Freedom is my birth right!!!

The NRI freshers party had got over. The only memorable incident that happened for that freshy was the Ramayanam2K, a lot of comedy. We had Pradeep Muralidharan playing the Ravan with Gangster's paradise song running in the background. Anila was Sita and then the characteristic "Ada poya" by her which was picked up from the "shakalaka baby" song. I remember myself and kartik sitting at the last bench and immitating her and irritating her all thru the practice sessions for the freshy... (later i came to know that she was real angry with me for that and was irritated to the core;-)). We did the "suno to diwana dil" dance and the girls, i guess, had done a dance for "rang de"...anyway that was over and all were enjoying their new found freedom, when we as mallus had ragging ongoing even now..The mallu freshers party was the following week. And i dont think in the 4 years of college life, we NRI mallus have ever looked forward for anything more eagerly than for this particular day when we would be freed from the bonds of slavery...no more slaps...!!
it was the most painful week of the lot. ur remaining NRI counterparts were partying..going places...having fun..goign to the gate for dinner...and we were content seeing the snaps of their outings with the girls and listening to the fun times they had outside while we were undergoing another week of brutality by our very dear seniors...!!hmmm....
anyway finally the day came . We got our freshie. I was happy beyond words...and i guess the feelings were the same amongst all of us...esp after the formation of IBMk and restart of ragging and all the crap that followed..this was a welcome shower of monsoons for us...!!During the freshy there was a proper mimicking by Kuttan of the seniors including Johnny n Vinod and it was mimicked so perfectly that all were rolling on the ground..!!All fresh memories and then we did perform the "Suno tho diwana dil" partly and performed some rubbish on the stage when we were supposed to do a proper drama or dance or something...anyway then we heard a lot of advices from the seniors ..abt the mallu unity and their freshers party stories...!!one memorable day..!!!
and this was the very day when i made my entrance into the world traversed by almost all my seniors!! I tried my first voluntary gulp that day- no tensions...no mind blocks( for the NRI freshie as well, I had gulped but then i was more worried about the mallu ragging that was scheduled for me the next day more than enjoyin the freshers party)..
it was bliss....i remember one of my seniors Subhash Narayan(mallu prod) challenged me and Addy to a competition. He thought he would get a easy victory over us. We too thought the same. But for the heck of competing we competed. We had the first swig - bottoms up - on the rocks and Subhash was aghast and he too without loosing a moment had his first glass...we were al pumped up now...!!It was the moment when we had to show that we were not the "pavam pavam" types which we had portrayed ourselves to be...!!We ahd another 2 swigs and Subhash followed suit...and then we slowed down on advice from final years...esp since it was the first time for myself and addy..so we had the 4th and 5th drink slow n steeady...and sudenly we saw someone was shouting and moving arnd completely drunk. Turned arnd to see that it was none other than our dear Subhash.
He was Blown...myself, prem, dwipin carried him to someone's room, i guess it was prem's room and left him there to sleep..and we carried on..
Later on heard that never before had Subhash drank so much in his life..and we had coaxed him into it..courtesy the challenge. Anyway after that the real fun began...All the guys were pretty high up and the singing session began with parady's and vallips and first years (us) abusing all our seniors to the core for what all they had done to us...!!
The night however belonged to Addy. He was drunk and all that vaashi n hatred that had built inside him against the seniors came out and he caught the seniors one by one..starting from final yrs Ashif and ending with Vinod (2nd yr) in Diamond hostel.\He ragged each one of them...with his tongue so much that all seniors were completely flabbergast. They dint have a word to say...the best was Addy's ragging of Vinod - a common irritating guy for all the first years then. Vinod had retired early from the freshers party since he was a teetotaller and he had obviously got bored...But that was not an issue for our dude Addy...he went to his rooom..pulled off the characteristic towel which was wrapped arnd Vinod's eyes when he slept...pulled him out of his bed and abused him beyond anything...so much so that finally Vinod got irritated and me and Yeda (anand P) had to pull him out and make addy sleep somewhere else..!!
Then me and Yeda continued talking about our past, got a pep talk from him about the various departments etc..etc..!!It was the same night when Ghattis (maharashtrians) had had also their freshy and we joined Chatlawar (a 2- time year back, then studying in second yr - and a pretty good footballer though hot headed). We asked him for water and he gave us a bottle...which was just on the rocks Vodka..and both me and yeda gulped it down and realised what we had drunk was vodka and not water...!!anyway...then myself, yeda and chaat sat and talked abt football for sometime..then we went to one of the dhabas outside and had some sweets...early in the morning by arnd 4:00 am and then got back. By this time 3 of us were properly high and we decided to play football to practice for the inter-year finals due to be played that evening between 1st yrs v/s 2sn yrs...kicked arnd the ball till abt 9:00 am...and then we went to mess and had breakfast and went back to the hostel and slept off...!!
i got up at 4:30 pm only just in time for the match which was to begin at 5:00 pm...went to the field..paddded up ...and match started.but there was no sign of Yeda or Chaat...2 main players for the 2nd yrs then..!!anyhow...we had a thumpin win of 3-0 - if my memory is right. and we were doing the victory dancing and shouting happily..when chaat and yeda came in...all droopy..they obviously had had too much to drink and their head was spinning even now...pity them and saw the look of hatred for them in the remaining 2yrs eyes..!!I was glad that i had got up in time for the match..>!!
and that day it dawned upon me..that I have a great capacity..!!I am a tank..!!The news spread fast to all seniors..the rest of the second semester was spent accompanying every other senior...giving company to many...roaming arnd with the seniors..seeing places...and enjoying every moment.!!Second semester - i hardly saw the classrooms...!!
After the eventful nights of comradeship...i would get baclk to hostel by 7:00 am...have breakfast and sleep till evening...and the cycle continued...!!!This was jut the beginning of the TANK...and more was yet to come....