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Youth. College days, to be more specific.

Those 5 years (grad/postgrad) at the university were the most memorable years of my life. Memories of a vibrant, fearless, romantic, and boisterous time of my life.

Just coming out of a regimented school life, is the newfound freedom.

Especially, when you come out of a boys’ school 😊

I was lucky to be part of the North Campus of Delhi University. Those days, we used to flaunt our association with the north campus.

Truly, it was a unique setup of the departments teaching postgraduate courses and 9 colleges within the campus teaching undergrad courses. Most were extremely prestigious colleges, such as St. Stephens, Hindu, Hansraj, SRCC, and Miranda House.

I was enrolled in Hansraj College.

One of the most unique experiences in our time (1979-1984) was the U-Specials, an acronym for University Special. They were the state transport buses (DTC) plying between different destinations of Delhi and the University.

The buses would run in the morning from different destinations and terminate at Patel Chowk between 8-8.30 in the morning, one of the main junctions of the university. The return trip would be scheduled at 1.30 pm, 2.00 pm, and 3.30 pm from Patel Chowk.

I would always board the last bus at 3.30 pm after spending the entire day on the campus with my hands full of different activities, including studies 😊

Our U-Special would reach the University Gate by 8.30 am and our classes would begin at 9 am. It was a ritual to spend half-an-hour at the University Café every day before proceeding to the class.

I carried my armory of songs and soon became popular within and outside my college. I befriended different groups from different colleges, based on the requirement.

For instance, Ramjas College had the best music group. I joined them as a singer and as a percussion player. I used to play Bongo and Congo. I still have a certificate, representing Ramjas, that we won at Oasis, one of the best inter-college music festivals at BITS, Pilani.

I befriended some tough guys from Khalsa College as shields against possible combatants on the campus.

Undergraduate courses in Anthropology and Geology were the only two subjects taught in the respective Departments and not in the colleges. But we were enrolled at Hansraj (boys) or Miranda House (girls).

We would shuttle between the department and the college for our subsidiary classes, which finally ended after graduation.

Coming from a boys’ school, I was shy and perhaps a little nervous speaking with a girl. But the lopsided proportion of girls in the department helped me eliminate that inhibition.

The following years might have brought plenty of adventures and excitement, but these 5 years were filled with freedom, which I guess I lost after this. ☹

Bottomline:

You should do what you should do at every moment of life.

For me, those 5 years brought me freedom as never before or after.

For you, it could differ.