A 'uni'que experience

My friend Max - also my senior from uni - is leaving Singapore.

So over dinner on Thursday night, he expressed a desire to visit our uni before he left Singapore. We decided it was a fabulous idea to go to uni and do addabazi at the usual haunts.

So he sent out an email to a bunch of people asking them if they were interested. Soon a roll call was started over email, as people kept adding their names on the list. (These kinda emails make you pity the people who don't use gmail.) It was decided that we would meet at 10 am at the train station and then take the bus to uni. This bus has a very scenic route and I would consider the bus ride as an integral part of the uni-viewing experience.

So I am waiting at the train station at 10 am, and there's no sign of the dhakkans. I wait patiently till 10:15 am and then send an sms to Max to ask his whereabouts. He calls back immediately.

"We're taking a cab to the train station. We'll get there soon."

"Max, tell me the truth. You just woke up, didn't you? You're not really in a cab, are you?"

"Oh it's my flatmate who was taking so long... we're going to take a cab now..."

"Going to??? Max, it's 10:15!"

"Sayesha, this is supposed to be a trip down memory lane. So the timings will also be like that."

"Okay, get your asses here asap."

A loooong wait later, they finally turned up - Max, American Pi, and two others. So it was only five of us. The rest bailed out. Too early for them I suppose. Office-goers are usually reluctant to wake up early on saturdays.

So as usual, I found myself on a trip with an all-guys company. Except that this trip was not to Cambodia, Perhentian or Goa, but it was just down memory lane.

We went to Canteen A first, the main adda of the IG, or the Indian Gang, as we called ourselves in uni. In the old days, there used to be a western food stall which served good breakfast. Their omelettes were pretty popular, and the stall lady would yell at her cook every few seconds, "Ikha omh-leh!" She became known as the 'ikha omh-leh' lady. Unfortunately, her stall has been replaced with a McDonald's so poor Max could not eat his last 'ikha omh-leh' for breakfast.

We decided to get a drink and sit at the IG table. The IG table is a big table in the canteen which has been kinda reserved for the noisy Indians from India, for years now. No one dares to sit at that table - not the Chinese, not the Malays, not the local Indians, nor anyone else. And this holds true to this day. It's like an unwritten policy.

I had a glass of cold milo - the best and the cheapest (40 cents) I have ever had in Singapore - and the guys also got some drinks. We spent some time doing addabazi at the IG table and then went to check out the library.

The library is just above the canteen, and during exams, we would study for half an hour in the library and then come down to the canteen to take a ten-min break, and would only end up going back an hour or more later. It was earlier known as Library 1 but is now named after a guy. As we sat and wondered about how much money the guy must have donated to get the library named after him, Max's flatmate made a profound statement.

"There are two ways to get something named after you. Either you donate shitloads of money, or you become so famous that they pay you shitloads of money to use your name."

"I think I'll just use the second approach. Financially, more viable." I said.

Max's flatmate joked, "Max, since you're leaving, you may name a piece of furniture in our house after you. The Max chair, or the Max table or something?"

Max retorted, "Yeah, sure! And oh, can I name the shitpot after you??"

His flatmate said, "Yeah, but you have to pay me royalty for using my name."

"Yeah, the shit I deposit will be your royalty!" Max said.

I think we forgot we were in a library, we were laughing so hard. Luckily, we were not kicked out of the library. IG members were famous for getting kicked out of places - especially from hostels.

From the library we started walking towards the other end of the main uni building, also known as the south spine.















We stopped by the steps near the admin building and remembered the days when we would have the annual IG photoshoot at the steps. We sat there for a while and chatted about the old days, before moving on.
















The Student Affairs Office - I'd laughed for months at the name!
















Coffee club express, where we used to sit and have cheesecake slices. Yummy!
















The auditorium where my convocation was held





















The tutorial rooms where we used to study at night for exams
















My green and beautiful uni! Yeay!


We passed by the computer room, and remembered the hilarious days of IRC and how one of our seniors had made a complete ass of another by posing as a hot chick and talking to him on IRC for weeks! The guy actually turned up at the airport, complete with flowers, to "receive the babe", but was greeted by the prankster instead! The story had been passed down to generations of the IG.

Then we went to the MLT - the Main Lecture Theatre - which has also been named after someone now. This lecture theatre can house a thousand students, which was how big the first year engineering class used to be. One of the guys pretended to be a lecturer and even gave a mock lecture, which he ended with a "Pretty girls may stay back."

We sat for many of our exams in the MLT, so all the funny exam stories came out. Apparently, one of our seniors entered the MLT before an exam and remarked, "Yaar, bahut thand hai yahan..." ("It's too cold here.") The prof who taught the subject happened to be an Indian, and he retorted in Hindi, "Beta, exam paper kholo, bahut garmi lagegi." ("Son, open the exam paper, you'll start feeling very hot.") :D

Then there was another incident when a prof was giving exam tips when he noticed my senior sleeping in the first row. He asked the guy next to him to wake the sleeping guy. The sleeping guy was woken up and made to listen to the tips, after which the prof said, "Okay, you can go back to sleep now." And he did!!! :O















The canteen B tables, where I would do last minute revisions before exams

We next went to Yunnan Garden, where much of the ragging used to take place. More here on how I was ragged. We took pictures in front of the fountain near the Chinese Heritage Centre.















We walked by Nanyang Lake, the lake with dirty brown water, where we'd been dunked by the seniors in our first year. The memories were not very pleasant. :|

We had lunch at Canteen 2, and went to the mini co-op there. The aunty at the counter is the same even now after so many years!

Then we went to the SRC - the Sports and the Recreation Centre - near the running track. This is where the seniors would line us up and grill us. This is where I had been asked to play antakshari against myself for an hour. Sheesh. :|

We checked out the swimming pool and the indoor basketball courts (we actually had some of our exams in the basketball courts!) Memories came rushing back.

















The dirty pool outside Hall 6, where many IG members were thrown in on their birthdays















One of the hostels




















A closer look at a hostel block















View from where we waited to board the bus

After taking tons of photos and roaming around campus for 4-5 hours, we took the bus back and went our separate ways. Just like we're about to do in life.

Here's to my friend Max. I hereby forgive you unconditionally for ragging me. Have a great life, buddy! :)

And I'm more than sure we'll meet again.