I still remember the cold gush of wind, hitting hard at my face, and the incessant body shivers, while Sambit and I were searching eagerly for my friend's hostel.
It was one of the coldest nights of December 2001. We had left for Bhopal by the "Indore-Bhopal Passenger" at 9 PM from Indore. Our first semester exams had finished on the previous day and we had good celebrations.
That time we were staying near Madhumilan square, close to railway station, at Gandhi Tower. That flat was the most dreaded place I have ever lived in. It was on the topmost floor, close to a dark noisy lift. The common room was big with yellow gates and warped floor and walls. The scariest sight was of the giant bargad tree poking into our flat through the window. I remember the night when I was up studying in that room and the wind swayed the tree gently with a swishing sound . The shadows of big leaves, in the backdrop of the headlight of a passing by truck, created a ghostly figure and I couldn't stop myself to leave that room.
All other rooms were a bit better than the common room. Kitchen and the balcony were pigeon's nest. Every week we had to clean their poo. Though we enjoyed our stay. Be it Abhishek Satpute's more than friendly encounters with our neighborhood girl (I don't remember her name), or Mayur Bhawsar's getting stuck in lift, or Ashish Saxena, Mayur, Sambit and I having a belt fight, I cherish all those memories.
Coming back to the trip, I and Sambit Sarkar were in that passenger. After two hours, Ujjain arrived. We were unaware that next day was some festival. Ujjain station hosted a crowd like anything and suddenly we got squeezed into a single left corner by rumbling passengers. We were terrible at the thought that we had to pass the night in that position. Our exams had gone fine, we had good celebrations, and we were in no haste to reach Bhopal. I remembered my friend Vaibhav was studying in Ujjain GEC and lived in hostel in college campus. Escaping the full night torture, we, in 5 minutes, decided to get off the train and got in an auto with the only address as - Mr. Vaibhav Mishra, Ujjain GEC, unknown hostel name, unknown room no, unknown contact no.
We had absolutely no idea of what waited ahead us. The roads were unknown and we had no idea about the location of GEC. We were wary of the way through which the auto guy was taking us. Gradually the roadside buildings and shops got scarce with big-dark roadside tress getting denser. Suddenly we found ourselves far from the main city. We timidly asked the auto guy, "how much more to go ?". He said something, but since we were all wrapped up in muffler, we didn't hear him. We were scolding ourselves opting for such a dire act. Suddenly, he hollered out, "should I drop you at the main gate ?". This was a big relief. "No", we said simultaneously, "please take us to the first year hostel". "I don't know where it is", he responded. Sambit said, "you continue through the main gate, I would show you".
We had no idea that Ujjain GEC sprawls over 300 acres of land. We were looking for a billboard with 'First Year Hostel'. We were randomly asking the auto guy to take left or right. It was already 11.45 PM and auto guy couldn't understand what we were up-to. We heard some noises out of a close by building and asked auto guy to drop us there. Taking 80 rupees, he left swiftly. We, packed in sweaters and jackets, with a bag back on our shoulders, entered the big building. Luckily we met an engg. student. "Is this the first year hostel ?", Sambit asked. "We don't have hostels year wise.", he replied promptly. "Whom are you looking for ?", he added. We described him the whole thing. He called 4-5 first year students and inquired about Vaibhav. They told us that he didn't live in college hostel, but they were sure that he lived in a close by private hostel in the college campus. We understood the way to reach that hostel and took their leave.
It was getting late, and we were desperately wishing for a cozy bed and a hot cup of tea. We followed the lonely roads, echoed with dog barks and painted with long dark shadows of dense trees, and reached an area where a billboard stood out with a name of a private hostel. But it was not that what we were looking for (I don't remember the name of the hostel now). We thought we had missed the right turn. We turned back and re tracked to the previous cross road and then took the apparent right turn.
It was now getting close to 1 o'clock and our minds were filled with all sorts of horror stories; every shadow was molding into a horror figure inside our minds. The ambiance was perfect for a horror movie shoot. After covering a good distance we were in the middle of 6-7 small huts. It appeared as if we had reached a small village. A dog came barking at us. An old man came out and asked what did we want. We again told the story. He said there was nothing of that kind of a building close by. We again turned back and reached the same cross road.
Clock rang 2 o'clock. We understood that we were lost in middle of a deserted, large, enclosed land, which people called Ujjain GEC. Only one thought was there in our minds now - How to get out of here ? On reaching the crossroad, we took the 4th road, in a hope that it would lead us out of this horrible place. The chill of wind was spearing hard against our faces. There was no sign of any building or any animal, whom we call human, in the far distant barren lands. Needless to say - we didn't have mobile phones.
A giant iron gate ahead of us, raised our hopes. We trotted towards the gate, only to find an empty room at the gatepost. Again we resorted to a heavy dull walk. Gradually we found small buildings approaching us. Later we were surrounded by buildings. It appeared that it was college staff campus. And we were hopeful that we might get out to the main road.
It was 3 o'clock and we felt a heavy shower of luck upon us as we saw a guard smoking around the corner of a building, We approached him and again told him the whole story. He said we were close to the main gate and could get some conveyance from there. After walking for more 15 mins, we hit the college gate at the main Ujjain - Dewas road.
Close to the gate we sat on a porch. It appeared that the porch was part of a shop, that was obviously closed. We covered ourselves well in blanket and cuddled against each other. Around 4 o'clock we heard the engine of a bike approaching from right side, and we opened the mouth of our blanket den. It was police.
Again we told them the same story but this time it took us at-least 10 more mins to convince them that, yes, we did it. Finally they told us that there was a Ujjain - Bhopal bus at 5 o'clock. They asked us whether they should drop us to the bus stand. But, since, if we were that smart we wouldn't had gotten out of that train, we said, "No, thanks a lot sir ! ".
Clock rang 5, and we were by the side of the road, eagerly waiting to shoot our hand to stop the bus that could had come anytime, only to find ourselves back into the 'what-an-idiot-we-are' state. The bus didn't come. We came back to the porch and sighed with a tint of despair.
At 6 o'clock an old man came jogging. He was not wearing much warm clothes. On seeing us, he got his tongue rolled out."For how many hours you guys have been sitting like this ?", he asked compassionately. We told him the story, AGAIN. "poor child, you could have died. Collect some shrubs and let's lit a fire", he urged. We sat around the fire which gave us some warmth. He then told us that at 7.30 AM there was a bus to Dewas. He left us once he saw that we now had some warmth and hope. God bless him !
Again, we were by the side of the road, and this time bus came, and we were like we had found some treasure. In an hour we were at Dewas bus stand. We called our homes and informed that we would leave now from Indore. Sambit learnt that his elder brother had some work in Indore and was planning to come by evening. So, we parted, Sambit went BACK to Indore and I took a Indore-Bhopal bus. And yes I had some good sleep then.
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