At The Canteen, Around The Table
Bhaiya char chai aur dena” says a student; probably engaged in a heated discussion. From Jamia to DCE, from
Delhi to Trichy, the college canteen is the kaleidoscope of our world …the student’s world. We eat, we dream, we talk, we argue here, we do it all. We ‘chill out’ here, when life is ‘hot’ to handle. We ‘hang out’ here, when tired of ‘hanging’ around in classes. A refuge to the class bunkers, the canteen is the place around which our world revolves. In the canteen, around the table, we discuss what Obama`s foreign policy should be. In the canteen, around the table, broken hearts are consoled (b’cos of our sheer failure on Valentines Day) From argument on percentage of alcohol in beer to the utility of Chandrayaan mission, in the canteen around the table, we have it all. It’s the place where over a talk, I have bonded with my buddies, here I have dreamed (from designing a car to engineering India’s foreign policy), here I have dreamt it all. Few years hence, in the boardroom of a company, when I would be brainstorming on an issue, what I would wish to say shall be “hey guys! Let’s go out and have a discussion, in the canteen around the table. Dhanesh, 1st Yr
Meet Delhi's Twin Brother - Lahore
This year at Engifest (Abhyudaya RIP) , the organisers want to showcase the spirit of Delhi. I found an impelling need for Delhites ( and DCEites) to be made aware of Delhi’s long forgotten twin city- Lahore, the capital city of Punjab in Pakistan. It is not a new theory that I’m floating , but instead a well recognised but forgotten truth. Even today , one look at the two cities clearly establishes their twin character.In Delhi’s celebrated Chandni Chowk, where the Jama Masjid built by The Mughal ruler Shah Jahan,is at the focus of the old city, in Lahore’s Walled city the same role is essayed by its architectural twin-The Badshahi Mosque ,built by Shah Jahan‘s son, Aurangzeb. Both, it must be mentioned , house personal belongings attributed to Prophet Mohammad. Delhi Ganj 6’s Shish Gurudwara , highly revered by the Sikh community in Delhi due to its association with Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom finds its cousin in Lahore’s Dera Sahib.It is here that the Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, an important figure in Sikh history , is housed. This makes both these cities important centres for Islam and Sikhism in the Indian Sub-continent. Once inside the Walled city’s Lahore Fort you may be forgiven to think that you are in Delhi’s Lal Quila. Both have been built by Mughal rulers and are resplendent in the splendour, symbols and lifestyle of their dynasty.
The Diwan-i-Am , Diwan-i-Khas , Islamic architecture and style of painting and the most magnificent gardens characterise these two great structures of the past. It doesn’t stop there!! The iconic Meena Bazaar meets its match with the Anarkali Bazar across the border. If Delhi has the Yamuna, Lahore has the Ravi running through it. The latter not nearly as filthy though!! The Minar-i-Pakistan stands no taller than our India Gate . Both cities have grown into megacities and are the respective administrative and cultural capitals of their respective countries. I’ll conclude by saying that it is the people of these twin cities (despite 60 years of separation and independence) bear the most striking resemblance to each other. Be it values, language, ethics, tehzeeb, turn-offs , turn-ons, taboos, festivals, looks, music, lifestyle,gastronomy and habits!! It simply makes you philosophize about the irony that these two twin cities are located in two different countries. No other twins have met with a fate as harsh as this. May they continue to prosper. Ajay Goyal, CE, Final Year
ESSENCE OF AN ELUSIVE EXISTENCE
Shun the sultry studies;
Bestow the bonhomie on your buddies;
Behold the beauty of lovely ladies;
Wet your waist with vodka and whisky;
Until you get sloshed and feel giddy!
Wield the willow of your astounding abilities;
Life is short; life is an intimate identity…..
....Why be disguised as dormant drudges for eternity??
Traumatize the teachers with bunks and blasphemies;
Why should alleviating attendance concern you and me??
Smoke your souls with a svelte cigarette or a burning beedi;
For you are bound to enjoy the ensuing ecstasy!
Distant dreams are galore with glee;
Why stalk them………….
………..When you are disillusioned about your destiny??
A sumptuous siesta………
………..in the middle of a lecture lamenting spree;
Sitting dumb in front of a formidable faculty.
Ogling outside the windows of whims and fantasy;
Amidst the addictive ambience of the calm elec. Canteen;
Beneath the boisterous banter of the majestic mech. canteen;
(Cute eye-candies of the T-5 canteen!)
Dropping crumbs to cater to doleful doggies;
Makes you wary of your voracious versatility;
And your fictitious fortune…..
………..Of impersonating the hues of a human being.
Cursing the cluster of queues at the atrocious admin. B.;
Doing resilient rounds to deposit that deferred fee.
Why not greet your grievances with hallucinatory hilarity??
Get ragged by ruthless seniority;
And scorch the campus streets with vicious wheelies.
“Your friends are fallible, your girlfriend’s gaudy”;
Acquire the austere audacity;
To flash your middle finger at that derelict degree!
Poke fun at that putrescent PWD;
For conferring non-functional flushes and lousy little lavatories!
They won’t let you repose, they won’t let you revel……
…..Till you drop dead as exhausted examinees.
The girls here are infested with arrogance and vanity;
Why moan about being secluded and solitary??
The raucous RTV crowd is rough and rowdy;
The college is encompassed by vagabonds and gypsies.
Your dwelling is distant, insufficient is your safety and security;
But Bawana is your abode, you have to adapt to the animosity.
The groceries are adulterated, your espresso is watery;
Your mess bill is an inflation itinerary;
“Gastroenteritis is going to afflict your anatomy”.
Books swarm the library haphazardly;
The CC is circumvented by a filthy pool of algae.
The geeks are spawning gadgets; the goons are on a bashing jamboree;
Am I insane; quipping this futile philosophy?
The air is pure, notwithstanding the mosquitoes and fleas!
The dusk will appease your taste buds with BABA’s “chai” and “maggie”!
The campus is a labyrinth of sundry laboratories;
Watch out for people having a desire for your belongings!
The pantheon is ethereal with deities;
So spare some time to chant words of obsequious flattery!
We are erratic engineers, we are maniacs of masti!
Because the time is now, the time is DCE!