Achyuth Kumar (1979)
As one goes back memory lane, we remember with gratitude the contributions made by our college staff (teaching and non-teaching) in enhancing our knowledge and in many cases, moulding our future. But there have been quite a few others, who have, albeit indirectly, contributed a lot to our well-being and making our tenure at the college comfortable. Take a few minutes to recall their selfless services, mostly with a smile on their lips and not expecting anything much from us students….
Let’s begin with the mess staff – or ‘mess boys’ as we used to call them during our times! In the 1970s, we had four regular messes in the A,B,C and D hostels. The E mess would operate specifically during the Ramadan month. Every fresher hosteller had to enrol in ‘A’ mess initially, with an option to change over after a couple of months. It was there we first got introduced to Bhaskaran – the supremo of A mess. Within a couple of days of admissions, he would remember the mess numbers of the entire fresher batch, in addition to the existing students. No mean feat that – considering that the annual intake was around 200 in those times and without any computers those days! At the end of the month, he would efficiently generate individual mess bills with all extras, sundries and considering any ‘off’ days! He was efficiency personified and I’d never heard of him making a mistake! Yet another stalwart was Gopalan – in the C mess, popularly called the North Indian mess. His diminutive stature with a handle-bar moustache were a stand out. His command over Hindi made him an invaluable asset in C mess. Though he would patiently listen to any ‘grievance’ about the food – there was no ‘messing’ around with Gopalan! There were many more of the mess staff too, who silently and efficiently went about their work – our annadaatas!
At times when the mess food would seem tedious, we had a reliable and clean option at the college canteen. Vijayan was everybody’s elder bro – the universal ‘ettan’! He knew very well that the way to a man’s (and woman’s!) heart is through the stomach! His team of merry men would ensure that we were fed well, with sumptuous food at reasonable prices. His popularity amongst succeeding batches of students is legion. No wonder that every batch celebrating its get-together anywhere would have one common invitee – Vijayettan!
Vijayettan, who had run the canteen for over four decades, is a regular invitee in all batch-meets and WNMs (sitting: extreme right)
Moving on to our Postman Viswanathan ‘Maash’… Surely he could claim to be the most sought after individual in the campus! In those days where mess bills and college fees were transferred by our parents largely through cheques and Demand drafts, his popularity would grow during the month ends! A soft spoken and demure individual, Viswanathan Maash would make his way through all the hostels, trudging through each floor, delivering letters and the like. Come rain or sun, Maash could be seen on his rounds, on his cycle every day at the appointed time, with delivery to the correct person. Surely if Quality Standards were in vogue in those days, Viswanathan Maash would have qualified for ISO certification without a doubt! Zero-error concept was perhaps introduced by Maash!
Every man has a streak of vanity in himself – and as students, we too had our fair share. To look good would mean to dress well. And for this, our dhobis (washermen) contributed in no small measure. Two of our washermen in our days were Pavithran and Rappai. The former, with a distinct limp and the latter with a frazzled, unkempt look were an essential part of our hostel scenario. They were friends with everybody and had no business rivalry between themselves. And of course for many amongst us, they were a source for an urgent bidi or two, at times of financial distress! They too were not beyond touching us for an advance at times, but every rupee would be accounted for!
It is often said that “it takes a village to bring up a child” – while I would extend it to “it took a community to bring up an engineer!” – at least in our days of yore……
