Re-living NIRD&PR

By Rashika

Right From entering the arch in Rajendra Nagar

With the coconut seller on the right corner

And the idli-dosha maker on the left

That’s how NIRDPR welcomes you.

Situated between TISS, NAARM and MANAGE,

Ours is the small yet the best campus.

It lures you towards its greenery.

From the guards at the main gate who keep a hawk eye on you

To check With Whom, Where and when are you returning

To the straight road not taken because the NIRDPR SECURITY CHECK diverts you to the right

As you turn right and feel a little slope upwards

It reminds you that you are in the Deccan land.

You meet The Mahatma pedestal and taking a 180 degrees semi-circular turn

Enter The CPGS&DE in whose lobby, you had waited for your call for the GD & PI

You also meet the man running the CPGS – Dr Debapriya along with Madhav sir

Whom you troubled every now and then asking for any information about the results

Hungry as you might have come out after the PI

Somebody might have guided you to the canteen at the back

And had your fill because it actually serves relishing lunch.

After getting to know what you wanted to happen, that is, announcement of the result

You entered with much excitement to Nilgiri and Vindhyachal

Deciding on your room (if given the chance) and tensed at who your roommate will be You start unpacking and set up the room for the next one year

And your roommate arrives with tonnes of baggage as if he/she were to live here forever

But of course, you greet him/her with a smile and a Hi

To break the ice, you ask where are you from and blah blah blah

And without any further delay, both of you explore the campus mess to feed your empty udders

You lock your room, look at other new faces as you go downstairs and also peek into the next room to check who are your neighbours, Keep the room keys with hostel receptionist and as you step on the mess slope, you meet a few seniors sitting on the round tables who welcome their juniors with stares.

It’s evening time and tea along with bread-butter and jam is available, some seniors are preparing their own sandwiches at the counter.

While biryani is being prepared by the head chef Sanju bhaiya and Dhiren dada, the two golden retrievers also stand tall to welcome the new batch.

You grab your plates, wash them again for your satisfaction and eat the really delicious biryani making sure to take as many paneer cubes as possible.

You go for a walk around the campus which eventually became a daily ritual without which the day would be incomplete even if there would be two exams and assignment submissions the next day.

It’s the first day in class at the SK Rao building where you formally introduce yourself to all the Professors and vice versa and we play a game of describing ourselves in one-word adjective

So that our batchmates know each other in this way better

Dr. Debapriya enters in half-sleeves shirt, trousers and woodland shoes

Introduces the faculty of the day

In his signature style of keeping his right hand on his belly and saying,

‘It is my pleasure to welcome Prof XYZ on behalf of CPGS’

After the introduction ritual

Which will go on until the first trimester

The faculty plays his/her slides

And of course, very keenly takes the attendance too.

The two CRs are also appointed

Who will bear the brunt the entire year

Right from creating google drive links

To putting all the information and deadlines on the immediately formed Whatsapp group in BOLD

Day two has a new game by Dr. Sonal

That of blindfolding your partner and roaming around the campus.

Soon we meet Murali sir and a whole new book of Livelihoods is opened for us He makes us sit in circles unlike rows and columns

He stresses on the Panchsutras

And made us feel the situation through Narayanpur Express

Meanwhile, the list for field immersion gets ready

From visiting the PHC, primary school, aanganwadi kendra, farmlands

To meeting the youth groups, SHG women, local journalist

And of course not forgetting the toddy-tappers

We all returned with our first set of memories

And definitely, too many pictures in the phone.

Apart from taking learnings from the field we also made our first set of friends understood who actually works in the group and made our daily diary, log book, report and PPT

As we returned, we are surprised by the freshers pawri thrown for us the auditorium is decked with balloons, roses, music, dance, games, colours, attires and masti despite the fact that both batches had their classes during the day

A week later, we throw a farewell party.

With placement happiness and a little sobbing on getting apart now, the round tables that used to be occupied by the previous batches

will be ours.

Trying to reach the mess by 8.30 am to get hot parathas on Monday pooris on Tuesday, idli on Wednesday, vada on Thursday and again pooris on Friday we have walked till the first floor in Ambedkar Block for 6 days of the week

Having tea and biscuits during the 10-minute break or buying snacks from the outlet to controlling the AC temperature we efficiently utilised that freedom.

While most of us used to grab our afternoon nap in hostels some of us used to do so in the library itself and if there is an information about maggi being prepared in evening time we all ran so that it doesn’t get cleared.

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday used to be the special meal days

But Sunday breakfast had to be compulsorily at the idli-dosa corner

And sometimes the dinner too got skipped

Because of either Mehfil, Mantra Mall or Hi-Tech City

Either we sped on VOGO or asked the cab driver to rush

Just to make it on time back to the campus

From preparing our Mission and Vision of life the River of life, and publishing our Autobiography to late night assignment submissions alongside playing PUB-G

You must have gate-crashed into the dining halls of Aravali block

And had ice-cream or gulab jamun as a bonus

Driving on the dairy-farm road used to be a starry experience

And relishing the authentic Paradise biryani, another moment.

Buying the Netflix subscription together

To trying to switch on the hostel room AC

Waiting for your turn at the washing machine

And waiting for the machine to wash the clothes without breaking in the middle.

Right after giving the first trimester exams

We headed to our 1-month field visit

Saying goodbye to our support staff

Whom we can never forget for keeping

Our campus clean & green

From the 12am birthday parties

And turning the mess literally into a ‘mess’

With foam spray, sprinklers, cake and coke

To the New year and Sankranti celebrations.

Walking safely from scorpions and snakes in the monsoon

To the news of leopard in the campus

We have lived each moment

With fear and fun both.

Going to the RTP for the fresh morning breeze

To preparing for freshers and farewell parties

Getting two birthday cakes One to eat and other to smear on faces

We turned each day into a festival.

Interacting with SHG women at the RTP mela To making friends with students from NAARM and MANAGE

We enjoyed the unpredictable rains of Hyderabad.

From Akanksha mam’s sessions on Communication

And Sonal mam’s lectures on Rural Society

To Patrick sir’s motivational addresses

And Prof Krishnamurthy’s extremely knowledgeable sessions of a lifetime

From patiently listening to Shivaprasad sir’s lectures

To the highly technical subjects of SPSS and GIS taken by Ravibabu sir and Rajeshwar sir

And going to the natural world during ecology classes taken by Prof Gawali and Subrat Mishra sir

Neeraj Misra sir’s highly commendable presentations on Indian rural society

To Prof Surjith Vikraman’s and Sahu sir’s extremely informative classes on our economy

Sucharita Ma’am’s online tutorials on Gender in her sweet lovely voice

To Prof EN Reddy’s absolutely crisp lecture hours on Social Enterprises

K P Reddy sir’s discourses on Organisational Behaviour were a perfect start for any fresher

To Prof K V Raju’s out-of-the-box ideas and concepts on Development Theories and Practices

Only regret being we could not meet them in person since they taught us online

From munching in the class

To posting stories on facebook and Instagram

And asking the person who sits near the waterdispenser

To fill our water bottles.

A game well played in the sports complex

Or a workout in the gym

To the relaxing mermaid dive

Life seemed like a morning dream.

Sunday cricket was a must

Not limited to a match only in the playground

But also in front of Vindhyachal

From searching for headphones in your neighbour’s room

To Secretly ordering from Domino’s

Before your friends take the delivery

Reading rooms were actually meeting rooms for groups

And each batch had two special personalities

One, who always came early to the class

To switch on the lights, fans and the desktop

And the other, who always got a special welcome from the professor

Later to throw tantrums of increasing the fan speed

Because he had to rush through staircase

There was definitely a someone who deserved to be called a scientist

A singer, dancer, poet or that commerce guy who would teach all the engineers

Indeed, the true gems were our international friends

Who very strongly lived away from their home, kids and family.

From the senior most person of the batch who is called senior citizen

To the youngest fellow known as the kiddo

One person who is like the silent sea

And the opposite who cannot stop talking

Then came the Shadnagar and Hindupur visit Where you must have bought the ikat print collection

And enjoyed the night journey dancing in the bus.

The last leg of this one-year journey came too soon

As we went to our 2-month internships,

Waiting for it to be over and return back to the campus

To live each day left of the third trimester

But COVID separated us all too soon

Only allowing videocalls and google meets

The Whatsapp group only had Webex links now

Giving assignments, exams and PPTs online

To the virtual interview and placements.

Today, we are managing our professional and private spaces

Some of us are away from homes and families

Turning our workplace as home away from home and

People we are working with, as second families

Most of us are waiting for our friends to get hitched

Or trying to plan a trip somewhere

And One person cannot make it at the last moment

Weekend goes in discussing about each other’s workplace

To going home fortnightly, if possible

To avoid Monday Blues

That’s how we re-lived our one-year in a few moments.

PS. Still waiting for the much-awaited convocation, if at all the situation allows.

By Rashika