Of monsoon, love and freedom (Chapter 1)

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more…

-        ~ Lord Byron

I have come to realize the truthfulness in the quote, “Any place you don’t leave is a prison!” By that, home had turned into a lock-up with the body latched inside cuboids, mind burdened by ceilings and heart chained to attachments.

The internship of summer 2022 occurred to me as an opportunity of emancipation; to flee to a land so far away that it feels completely foreign. Note that “foreign” here is subject to a wide cultural difference and not hospitability. In that context, the second largest district of the second southernmost state turned out to be neighbourly to me.

Having already worked as a summer intern under the faculty advisership of Mrs. Lyla B. Das ma’am of the ECE department of National Institute of Technology Calicut the previous year in online mode, I didn’t have an infinitesimal amount of reconsideration on connecting with her once again. Plus, the thought of enjoying an extended monsoon of two extra months in Kerala turned me ecstatic. 

This was going to be once in a lifetime possibility for me in ways that I myself couldn’t have gauged about then. However, if I was definite about one thing, it was making sure that this has to be one hell of an adventure which should never be divorced from my memory.

But again, what joy is it being solo on an adventure? Who else would agree both to my request and the lure of going the distance and discovering a territory out of the way. So, Thakur who initially had turned down the glass for a day or so of second thoughts, turned up in my home to confirm a thumbs up; and, we were off!

There cannot be any substitute for the role of rain as the agent of love in my tryst with Calicut. The grand thundering welcome on May 11, 02:45 morning when this place where Vasco-da-Gama first landed, whole heartedly greeted us with showers. 

And the sun didn’t show up for the following two weeks stretched. This made me literally forget it’s summer all over the country. When Thakur made me realize this, not to mention in the uttermost respectful language, we both burst out laughing. Pity on my family and friends far north suffering another merciless season which, by all means I managed to flee away.

On our first meeting with Lyla mam in her office, she inquired, “Since when do the two of you know each other?”. “Since the 11^th standard!”, both of us broke out almost in unison. The internship being only the second, the professor was quick to detect the prime objective behind our visit. “So you guys are here on a vacation!”, she quipped instantly. That was the first instance of one of the facets of her instant likable personality being displayed. Nikhil sir, a 2^nd year M. Tech. guided us to the hostel where we made our own arrangements thereafter.

(the view my hostel room window opened to)

On our first day in the Embedded systems lab (we were pursuing an internship on image processing using deep learning but in the department of ECE), we were vibing in the Hindi retro romantics played by the then staff in-charge Anandan sir who retired soon after. For the major part of the course, I worked from the comfort of our hostel room but at times when the task seemed urgent or when I had to download a movie, I would sit back and chill in the air-conditioned lab.

The college campus

Life in the college campus was pleasant and decorated with an absolute sense of freedom. It offered us ample space for peaceful walks as there are so many places one can settle down to enjoy some solitude. We would go comparing every aspect of our own college to NIT Calicut with mockery and disappointment over everything our campus didn’t include but was proliferating there. 

(a security guard peacefully dozing off on duty)

What I personally found distinctive was that although the infrastructure extended itself to a fairly good extent so as to accommodate separate department buildings, a large ground, various sports fields and courts, SAC, canteens, hostels, faculty quarters and a state-of-the-art grand central library; one could still traverse around hassle free on foot.

The hostel mess food was like no other, serving us a buffet of options that we at times would stand perplexed on what to serve our tummies with. Non-veg was included daily in the menu and fulsome eating helped me regain 3-4 kgs of my lost weight by the time I returned. The hostel wardens and mess workers were truly amicable towards us and ensured that our stay in the foreign territory at no time turns uncomfortable. Having no restrictions on hostel timings, we would squander around the campus on drizzling late nights. That used to be a very soothing affair with the rain.

Kattangal

Kattangal forms the sub-urban home town of the NIT Calicut campus. It is very easy to observe that its flourishing market can be credited to the institute located within walking distance from there. Just a walk through Kattangal would give you a miniature form of Kerala or even India to an extent. What Kota is to NITRR, Kattangal is to NITC; only better and far more organized. 

 

A lot of our evenings were spent in the delicacies of Burger lounge, Momo lush, Sweets valley bakery in the main street corner and thelas of bhel, maggie and soda. A notable point is that Kerala is an absolute heaven for non-veg food and there are more bakeries than restaurants or cafes! Many a time, we would go there to refill our snack stocks or grab a chicken burger for dinner or just refresh ourselves with a brisk walk. And so, Kattangal formed an indispensable extension of our campus life.