Memories from Old Campus - the 1970s
- Kanwal K.Patil (Mechanical, 1974)
What comes to my mind are the "marathons"
during Holi, Diwali, Dussehra, etc. of the "Teen-Patti" (Flash)
in the West Hostel for 7-8 days 24 Hrs. continuously. Once, A friend's father
knocked on the door and we hid all the money and cards in a flash!!! After
entering the room he said "Arrey Bhai logo, mairey bhi pattey lagao".
He had brought a bottle of scotch with him. Then in the next 7-8 hours he
cleaned all of us out!!! Quite a few of us had a tremendous increase in the
vocabulary of choicest "Gaaliyaan" from him.
Then, of course, the mass cuts!!! Once, NL Sachdeva was to give us a test at
8:30 in the morning. 95% of the class in our 5TH YEAR (We came to college for 5
years B.Sc Engineering courses, after 11th grade) wasn't prepared. The other 5%
were intimidated, coaxed, and reasoned with to go to Minerva to see Dilip
Kumar's old movie. One guy, Sethi had come to the class at 7:30 to write some
formulas on his desk. He had forgotten his lunch box in the desk. Sachdeva was
still hiding in the class at about 9:00 am. So, Sethi put on his dark goggles
and went to the classroom to retrieve his food!! He argued with us that if Dev
Anand can put on dark glasses and no body recognizes him, then he can do the
same. You should have seen the look on N L Sachdeva's face, as Sethi breezed
past him without a second look.
Then another time, T D Sachdeva was called TIDDA from the East and West
Hostel, simultaneously, one morning as he entered the campus gate!! Election
times were exciting times. The candidates used to bring Goondas from
Ramjas, KiroriMal Colleges etc. and have Hungama for 2-3 days. Once, during our
final year, one guy called "Russian" streaked naked through the
college compound. During the blackout days of 1971 war , many contests were held
as to who could write his name FULLY SPELLED with Piss while urinating on the
ground!!
I came to USA in '82 after
Post Graduation. Dr. Rajnish Prakash, Dr. Grover and Prof. Ballaney and N L
Sachdeva thought I will never leave DCE and would be a permanent fixture there.
Miss the hostel's Raajma and Roti's with a ton of atta on them. We would shake
the Roti's vigorously and the mess hall would look like a flour mill. No
comparision to U-Spl's and our chosen Sita's .......! Choley Kulchey wala, the
chappal repair wala who refused to mend Gupta's chappals for it had more "Taankey"
than real leather, and Pakoray wala behind the Library, are the type of memories
which Time has not eroded, only made blurred. How Time flies! --- swift as a
hunted deer--
Life here in America is very dry. Everybody is so professional !! I do miss the
wild days at DCE. Would love to hear from anyone from those times!
Kanwal K.Patil
Mechanical, 1974
Mr. Patil is presently with the County Government (Contracting Division) at
Cleveland, Ohio, USA and may be contacted at patilk@odjfs.state.oh.us
.
If there are any interesting incidents or any other memories of DCE that you would like to share on this website then please do contact us