Few days after Shivratri.....

At the very beginning please forgive me for my lack of command over the language and a request to Shisir to kindly edit this script whenever you have time....

Most SSGians are infamous for their unpredictable bathing habits. And no one would probably blame them, if you could understand how the scenario of water was in SSG. Water spitted out from the steel pipes in unison, only three times a day, for 30 minutes to an hour each (I still don’t know whose hands controlled those knobs for water supplies. Whoever it be, he must be one constipated, irritated soul). Most of us would walk out to the hand pump, wiping the lather of soap on their bodies, towards the hand pump, as the supply stopped. Oh, the hand pump! It puked more iron than water, and at times only iron. Talking about water, one cannot ‘not mention’ the only place where there was always water…the concrete tank in each hostel, where inmates would scoop down iron buckets to aid their nature’s call. In an artificial desert like SSG, the only reason that the tank remained ‘filled’ throughout was because it was actually dirty, even by SSG standards.

It was a Sunday, a few days after Shivratri. X and Y, walked down to PWD market, an out-of-bound area for students. As is usual, they landed at Hemo’s shop (Hemo was the one who would sell everything to students, from maggi to meat, and most importantly with homely warmth). Hemo offered them some left over ‘Bhang’ from Shivratri. As any other SSGian would have acted, X and Y’s eyes glinted and they gulped down three glasses each, underestimating the influence that it might have, more so after having been left to ferment, doubling its power.

X and Y started their backward journey to their house in confidence. Within 5 minutes, the walk turned into a sway and by the time they reached the house, Y was laughing as if there was no tomorrow. Friends rushed to his aid and gagged him, before he roused the suspicion of the House Master. During the commotion, someone noticed that X was curiously missing. A silent manhunt was launched and reports came that X was seen going towards the bathing area. When some went up there, X stood there with his legs in the air, and his head immersed in the sparkling water of the tank…that never dried. As he was pulled out, releasing a fountain of bubbles in the water, he fumbled with all sincerity, ‘Murtu bhang khai garam hoi goise o.... heyehe thanda kori asu’ (My head was heated up with the stuff, so was cooling it off).

Note: If anyone finds X, please take him for a good shower.