My friend Satyakam (Happy) Dash and I boarded the Tapaswini express from Bhubaneswar to Rourkela to re-live our glorious college days, a la the guys from the Hindi movie ZINDAGI NA MILLEGA DOBAARA. After several years I had the opportunity of making a train journey in India. The Puri station has undergone a complete transformation. The profile of the passengers have changed. The folks from general class have graduated to 2nd class, 2nd class to to AC II tires, and AC II tire folks to AC 1st Class and so on.
Inside the train, we had a surprise in store. Our chatting about our college and the upcoming Silver Jubilee celebration raised the curiosity of a lady sitting next to us. She turned out to be Sweety Kanoria, our topper and one of the 11 girl students we had from our batch. She had covered Puri and Nandankanan zoo, before going to Rourkela.
Other friends joined at Bhubaneswar station, some of whom flew from different parts of the globe. Bhubaneswar is better connected than Rourkela, so it's convenient to travel to the steel city from the capital of Odisha. Incessant chats from good ole days continued late as the trains rolled its way through stations. It was late when we decided to retire. The scent of the metal chain used to hold the berth and the diesel smoke not far from my nose, the whistle of the engine aroused a deja vu feeling. Did not know when I was rock and rolled by the train to sleep like a baby inside a cradle.
On arrival at Rourkela station a person sharing the platform floor with a dog, both lying lazy taking the advantage of the hazy winter sun on a cold morning. Both were in deep slumber, their chests heaving in rhythm hardly bothered by the swarming flies and surrounding cacophony. Couple of men were relieving themselves standing. Upon noticed they suddenly turned 45 degrees and then looked down to ensure that trajectory is maintained.
Soon proceeded to REC (Now NIT) and were amazed by the changes we saw since we left our Alma Mater 25 years back. Boys and girls on foot and bike all over the campus with cell phones on hand, otherwise walking hand on hand, chatting. At the venue those who arrived from all over the globe were hugging and embracing, struggling to chaff out the looks of quarter of a century ago, from the current pot bellies and receding hairlines from my college days. A few with shining silver hair looked apt for Silver Jubilee.
The air was thick with excitement. We sat inside to the AV (Audio Visual) Hall, going through the valediction process, flattered by the heroic welcome we got, for doing nothing heroic except visiting our Alma Mater after 25 years. We started with paying Homage to all the departed souls from our batch. After being served a sumptuous lunch, we strolled around Campus and Hostels (called Halls of Residence these days). Many students were met were fascinated by the fact that they were not even born when we passed out from the college.
No trip to NIT, Rourkela is complete without a trip to the famed Back Post. My friend Ratnakar went to Backpost, and after seeing many girls joked that it's not the same Backpost anymore. He wasn't far from the truth. Backpost has gone through complete transformstion over the years.
The short winter day was getting shorter, shadow slowly started looming with the approaching evening. The winter sun turned crimson and was well on his way to set. Rourkela is colder than Bhubaneswar, I suddenly felt the urge for a light warm clothing. After a long day, we went to our respective hotels to freshen up, followed by hitting the dance floor, charged with the voice of Rajesh Dhabre and Subrat Das, a fitting finale to the perfect day I of our meet.
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