Before the advent of the Internet or computers, we wrote letters by hand and waited eagerly for the postman to deliver one. Those were the days of epic television drama serials like Buniyaad and programmes Chitrahaar, when television meant just one national channel and when video cassette recorders were still in vogue. Looking back I am surprised. Given how conservative, strict and Indian my parents were, they actually allowed me to write letters to a boy, considering the fact that I was not permitted to invite boys home or to visit any boy's house, even if I was with a group of girls. When my gang consisting of four boys and three girls, were going out for a movie and for ice-creams later, after my class 12 Board Exams, I was the only one not permitted to go. Perhaps, they let me write letters as no one would see them whereas going out for a movie or ice creams meant that people would see and they would talk.
The first feeling I had when I entered the college gates was that of breathlessness. I had hurried to make it in time for the first day at college. I could not believe that my school days were actually over and I was officially a college student.
No more school uniforms. No more strict rules. No more being treated as a kid. I would be 18 on my next birthday and officially an adult. I felt excited as legally it meant I was eligible to marry and vote. The flip side immediately struck me too. I would no longer be a juvenile and could be arrested too. Of course, at that time I had no idea how dangerously close I'd come to it. It was an exhilarating feeling—like a caterpillar emerging out of a cocoon. I could hardly wait.
It would take at least twenty pages of writing to describe my college to Vaibhav.
The buildings were smart, modern and pristinely clean. There was a solitary tree in the middle of the courtyard, standing proudly, on which hung a bell. A circular platform went around the tree and some students were sitting on it, some standing, and all chattering excitedly. The bell would be rung throughout the day to indicate the end of a period.