PUNISHED FOR BEING ME

CHAPTER 2

"MOM PLS COME AND TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE. I CANT LIVE HERE ANY MORE MOM. PLS COME AND TAKE ME AWAY. PEOPLE HERE ARE VERY BAD. COME SOON MUMMA. PLS"
"SIR THIS IS THE MESSAGE I RECEIVED FROM MY SON LAST WEEK. CAN YOU PLS EXPLAIN ME WHAT IS GOING ON AND WHY AREN'T YOU LETTING ME MEET MY SON. I WANT TO MEET MY SON WHERE IS HE, LET ME MEET HIM" - MY MOM WAS COMPLAINING TO THE IN CHARGE OF STUDENT IN CHARGE OF MY COLLEGE IN RESPONSE TO MY COMPLAINTS.

I WASNT FEELING AT HOME IN THE COLLEGE AND MOREOVER WHEN MY MOM VISITED ME THE COLLEGE OFFICIALS REFUSED TO LET ME MEET HER.

"ITS AGAINST COLLEGE POLICY MAAM", THEY SAID. "WE CANNOT LET STUDENTS MEET THEIR PARENTS OR GUARDIANS UNLESS ITS A COLLEGE APPROVED VACATION OR A LONG WEEKEND HOLIDAY. WE ARE SORRY BUT THIS IS OUR WAY OF MAKING OUR STUDENTS INDEPENDENT AND MORALLY STRONG."

BEWILDERED BY THIS MY ANGRY MOM WENT HOME BURNING IN ANGER AND AT THE SAME TIME FEELING ANXIOUS ABOUT MY CONDITION.

A FEW DAYS LATER WHEN I WAS TRYING TO STUDY HOPING TO DISTRACT MY MIND FROM THE MIS-HAPPENINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST FEW DAYS, ONE OF MY ROOMMATES CAME IN RUNNING THROUGH THE NARROW DOOR OF OUR ROOM AND DRAGGED ME OUT AND TOOK ME TOO THE MAIN GATE OF OUR CAMPUS.

WHEN WE REACHED THERE I WAS ASTONISHED TO SEE A GROUP, NOT THAT LARGE IN SIZE, OF PEOPLE DEMONSTRATING PEACEFULLY OUTSIDE IT. WHEN I LOOKED CLOSELY I COULD FEEL A LUMP GO DOWN MY THROAT. IT WAS MY PARENTS WHO WERE LEADING THE DEMONSTRATIONS. THEY WERE PROTESTING AGAINST THE COLLEGE'S POLICY OF NOT GIVING THE PARENTS A CHANCE TO MEET THEIR WARDS WHEN THEY WANTED.

MY ROOMMATES STARED IN AMAZEMENT AT THE SIGHT OF THE PROTEST AND STARTED FILMING IT ON THEIR LATEST SMARTPHONES THAT I DID NOT HAVE A LUXURY OF OWNING. NO ONE KNEW THAT THE DEMONSTRATION WAS BEING LED BY MY PARENTS AND TO FURTHER HIDE THE FACT I SLOWLY SLID BACK FROM THE SCENE AND WENT BACK TO MY ROOM.

DAYS PASSED AND THE SIZE OF THE GROUP WENT ON INCREASING. PEOPLE FROM THE NEARBY URBAN AND MODERN CITIES ALSO CAME TO JOIN THE PROTEST. THE VIDEOS OF PEOPLE PROTESTING BECAME VIRAL AND STARTED DRAWING THE MEDIA.

WE COULD SEE A NUMBER OF NEWS VANS LINED OUTSIDE THE COLLEGE CAMPUS THROUGH OUR HOSTEL WINDOWS. NEWS ANCHORS STARTED ASKING THE PROTESTORS ABOUT THE AIM OF THE PROTEST AND IF THEY HAD THEIR WARD STUDYING IN THE COLLEGE OR HAD THEY COME TO SUPPORT THEIR RELATIVES OR NEXT OF KIN.

ONE SUCH QUESTION WAS TARGETED TOWARDS MY MOM WHO TOOK NO TIME TO ANSWER THE GIVEN QUESTION.

"YES MY SON KRISHNALAL PANKAJBHAI KISSANWALA IS STUDYING IN THIS COLLEGE AND IS PURSUING HIS 1ST YEAR IN COMPUTER SCIENCE ENGINEERING."

AND WHEN ASKED WHAT INSPIRED HER TO LEAD THIS PROTEST, SHE ANSWERED-

"MY SON SENT ME SOME DISTURBED MESSAGES LAST WEEK ANOUT HOW HE WAS BEING ILL-TREATED AND HE ALSO ADDRESSED SOME OF THE OFFICIALS A 'BAD PEOPLE'. HEEDING TO THESE DISTURBED MESSAGES WHEN I WENT TO SEE MY CHILD, THE COLLEGE OFFICIALS DENIED ME PERMISSION TO MEET HIM AND STARTED EDUCATING ME ABOUT THEIR POLICIES WHEN I OBJECTED. I HEREBY ASK THE PEOPLE WATCHING THIS, WILL YOU STAY QUIET IF YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MEET THE CHILD YOU RAISED WITH SO MUCH CARE AND AFFECTION? IF YOU THINK WHAT I AM DOING IS WRONG THEN PLEASE COME AND JOIN ME IN THIS PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION."

THERE WAS AN EERIE SILENCE IN MY ROOM. ALL MY ROOMMATES WERE SHOCKED TO SEE THIS. I WAS ANXIOUS about HOW I WILL BE TREATED NOW THAT THE NEWS THAT MY PARENTS WERE BEHIND THIS PROTEST HAD BROKEN OUT.

QUITE CONTRARY TO WHAT I THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN, THE COLLEGE OFFICIALS ANNOUNCED ON THE NEXT DAY THAT THEY WILL LOOK INTO CHANGING THE POLICY IN CONCERN AND THEY GAVE ME A FREE PASS TO MEET MY PARENTS WHENEVER I WANTED WHEREVER I WANTED.

AFTER THIS ANNOUNCEMENT THE PROTEST DISSOLVED BUT BEFORE IT COULD THE COLLEGE IT WILL BE GREAT IF I WOULD GO AND MEET MY PARENTS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE MEDIA AS IT WILL HELP REBUILD THEIR IMAGE. POLITICS AS USUAL.

WHEN I MET MY PARENTS, THE NEWS CORRESPONDENTS SURROUNDED ME AS IF I WAS SOME SORT OF A CELEBRITY AND DROWNED ME IN A SEA OF QUESTIONS THAT I COULDNT EVEN PROPERLY HERE LET ALONE ANSWER. BUT ONE QUESTION CAME AND HIT ME FROM NOWHERE. "SIR YOUR MOTHER HAD MENTIONED EARLIER THAT YOU SENT HER SOME DISTURBED MESSAGES. CAN YOU ELABORATE ON IT AND TELL US WHAT MADE YOU SEND THOSE MESSAGES ?"

I KNEW THAT IF I ANSWERED THESE QUESTIONS I WOULD AS WELL ASSUME MYSELF SUSPENDED FROM THE COLLEGE. SO I ANSWERED-

"NO COMMENTS" AND I LEFT TO GO BACK TO MY ROOM.

WHEN I WENT BACK TO MY ROOM, I WAS SEEN WITH A CERTAIN SENSE OF DISMAY AND ANGER. I WAS NOW THE BOY WHO HAD PUBLICLY CRITICISED A COLLEGE FOR WHICH EVERYONE STUDYING IN IT HAD A SENSE OF PATRIOTISM GREATER THAN WHAT THEY HAD FOR THE COUNTRY. I DIDNT MIND THIS AT ALL. AFTER SPENDING THE LAST FOUR MONTHS HERE, I HAD NOW BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO ALL SORTS OF NAME CALLING AND ATROCITIES.

IF YOU GUYS REMEMBER at THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER, I HAD MENTIONED ABOUT SOME MIS-HAPPENINGS THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE WITH ME. THOUGH I COULD TELL WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO THE MEDIA UNDER THE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES, I MAY AS WELL SHED SOME LIGHT ON WHAT HAPPENED FOR YOU.

IT HAD BEEN A WEEK SINCE THE COLLEGE HAD BEGUN. EVERYTHING WAS GOING GREAT. I WAS MAKING FRI-

-ENDS AND EVERYTHING SEEMED PERFECT. I WAS BEGINNING TO ENJOY MY COLLEGE LIFE BUT SOMEONE

HAS RIGHTLY SAID "ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END", AND FOR ME THAT END CAME TOO SOON.

ONE EVENING ALL THE FRESHERS WERE CALLED TO THE BASKETBALL COURT OF OUR HOSTEL. WE ALL THOUGHT MAYBE SOMETHING WAS GOING TO BE ANNOUNCED, BUT SOMETHING COMPLETELY BIZARRE WAS PLANNED FOR US. WHEN WE REACHED DOWNSTAIRS ALL OF US WERE ASKED TO STAND IN A LINE AND STRIP DOWN TO OUR UNDIES. WE WERE SHOCKED. WE WERENT EXPECTING THIS TO HAPPEN TO US HERE. *RAGGING FREE CAMPUS AND ATMOSPHERE* AS THE COLLEGE BANNER READ WAS, IN FACT, ONE OF THE FACTORS THAT AFFECTED THE COLLEGE CHOOSING PROCESS OF THE STUDENTS STUDYING HERE.

NO ONE WAS READY TO DO WHAT WERE ASKED TO. EVERYONE WAS HESITANT. ONE OF THE SENIOR CAME FORWARD AND ASKED ONE OF US TO STRIP. WHEN HE DIDNT DO AS SAID, THE SENIOR SLAPPED HIM TIGHTLY ON THE CHEEK AND TORE HIS CLOTHES. HE COULDNT DO ANYTHING BUT STAND IN THE POOL OF HIS OWN TEARS. THE SENIOR WHO WENT BY THE NAME PRATIK SINGHANIA THREATENED US THAT WORSE WOULD HAPPEN IF WE DIDNT COMPLY TO WHAT HE SAID. I THINKING OF THREATENING THEM, TOLD THE SENIORS THAT I WOULD GO AND COMPLAIN TO THE COLLEGE AUTHORITIES. I HADNT EVEN FINISHED THE SENTENCED WHEN I WAS PICKED UP TAKEN TO AN ADJACENT ROOM, AND BEATEN BLACK AND BLUE. SCARED BY THIS SLOWLY THE REST STARTED STRIPPING DOWN UNTIL THEY WERE IN THEIR UNDERWEAR. MUSIC WAS PLAYED AND THEY WERE ASKED TO DANCE WHILE THE SENIORS FILMED THEM. WHILE ALL OF THIS GOING ON, I LAY LIFELESS ON THE FLOOR OF THE ROOM I HAD BEEN TAKEN TO, WITH A BROKEN NOSE AND BLEEDING GUMS. NO ONE EVEN BOTHERED TO CHECK UP ON ME. I REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS NEXT MORNING LOOKING LIKE A ZOMBIE, OR AT LEAST THAT WAS HOW I THOUGHT THE ZOMBIES LOOKED. I RUSHED BACK TO MY HOSTEL ROOM, HAD A BATH, GOT REFRESHED AND RAN TO MY CLASS THAT WAS EASILY A KILOMETRE AWAY.

I HADNT BEEN ABLE TO CLEAN OFF THE DRY BLOOD FROM MY NOSE AND WAS QUITE VISIBLE. THE PROFESSOR NOTICING THIS ASKED ME WHAT THE MATTER WAS. AFRAID THAT I WOULD BE BEATEN AGAIN, I MADE UP A STORY AND TOLD HIM, WHICH, THOUGH HE BELIEVED, WASNT ENOUGH TO CONVINCE HIM FULLY.

THIS IS WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO ME IN THAT I HAD MENTION AS A MIS-HAPPENING TO MY PARENTS. SO BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THAT

"EVERYTHING IS NOT AS BEAUTIFUL AS IT MAY LOOK."