Thursday, March 05, 2009

A Hitchhiker's story

It's a two kilometer walk from the main gate to the hostel, so the admin has arranged a (highly irregular) bus/'battery-powered-van' service to shuttle us back and forth. A walk to the main gate takes 20 mins (if you walk fast enough, of course), while most of the time, you'll have to wait half an hour for the bus. So we seldom take the bus.

However, hitch-hiking is pretty common. Esp when it's two hot you have a lot of luggage with you! Having been both the hitch-hiker and the hitch-hikee (if there be such a word), I must say it is very educative. Apart from being able to travel in fancy cars (I almost traveled in a S-class once. Almost.), you also get to meet a lot of very interesting people and learn a lot about not just them, but the insti in general.

For example, the first time I ever heard about the pan-IIT was when I was given a lift by one of te organisers. And recently, I learnt that about 25 yrs ago there were peacocks and crocodile on the campus!!! Crocodiles - that's right! Another time, we got into a car with loads of kids including a very sweet 5 year old who invited us home and was sad to bid us good bye at the gate!

And while giving rides, you meet a number of just-graduated alumni and it is pretty interesting to know what they are doing now.

For my part, I've informed a number of people about the existence of a M.Sc course in IIT. You'd be shocked at the number of people closely associate with the institute who do not know that. I would be insulted, but I guess I'm used to being a 'matak' by now.

Sigh.

P.S: Sorry, couldn't resist the fancy title!

8 comments:

Roshan George said...

Ha ha, yeah, it's kind of neat the people you meet. For me, the best part is that everyone thinks I'm married and all, and they say, "What do you do, sir?" and stuff like that. Awesome!

Spica said...

Lol! Yeah, and I bet you make up some story!

Roshan George said...

Of course.

P.S. What is a 'matak'.

Vinod Pillai said...

Pah! Most people at IIT dont offer you lifts. Not unless you catch them at the gate and harrass them. Bloody bums.

Anonymous said...

Three years back, I did ride on a hayabusa; with a surd however .

Spica said...

Roshan: A matak is short(?) for m.tech, which is what these bataks think all P.Gs in IIT are!

Vinod: See, this is where being a girl comes in handy! ;-)

Sido: Ah.. Past glories! :-P

Nikita said...

ah the joys of hitchhiking and student life. U make me nostalgic about my college life girl.

Spica said...

Nikita: Well, you're gonna have more of that soon!