NSS Camp at Pulippaakkam village
As I had mentioned earlier, students in NSS were required to participate in a 10 day service camp at the start of the second year. For us, this camp was organised at Pulippaakkam, a village near Chengalput. We stayed at the outskirts of the village in a farm house. The girls got to stay under roof inside the rooms, while we boys were asked to sleep on the verandhas. The girls were generally noisy on all nights. There was a lake adjoining the farm house where we used to go for bathing. Along with my friend Sathya, I utilised the bathing time to do some singing practise while being immersed in the water neck-deep (saadhagam!!) Our favourite song was pon onRu kandEn, peN angku illai, ennenRu Naan solla vENdumO which the actors Sivaji and Balaji would sing together in a swimming pool in a Tamil film. We used to drive the others crazy by repeatedly singing this particular song daily.
Canal digging was the first work we undertook in the village during our stay. We dug a canal from the water source to the fields for the owner of the farm house. It was truly some back-breaking work and we generally got very tired. But we completed the job in 2 days.
For other purposes, we were divided into five groups, each one to undertake a different job as required. Mess Responsibility used to be the easiest job of all. It involved assisting the cooks while preparation of food and then serving the food to our friends. Being the eternal innovators, our group introduced the concept of "Quality Control" in plate washing process. Students have to wash the plates in which they ate, before returning it to the store. We started to inspect the cleanliness of the plates when they were returned and sent back the unclean plates for re-wash. This concept caught on from the next day onwards. Especially, two girls from another group asked for spotless plates and sent back almost all plates on the first attempt. This led to serious acrimony among groups and revenge measures were planned.
Another interesting activity that we undertook during our stay was the survey that we conducted for EXNORA International, a Voluntary Association. We surveyed the village people regarding their educational status, cattle strength, income levels etc. This was required by EXNORA to plan their activities in the village. It was a very interesting experience to interact with the villagers and getting to know the conditions prevailing in the village. They respected us a lot as "padikkiRa pasangka" who came to help them. They were classic examples of the famous virundhOmbal quality of the Tamil race, offering buttermilk and tea/coffee to us wherever we went.
In the evenings all of us used to take tuitions for the children of the villlage. They were such bright and enthusiastic students. I had a really fascinating time trying to teach them, which made me respect my teachers even more. We organised some games for the children.
We organised a medical camp for the village people in collaboration with students of Kilpauk Medical College. On the last day we also organised a Veterinary Camp for the cattle with doctors from Madras Veterinary College. It was great fun trying to interact with cows and bulls and kannu kutties.
In the mid-afternoons, we would have inter group cricket matches. There were many a nail-bitingly close matches that were played out here. But during those days I was not into cricket too much. So I used to walk around and climb small hills trying to admire the nature. I was a poet, you see. But the girls of my batch had no idea of my poetic capabilities at that time, and so teased me that I was trying to pursue B.Tech degree in Botany instead of Engineering. Well, I forgave them for such remarks.
Playing cards were also much sought after during those times, especially after some heavy lunch. We would go into the orchards, spread the blankets and play. Those who have the blessings of Niththiraa Devi would sleep under the trees instead.
The evenings before dinner used to be the outstanding fun-time. Each group was given the responsibility to entertain us on each day. Many interesting games, skits and songs used to be featured in this cultural entertainment. The NSS secretary, a pre-final year student, used to be the target of many of the skits. Group 4, which unfortunately consisted of my singing-mate Sathya, conducted some wierd games. The first was water-drinking contest. One girl who drank nearly 20 glasses of water and won the contest fell sick immediately. (She is still trying to make us forget the incident, which we are determined not to.) Seeing her condition, the lecturer who had accompanied us gave a worried glance at the group 4 students. They continued with their games and announced the next contest - neem leaves eating contest. Now the lecturer was quick to limit the damage. After seeing the fate of the students who bravely volunteered into the contest after eating only two or three leaves, he immediately ordered a ban on such "games and contests."
On the penultimate day, two girls (from my department) sang a song in the evening program that ridiculed the boys, falsely accusing us of doing certain things. We were naturally upset about it. I decided to get back at the girls in general and composed a song in the tune of a popular film song senthamiz Naattu thamizachchiyE about how they were behaving during the camp. Sathya and I decided to sing it the next night. We were even late to the morning paryer as our saadhagam was taking time. However at the last moment, we decided to adopt the forgive-and-forget policy and sang a film song instead. One of our unfinished agendas from the trip was this.
At the end of ten days, we left the place with so many nice and unforgettable memories. Apart from the All-India Tour which we went during the third year, this NSS camp experience will rank among the best moments of my college days at MIT.
(Posted on 23-Dec-2003)
Canal digging was the first work we undertook in the village during our stay. We dug a canal from the water source to the fields for the owner of the farm house. It was truly some back-breaking work and we generally got very tired. But we completed the job in 2 days.
For other purposes, we were divided into five groups, each one to undertake a different job as required. Mess Responsibility used to be the easiest job of all. It involved assisting the cooks while preparation of food and then serving the food to our friends. Being the eternal innovators, our group introduced the concept of "Quality Control" in plate washing process. Students have to wash the plates in which they ate, before returning it to the store. We started to inspect the cleanliness of the plates when they were returned and sent back the unclean plates for re-wash. This concept caught on from the next day onwards. Especially, two girls from another group asked for spotless plates and sent back almost all plates on the first attempt. This led to serious acrimony among groups and revenge measures were planned.
Another interesting activity that we undertook during our stay was the survey that we conducted for EXNORA International, a Voluntary Association. We surveyed the village people regarding their educational status, cattle strength, income levels etc. This was required by EXNORA to plan their activities in the village. It was a very interesting experience to interact with the villagers and getting to know the conditions prevailing in the village. They respected us a lot as "padikkiRa pasangka" who came to help them. They were classic examples of the famous virundhOmbal quality of the Tamil race, offering buttermilk and tea/coffee to us wherever we went.
In the evenings all of us used to take tuitions for the children of the villlage. They were such bright and enthusiastic students. I had a really fascinating time trying to teach them, which made me respect my teachers even more. We organised some games for the children.
We organised a medical camp for the village people in collaboration with students of Kilpauk Medical College. On the last day we also organised a Veterinary Camp for the cattle with doctors from Madras Veterinary College. It was great fun trying to interact with cows and bulls and kannu kutties.
In the mid-afternoons, we would have inter group cricket matches. There were many a nail-bitingly close matches that were played out here. But during those days I was not into cricket too much. So I used to walk around and climb small hills trying to admire the nature. I was a poet, you see. But the girls of my batch had no idea of my poetic capabilities at that time, and so teased me that I was trying to pursue B.Tech degree in Botany instead of Engineering. Well, I forgave them for such remarks.
Playing cards were also much sought after during those times, especially after some heavy lunch. We would go into the orchards, spread the blankets and play. Those who have the blessings of Niththiraa Devi would sleep under the trees instead.
The evenings before dinner used to be the outstanding fun-time. Each group was given the responsibility to entertain us on each day. Many interesting games, skits and songs used to be featured in this cultural entertainment. The NSS secretary, a pre-final year student, used to be the target of many of the skits. Group 4, which unfortunately consisted of my singing-mate Sathya, conducted some wierd games. The first was water-drinking contest. One girl who drank nearly 20 glasses of water and won the contest fell sick immediately. (She is still trying to make us forget the incident, which we are determined not to.) Seeing her condition, the lecturer who had accompanied us gave a worried glance at the group 4 students. They continued with their games and announced the next contest - neem leaves eating contest. Now the lecturer was quick to limit the damage. After seeing the fate of the students who bravely volunteered into the contest after eating only two or three leaves, he immediately ordered a ban on such "games and contests."
On the penultimate day, two girls (from my department) sang a song in the evening program that ridiculed the boys, falsely accusing us of doing certain things. We were naturally upset about it. I decided to get back at the girls in general and composed a song in the tune of a popular film song senthamiz Naattu thamizachchiyE about how they were behaving during the camp. Sathya and I decided to sing it the next night. We were even late to the morning paryer as our saadhagam was taking time. However at the last moment, we decided to adopt the forgive-and-forget policy and sang a film song instead. One of our unfinished agendas from the trip was this.
At the end of ten days, we left the place with so many nice and unforgettable memories. Apart from the All-India Tour which we went during the third year, this NSS camp experience will rank among the best moments of my college days at MIT.
(Posted on 23-Dec-2003)
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