A little less, for a little more

A college is incomplete without its certified ‘adda’. It could be the college canteen, the sports complex, the parking-lot or even the space beneath a shady tree. Sometimes, an adda may also be located off-campus, usually a stone’s throw away. Trees and snack-shacks are famous contenders for the coveted adda status. Still, the likelihood of any area to turn into an adda is always in direct proportion with its ‘Factor of Coziness’ (F.O.C) which includes numerous sub-factors, the important four being:

i) Close proximity to campus
ii) Adequate shade or cover from sun, rain and teaching faculty
iii) Convenient access to ‘snacks’
iv) A guaranteed supply of mint flavoured mouth fresheners

So, unless it’s cleverly engineered to bear REALLY special fruit, a tree fails on the account of a bad F.O.C. Therefore, the perfect adda would be a cross between a tree and a shack: natural, yet cosmetically convenient. ‘Dream on’ some may say, but it actually existed, no, thrived until a few weeks ago, right beside M.S.R.I.T.
‘The Little Shop’: Pretty much a shack that mysteriously seemed to sprout a tree from its roof!

Botanical travesty, Architectural blunder;
An unholy union between stone and wood,
“Raze it we shall” they exclaimed, “with axe and hammer”
“For some such thing’d do more harm than good.”

Good or bad, it existed. The scores of students who’ve passed by the tiled walls and walked on the wallpapered floors of ‘old’ M.S.R.I.T will certainly remember this sweet-sounding-shop; such memories mostly augmented by shades of slacker-student activities. Back in 1999, while still in the first year, I dreaded passing by the shop. One word: Ragging. Barring the occasional trip for some vague stationery item, the shop was off-limits for freshers. “Go there, and you’ll get ragged raaaa!!”. Horror stories would ensue, as any fresher dared to cross that line, in through the back gate. Ok, I may be exaggerating, a bit.

When it comes to ragging, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have skipped out on any ‘horror stories’ and even more so, to have been ragged mostly by a bunch of ‘mild’ seniors (Kowmi, if you’re reading this, we still love you). Back then in M.S.R.I.T, there were many nooks and crannies where a supple fresher (such as my 1999 self) could’ve been ragged. Fortunately for me, most of the seniors who ‘associated’ with me, in such times, were a part of the cul-team. Needless to say, I learnt a lot from them.

I remember one such place being above the old conference hall, above the old library. It was a place known only to a select few. A place with a view! The then highest point (nearly all puns intended) on campus. Looking down from there, you could see the entire expanse of M.S.R.I.T. Only, back then, you couldn’t see much except for green cover. Trees…and LOTS of them. There were other places such as the ‘Medical Canteen’ and a ‘snacks point’. Hardly addas, they were barely watering holes. Eventually, the medical canteen turned sour, policy-wise: ’Engineering students are banned from entering’. Ha! That’s ok, we didn’t need their ‘accidentally non-veg’ fried rice anyway.

Gradually, the trees disappeared. So did this ‘high-point’. Other structures came up, some near, some far. A food court, a nice little eatery near the dental college, and numerous joints for parantas, rolls, all around college. Still, none quite adda-like. Just low on the F.O.C. Tsk tsk!

Throughout this I noticed, the Little Shop stood out, and with each passing semester, as anti-ragging laws were enforced with growing rigour, the shop seemed little-er. What with more people crowding around, juniors and seniors, slackers and toppers, all alike. Like a ‘Woodstock’ of tea-time; only, almost all the time.
The Little Shop served as an ice-breaking venue of sorts (Not to forget, the indomitable Bhatt-re’s shop; which by the way, still stands). This continuous mingling of students from various semesters and streams of engineering is one of the many reasons why most graduates from M.S.R.I.T feel that ‘oneness’ with the institute.

A good educational institute has a distinct culture/mindset, and hence projects a unique ethos through its students. This culture/mindset, needless to say, needs to get passed on if it has to survive. Unless students across various semesters associate with each other, at a forum, fest, maybe a trivial party or even an adda, the feeling, culture/mindset will not propagate. Unfortunately, this ‘mingling’ is waning in recent times. We could owe it partially to stricter laws being enforced on campus. There are institutes choked by such rules, where, in the eye of ‘The MAN’, every student is capable of ‘crime’. Lesser degrees of freedom, especially in an educational institute can curb creativity, stunt intellectual growth and thereby thwart maturity. Fortunately, M.S.R.I.T still maintains the attitude it did a few years ago. “19A” is a testament to that attitude.

After attending Udbhav ’09, I was reminded of how it felt being a student in M.S.R.I.T. I miss those times… terribly! College has always been plagued by demolition and construction, and for years, that seemed to be the only continuity. You break some, to build some. The little shop is no more, but knowing M.S.R.I.T.ians, (and I’ve known more than my fair share) it won’t be long before a new adda is identified and set in place.

Botanical travesty, Architectural blunder;
An unholy union between stone and wood,
Amidst the fallen rocks and evident plunder
A lonely tree stands, where the shop once stood.


-Snehal Pinto
EEE, M.S.R.I.T (1999 to ∞)

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Submitted to '19A', M.S.R.I.T's hot lil e-mag. I dont know if they'll publish it or what... but i missed writing, and i finally wrote something after a long time... so.