it’s the people that make a place truly memorable and some of my cherished memories are not around the town itself, but all the friends I made. I remember one unfateful morning when a close friend had to rush uphill to the academic block in a record 8 minutes to make it in time for a lecture, failing which, he would have had to drop the course. We had stayed up late into the night (morning, rather) playing Fifa, and the sorry soul had to brush in the lecture hall’s washroom the next day. A video of him caught in the act made rounds on Whatsapp all through the following week. My roommate and I were conspirators of another such marvellous display when we made the climb to the Academic Block in under twelve minutes to save our semester. Needless to say, we were both in our pyjamas and were fresh out of our beds. Neither of us remembers what lecture we had that morning, nor do we recall what was taught that week; but the image of us trying to scramble up Temple Run in our slippers will be with us for a long time.

Ritviz performing at Revels ’19.

All this still doesn’t quite encapsulate all that Manipal has to offer. Liberating and welcoming, Manipal embraces one and all and is a feeling one has to experience for themselves to truly understand it. With the vacations coming to a close, MIT prepares to welcome a new batch of freshers to this chaotic yet serene lifestyle, as I prepare to survive another semester of barely reaching class on time in my slippers.

Featured Image Credits: Rishi Raj

The sky was a dome of endless blue, fading to black. Clouds spread across a large expanse, coughing out water droplets in a veritable deluge. We were left drenched; our umbrellas had gotten flipped inside out. With sodden clothes, we reached the hostel, where my parents helped me drag and drop my luggage into my homely little room. In the next few months, I learned that unforeseen downpours are common in Manipal, and it is most prudent to keep sturdy umbrellas on hand.

Courtesy: The Photography Club, Manipal

After unpacking, an emotional farewell with my parents inevitably took place. Subsequently, my roommate arrived, and I heaved a sigh of relief at the chance to entertain companionship in an intimidating new place. We explored campus that day, visiting places like the Kamath Book Store (to buy our second-hand books), the food court, and KC (a regular haunt for students when it existed, with multi-purpose shops, a canteen, and impromptu performances galore).

On our first day, we were nervous wrecks, setting an alarm for five in the morning. Having solely donned school-uniforms in recent memory, we had no idea what appropriate attire would entail here. Feeling overtly self-conscious, we wobbled our way over to NLH, the New Lecture Hall, where all first year classes were, and are held.

Courtesy: The Photography Club, Manipal

After having walked into three classrooms (none of which were mine), I finally made my way into the one which was. The girls had instinctively gathered into two rows in a class of roughly ninety students. We introduced ourselves, and let the chatty ones take the lead in our newly found friendships. The professors experimented with icebreakers, asking us where we were from and where we wanted to be, and about our goals and aspirations. All in all, it was quite uneventful, and I was glad I made it back to my room in one piece.

The first memorable experience that I had in first year was TechTatva, the technical fest of the college where, for four days, the college was positively buzzing with activity. The moment classes ended, students would stream out, tags swinging about their necks, and go about their duties. A cornucopia of events took place in every nook and corner of campus, with miniature racing tracks on the way to NLH, food stalls selling gola, rolls, sweet corn, and an abundance of info desks at KC. First year volunteers would swarm around, accosting anything with two legs to participate in their events.

Revels, MIT’s cultural fest, took place in the ‘even’ semester. This time around, students were taken up with double the enthusiasm, music or dance performances and street plays would spring up in front of IC, LA (Library Auditorium), or the Quadrangle. Celebrities ranging from magicians, comedians to musicians visited the college to add to the glamour.

As the year went on, my roommate and I progressed from waking up at five in the morning to waking up ten minutes before classes, from attending all classes religiously to calculating how many classes we could miss while retaining the seventy five percent par, and from doing our laundry on time to procrastinating till it was soaked in water for a week. Despite the languor, we were kept on our toes due to recurring assignments, sessional tests, and club work. I have learned that it is of utmost importance to join technical or non-technical clubs in college. Besides honing your skills in your field of interest and giving you a sense of responsibility, it becomes a means of interacting with seniors, whom you can learn the tricks of the trade from.

Courtesy: The Photography Club, Manipal

Before the academic exertion reaches its peak, there are a considerable number of places in and around Manipal that ought to be visited. The Manipal Lake is suitable for a pleasurable walk early in the mornings, End Point is good for a game of dodgeball and there are numerous, beautiful beaches where you can witness dusk rapidly falling over the seas.

Initially, you might feel lonely in the crowd, as if you do not belong. You might feel the lack of an agreeable niche that you could potentially settle into. I’d say, give it time. Staying away from home will afford you overwhelming freedom, you will have to look out for yourself, and make decisions based on what you think is right. Manipal is a place that offers innumerable opportunities that need to be seized, a place where creativity flows with passion, and where dreams come true.  It builds people and eventually becomes a part of them, a part that everyone nourishes. It is up to you to bear the torch as you move forthwith.

If the thought of staying away from home for four years seems daunting, a couple of semesters in Manipal will change your mind. Manipal has been home since the day I stepped out of the comfort of the rusty bus into Manipal’s infamous downpour. The funny thing about college experiences is that even though they can never be pinned down, they remain etched in your memory forever.

The day you arrive will be exhausting, to say the least. Running back and forth from NLH, while braving torrential rains, is just the beginning. Attending countless orientations and making multiple trips from NLH to the hostels is something the college is preparing you for, on the first day itself. People will talk about the popular destinations around Manipal. Everybody has their own description of this quaint town, and the day you begin describing Manipal in your own words, your college life truly begins.

You start your journey at the haunting remains of what once used to be Kamath Circle (popularly known as KC. P.S: Keeping up with abbreviations is necessary to survive Manipal). From here, you branch out into every nook and corner of the campus. The Food Court will stand, clear-cut and colossal, as soon as you enter the KC gate. As a first year, you will spend a significant amount of time here, and at times, even eat food there. Once here, you can see the towering edifices of the boys’ hostel blocks and endless acres of the lush green valley succeeding them. On the other side of the food court is a path that you will tread often (if you are an early riser). The boulevard that leads to the academic blocks will seem eternal- flanked by four Girls’ hostels on one side and the ever useful Campus Stores on the other. On further seeking, you will discover the Academic Blocks One, Two and Five (we’re still trying to figure out the order behind these buildings ourselves). And when you find yourself stuck in the maze that is AB-5, fear not; everyone has been through the process of self-discovery and profound enlightenment while trying to find their way out.

Evenings in Manipal are worth the heat and exhaustion that the mornings bring. End Point is a popular destination for the athletically determined. Boasting of a 1.5 km jogging track, two football fields, and a park to take your mind off things, End Point is frequented by students and professors alike. Manipal’s fitness complex, Marena, has an endless list of facilities to offer, including a well-equipped gym, a running track, basketball courts, tennis courts, table tennis, and several other activities.

You may feel like you’re swimming in unfamiliar waters when you first settle into your hostel. But leaving your block for vacations is easier said than done. You will not only forge your strongest friendships in these hostels but also find a rather effective alarm clock in your roommate/neighbour. From washing clothes and battling mutant cockroaches, to panicking about an exam the night before while simultaneously making eight cups of coffee, hostel life is a bittersweet combat.

If we ever wrote a book called ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Manipal’, an umbrella would be the equivalent of the prodigal towel. They say there’s only ever two types of weather in Manipal: summer with rain and summer without rain. It’s true, trust us, and an umbrella will come in handy in both scenarios. As a new kid on the block, you may feel confused, excited, and sometimes, both at the same time. The Manipal Experience will leave you awestruck, nostalgic, and wanting more.

Picture Credits: The Photography Club, Manipal

The changes that one year of college have  brought about in me, are like none from ever before. I cannot claim that I have grown as a person, but one thing is certain-I now have a heightened sense of awareness about the ways of the world.

For a child who’s spent nary a night away from his parents, there can be no experience more unnerving than that first night in your hostel room. It was a stroke of good luck, then, that I’d decided to venture out for some stationery that night. I chanced upon a fellow first year donning a shirt of my favourite band. That was my very first glimmer of hope that perhaps my prospects here would look up.

The typical milieu on campus during monsoon season. Credits: Manipal Blog

The days to come would teach me to break out of my shell and embrace my country’s diverse culture. Having been predominantly around south Indians for a considerable part of my life, I was initially sheepish during my interactions with those hailing from other regions. My desire to establish companionship in this land far away from home, however, overpowered my diffidence and I began mingling with my classmates. It gave me the reassurance that no one regarded me as any better or worse than himself or herself for being from another end of the country.

The days went by, and soon, the pieces slowly started to fall into place. Getting drenched in the rain on the way to class taught me never to leave my room without a checklist. It was no longer merely my backpack that I needed – I now had a wallet full of valuables to be heedful of. The newfound responsibility of checking my bank balance and typing in a PIN at cash registers instilled a sense of maturity within me.

After counting down each day from fifty at the back of my diary, the sessional examinations blew by and with them, brought a much-needed teaching break. There was a slight spring in my step as I strolled along, suitcase in tow, to the taxi that evening. I felt like I was beginning to learn the ropes of getting by in an engineering college. Lack of club recruitment meant that we had ample time after lectures to study and socialise.

Upon my arrival, my mother’s cooking tasted more sumptuous than I had ever recalled in all my nineteen years. I was a child that had grown accustomed to having a steaming hot lunch everyday. It was served to me at the time I felt convenient, under an invigorating breeze blowing out from the air conditioner over my dining table, whilst I watched television shows.

My first month in college elapsed in trudging up a hill at specified times for each meal. I soon grew wary of this and lived off whatever the campus grocery store could provide me for the rest of the year. This taught me to be grateful just for having my mother there to put food on my plate – the culmination of an entire day’s effort gone by toiling away in the kitchen just to feed me.

Upon my return, the moment I had been so eagerly awaiting had arrived – club recruitment. At the outset, I was more concerned about which club would look better on my resume, rather than pursuing my interests. It was thus quite a tough decision to make when I was faced with attending the recruitment of a coding club or that of the college’s official media body. There was nothing at all appealing to me about writing programs other than the chance to be hired by a lucrative IT company. Writing, on the other hand, has been my go-to avenue of expressing myself since I was a child.

That moment was perhaps the very first time in my life that I had followed my heart over mind, and it was the best choice I ever made. Having arrived from home merely hours earlier, I tackled the written round on an empty stomach, letting nothing but my experience guide me. I poured my heart out onto the paper, without even a passing thought that whoever corrected it could be a colleague in the future. In all candour, getting selected did not even seem a minute possibility to me.

It was nothing short of a surprise when I got the call to attend the interview round at the Quadrangle. This was only the second time I had ever been interviewed in my life, which is why my heart was quite understandably in my mouth. Knowing how imperative it was to make a good impression, I did all I could to answer the questions posed at me with clarity and confidence. It seemed to do the trick, because when I opened my e-mail the next afternoon, my Acceptance Letter was waiting for me in all its splendour. Congratulations began to pour in from friends and family alike – and it will forever remain etched in my brain as one of my fondest memories.

Ever since then, there was no looking back. TechTatva was looming around the corner, and preparations to make the best daily newsletter the college had ever seen were in full swing. It was during one such night, when I was typing away at an album review I’d been working on for pleasure – that I was approached by a fellow writer. Over the course of our future conversations, we soon discovered that we had similarities in interests as well as our sentiments on a variety of things.

My budding friendship with him and his roommate whom I happened to share a class with, turned out to be the highlight of my second semester. Being introverted meant lacking a friends circle to be eager about returning to at the end of my first semester break. It was during the second semester, however, that this duo showed me how much more enjoyable college could be if I had people to share my days with.

Courtesy: The Astronomy Club, Manipal

I forged a bond with them as he introduced his roommate and I to the wonders of melancholic prog rock virtuosos, Porcupine Tree. Music has a way of bringing two souls together with a power unlike that of anything else. My plans for every evening had gone from lying in my room, to accompanying them to dinners or adventures that ended just in time for curfew. Perhaps the highlight of my entire year was going stargazing to Hiriadka one night with The Astronomy Club. That was the first time in my life I had gone camping. Sitting there huddled up with close friends learning about constellations and narrating scary stories to one another was an experience I will not soon forget. In all, my first year in college was a riveting rollercoaster ride from start to finish.