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Another curious thing happened to me when I was an evicted bachelor from Gokhale Hall at IIT KGP in 1966 and forced to live alone in Qrs C-23.
This Qrs had 3 rooms alright but only a single bathroom, a kitchen, and a single Indian toilet a little away from the living space. My Father had by then half a dozen daughter-kids to educate and marry off. So I was sending 70% of my salary home and living frugally at KGP, cooking a sort of bachelor-meal and surviving.
One fine summer morning at dawn there was a knock on my door and when I opened it I saw a smiling gentleman and three rickshaws with a lady, three kids, and a lot of luggage harboring them. Before I knew what was happening, all of them got downloaded and gushed into my Qrs swamping me. And I was too taken aback and overwhelmed by the frontal assault to take any steps...concrete or mud.
I knew the gentleman a bit, having met him at a function. He was then doing his Ph D as a QIP scholar. This was short for the nascent Quality Improvement Program, meant for married teachers working in Engg Colleges who sponsored them for three years to work at any IIT they get admission into.
Unfortunately QIP didn't have enough funds to build Qrs exclusively meant for their scholars and so these married folks had to live outside the campus in rented houses which were few and far off. So they were on a constant lookout for bachelors living alone in the IIT Qrs into which they used to barge and squat.
The gentleman, his wife, and their kids were very nice people and started living in the hall and two rooms leaving one for me kindly. And the gent said he would pay the entire rent and the lady said she would cook for me as well. In short, I was to become their Paying Guest in my own Qrs.
Firstly this was against our sacrosanct Conduct Rules...we were not supposed to sublet our Qrs. Secondly I was a shy bachelor unused to living with strange ladies and kids under my roof however nice they were.
And I felt offended by the audacity of the couple to intrude and take me for granted.
But there was no way of evicting the squatters other than complaining to the Police before there was a complaint of subletting against me.
So I went into Gandhijee's Satyagraha mode, not eating with them, not talking to them, and sloganeering in my own discreet way:
"Quit C-23!"
After a week of my Non-Cooperation Movement, the gent understood and one fine lunch time when I stepped into my Qrs gingerly, I found the whole place vacant all for myself...they had moved into the Qrs of a more agreeable forced bachelor.
A decade later, when married scholars grew into unmanageable numbers, the QIP Program granted funds needed to build an exclusive married-folks-hostel called the Zakir Hussain Hall...I guess it is still there.
The storming of this gent into my C-23 reminds me of another phenomenon that was prevalent at IIT KGP those days.
Our plush Netaji Auditorium used to screen old and grainy movies on weekends. In time there came into being a body called TFS (Technology Film Society)...it must still be there. They used to sell monthly tickets for staff members for the Evening Shows and annual tickets for students for Matinee Shows. The Evening Shows were full of ladies of the campus in their best attire and makeup. But the Matinee Shows were naturally rowdy, with students clapping, shouting, whistling and smoking despite the best efforts of the Gymkhana President to quell them.
And there was such a rush for good old movies in that desolate place that the number of tickets sold were too few for the swelling student community. So, ten minutes before the start of the Matinee Show, all students who wished to sit in that hot and humid and stuffy place and enjoy themselves used to stand outside the Gate waiting for the crowd to swell and swell. And just when it was becoming unmanageable, they would all rush in at a prearranged signal and swamp the couple of volunteers manning the gates, shouting "Jai Hind!"
And double up in every seat and also squat in the aisles.
And the meager staff of TFS could do nothing about it...
This tactic had a name:
"High Pressure Technology"
...Posted by Ishani
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Another curious thing happened to me when I was an evicted bachelor from Gokhale Hall at IIT KGP in 1966 and forced to live alone in Qrs C-23.
This Qrs had 3 rooms alright but only a single bathroom, a kitchen, and a single Indian toilet a little away from the living space. My Father had by then half a dozen daughter-kids to educate and marry off. So I was sending 70% of my salary home and living frugally at KGP, cooking a sort of bachelor-meal and surviving.
One fine summer morning at dawn there was a knock on my door and when I opened it I saw a smiling gentleman and three rickshaws with a lady, three kids, and a lot of luggage harboring them. Before I knew what was happening, all of them got downloaded and gushed into my Qrs swamping me. And I was too taken aback and overwhelmed by the frontal assault to take any steps...concrete or mud.
I knew the gentleman a bit, having met him at a function. He was then doing his Ph D as a QIP scholar. This was short for the nascent Quality Improvement Program, meant for married teachers working in Engg Colleges who sponsored them for three years to work at any IIT they get admission into.
Unfortunately QIP didn't have enough funds to build Qrs exclusively meant for their scholars and so these married folks had to live outside the campus in rented houses which were few and far off. So they were on a constant lookout for bachelors living alone in the IIT Qrs into which they used to barge and squat.
The gentleman, his wife, and their kids were very nice people and started living in the hall and two rooms leaving one for me kindly. And the gent said he would pay the entire rent and the lady said she would cook for me as well. In short, I was to become their Paying Guest in my own Qrs.
Firstly this was against our sacrosanct Conduct Rules...we were not supposed to sublet our Qrs. Secondly I was a shy bachelor unused to living with strange ladies and kids under my roof however nice they were.
And I felt offended by the audacity of the couple to intrude and take me for granted.
But there was no way of evicting the squatters other than complaining to the Police before there was a complaint of subletting against me.
So I went into Gandhijee's Satyagraha mode, not eating with them, not talking to them, and sloganeering in my own discreet way:
"Quit C-23!"
After a week of my Non-Cooperation Movement, the gent understood and one fine lunch time when I stepped into my Qrs gingerly, I found the whole place vacant all for myself...they had moved into the Qrs of a more agreeable forced bachelor.
Pretty soon I too managed to quit my punishment posting in that Qrs.
A decade later, when married scholars grew into unmanageable numbers, the QIP Program granted funds needed to build an exclusive married-folks-hostel called the Zakir Hussain Hall...I guess it is still there.
The storming of this gent into my C-23 reminds me of another phenomenon that was prevalent at IIT KGP those days.
Our plush Netaji Auditorium used to screen old and grainy movies on weekends. In time there came into being a body called TFS (Technology Film Society)...it must still be there. They used to sell monthly tickets for staff members for the Evening Shows and annual tickets for students for Matinee Shows. The Evening Shows were full of ladies of the campus in their best attire and makeup. But the Matinee Shows were naturally rowdy, with students clapping, shouting, whistling and smoking despite the best efforts of the Gymkhana President to quell them.
And there was such a rush for good old movies in that desolate place that the number of tickets sold were too few for the swelling student community. So, ten minutes before the start of the Matinee Show, all students who wished to sit in that hot and humid and stuffy place and enjoy themselves used to stand outside the Gate waiting for the crowd to swell and swell. And just when it was becoming unmanageable, they would all rush in at a prearranged signal and swamp the couple of volunteers manning the gates, shouting "Jai Hind!"
And double up in every seat and also squat in the aisles.
And the meager staff of TFS could do nothing about it...
This tactic had a name:
"High Pressure Technology"
Like what our northern neighbor is doing to her border states.
...Posted by Ishani
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