Notes From JNU

4th April 2010,
Dhabha 1, opp Ganges Hostel (?)

Its a Dog's Life

I had just met up with a friend at JNU and we were sitting at a dhabha table catching up over the news of the last few months. There was this puppy that was asleep at our feet. After a while, he got up and started prancing around with another bigger dog. Puppies can be so cute and funny. Then his friend goes away. Puppy stays around. In a few mins, out of nowhere, appear two large black dogs who jump on the puppy. He comes scampering to our table, but the big dogs pin him down. One of them, gets his large jaw right around the pup's stomach, when we kick out at him. The dogs scamper away. The puppy stays put. He whines a bit and settles down under the table. His friend comes back. The puppy goes to him, warily, and tries to enact how he almost got bitten. His friend, who himself wasn't a big dog, didn't quite know how to react. But he humored the puppy for a bit and then left to chase the next biscuit that had been dropped at the other end. Puppy comes back to base. Its a dog's life

JNU ka Josh

I'm reliably informed that JNU is a very France-like place. Full of egalite, liberte and fraternite. People often rise up against oppression, usually three times a day. The current uprising, is against the oppression of the Indian state of tribals in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. So there is a strike against this, and students are apparently not allowed to write their exams. Also apparently, the most popular strikes are the ones during exam times! As a taxpayer, who contributes to the Govt subsidising the education of these folks, I am not amused! But it still is funny ain't it, studing on the Govt's dime and protesting against the Govt!! Viva la democracie! The same reliable informer succinctly puts it, " Campus politics is like mass hallucination"

The Happy Tank

The story of the Happy Tank goes thus. Long time back, the JNU management hired some IIT engineers to build this huge water tank on campus. So these guys got happy and build the tank they did, a huge red and white water tank. It so turned out that the tank was so huge that when filled with water the pillar couldn't stand the weight of the water.So they don't fill it with water. Instead, they have got this black Sintex tank mounted on the side, which must be 1/100th size of the original tank to store water. So, in memory of their Happy IIT brethren, or rather as a tribute, JNU folks gather around regularly at the base of the tank, often many times a day and get happy. So that is the story of the Happy Tank!