Monday, May 7, 2007

My mag article

This is something that i wrote, which got published in the college magazine.. its got a super lame-o title

Strikes: Glory to thee!!

by Angelus

There are innumerable things that I love about CET and college life. But one thing that holds prominence in the list is strikes. I love strikes. Absolutely adore them. No matter what kind. Be it a water strike, strikes due to sparring between rival parties, strikes due to lack of facilities in MH, strikes because the foreign minister of Bolivia was imprisoned, strikes celebrating the victory day of the winning party, strikes celebrating the victory day of the minor party that scraped by with two wins, strikes because a party leader has an incomplete assignment. I love them all.

Imagine this you are sitting in class. Its a boring double hour ,you are off in LaLa Land, when all of a sudden you hear a faint sound, as if there is a fight going on in the distance, it grows clearer, it cant be.. It is.. “On strike ... On strike ... so and so ...On strike….
Your heart leaps with joy. You close your books ,all eager for the teacher to take attendance and let you go.. You know the feeling, everyone in CET does,and admit it you love it.

I fondly remember my first strike, like an initiation ritual it was. Having grown up outside Kerala, I was alien to the concept of strikes. I was awestruck, dumbfounded, baffled and was for lack of words. I mean, we students beg for free periods and for day offs, and here was perfectly legal way to get that.

And over the years we have come across some really memorable strikes. There was the one where two groups decided to call strike on the same day, unbeknown to each other. Then there was the strike started by just one guy. He started in the mech department and gathered a following as he went along. But the most memorable one has to be the one started by LHites, it truly was a sight to see. I believe you can see part of it on youtube.

What’s more I have heard if you have the right contacts and some dough to roll out you can initiate a strike of your own. But all things aside, it is a matter of fact that strikes are a grave matter, something that all of us should take seriously. I for one always, and I mean always vacate the classroom to show my solidarity for the cause. Hey it’s the least I can do….

PS: our college magazine is called maram pezhthappol.. aka "When the trees rained", it basically implies that life,memory and the college years are all like the rain drops which accumulate in the trees, and when you shake them they come down.. i kinda like that..

2 comments:

Gaurav said...

i really dont knw wat u xperienced man... in my college v nvr hd strikes... bt hu cares v just hav 3 hours of class 4 each subject... tht makes us equal... and u remember abt our stories tht got published in childrens world a few years...infact a lot of yrs bak...hehe

Anonymous said...

Our college has never seen a strike so campus strikes are an alien event to me. But a couple of years ago, some seniors invited some friends from a nearby college to start a strike in ours! hehe To their disappointment, as soon as the striking party arrived, the Principal invited them to tea and biscuits. Nobody knows what she fed into their heads during the little "tea party". But they left immediately... stomachs full (pun intended). ;)