Manipal - "A small town in Karnataka, India. Has a university where rich parents send their spoilt kids to, so that they can booze, smoke weed and get laid, and maybe get a degree in the process."
That's urban dictionary's definition for you. And I can unashamedly say that we did all that... and more. Save the rich parents part. And believe me, my parents didn't spoil me, Manipal did. Now this isn't the ideal place to get an "education", but as Floyd would agree, "educated" we all did get.
Strange, that I'm writing this almost 4 years after I graduated from that place. But it's raining here in Bombay (Mumbai whatever!!!), and the rains always remind me of Manipal. The place I stopped being a bespectacled geek and a complete loser and GREW UP!!! I can't even begin to define Manipal. I'd rather like to think of it as a spirit rather than a physical place. It's more of a phenomenon - something that teaches you to seek out the world (and most likely punch it in the face), something that makes you see yourself as just yourself (and not part of a 'system'), and most of all, something that urges you to be FREE!!
Manipal gave us the choice to be whatever we wanted to be - from a computer geek to a rock star. It allowed us time and space to be alone when we were down, and to be swamped by 20 guys immediately after, urging us to "bottoms up" the last whiskey peg. And believe me, you will not find anything more delicious than a "Deva's Special" anywhere in the world. And it has the only restaurant in the world where ketchup is the main ingredient of everything.. and I mean it.. EVERYTHING!!!!! It is a place where friends will not only die for you, but they will kill for you as well. And there is hardly a campus around the whole of India which is more scenic.
Manipal is purity in its most raw form. It is the whitest of white. Think of it as the first uncut garage version of 'The Dark Side of the Moon', or the first time Watson met Holmes. It is the place of firsts. First time I got thrown out of class, first time I rolled a joint, first time I saw a girl across the library hall and fell hopelessly in love, first time I nervously tried to pick a six string in front of a 1000-strong booing audience, and first time I partied so hard that I don't remember that I actually HAD been to a party the previous night.
It is a magical place filled with Deva's, and Timmy's, and Shack Point, and LC, and KC, and TC, and Juice Center, and Sheela, and Sutta & Chai, and 9th Block, and 10th Block, and 1st Block (smiles everyone!!!!), and Workshop (more smiles everyone!!!), and Malaysian Canteen, and Thaloor, and Downtown, and Movie Dome, and Auto Kaand, and Bun-Omelet, and Sizzling Browny, and Mighty Mighty. I could go on and on and on. But in the end, it is a place I call Home!!!
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14 comments:
brilliant one
all my friends who have graduated from manipal have similar views....
Hey Suro...
Yaar sahi mei...
u know what... yesterday it was raining here in Delhi... and instantly, I got carried away to Manipal.... pata nahi andar se ajab si feeling ho rahi thi...
The rain was making me nostalgic... A magical effect which will prolong at least for THIS life time :-)
amen to that mate...
Happened to read this blog today and became so nostalgic! very well echoed the sentiments of probably every Manipal guy..Those were the best days of my life!!
Dunno about the 'rich' bit, I snuck in through the narrow 'CET-window' in the days before it became MAHE. But yeah, the rest of the blog post sounds about right. Took me back 10 years. To a place where I wasted far too much time, and got wasted far too often. And you know what, it all didn't turn out so bad after all. Managing to remain an earning member of society, still have my MIT friends; the best friends a chap could ever have, even married one of them; and realized that what I learnt outside the classroom was far more useful than what I was forced to learn in it. Good days I had there. Good old MIT, Manipal.
great article.. manipal was not just our college, it was and is a mentor. taught us the good and the bad!!! if u define heaven as 'the place u always wanna b' i define it as 'MANIPAL' cheers!!
Amazing stuff... made my wander back to those good ol days..those 4 years of bliss.. Cheers!
as we all used to say. "It's not a place, it's a state of mind" !!! almost 5 years now and it still is HOME. :)
Made my day ....good stuff dude
Hi Suro, I've never been to Manipal but have heard a lot from Shashank and friends... i almost lived the place while reading ur blog.
Great stuff!!
Awesome dude !!!
Couldn't agree more with your 'DEFINITION'
Those were the best days of my life!!!
as a fresher, it's just been 4 months of the 'manipal experience' and i couldn't agree more...the description of manipal is just so accurate...! and even i have a feeling that after completing my 4 years at this place, i'm definitely going to miss it...
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